Photo courtesy of Saskatoon Tribal Council
The Saskatoon Tribal Council, in partnership with Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP), received the Premier’s Award for its work with the St. Frances Cree Bilingual School in Saskatoon.
“When we started this journey with our partners years ago, it was a bit of a risk,” says the school division’s chair of education, Diane Boyko. “We were optimistic about its success, but there were a lot of unknowns about how a Cree language program would be received in the medium to long-term. Ten years later, we have a thriving school community and the school is bursting at the seams.”
The award, which recognizes educational innovations and improvements focused on student achievements that have been advanced by boards of education and their partners, was presented Monday night at the Saskatchewan School Boards Association’s general assembly.
“One of the TRC calls to action mentions that Aboriginal languages are a fundamental and valued element of Canadian culture and society, and there is an urgency to preserve them,” says STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand. “This award demonstrates what incorporating our identity and language can do for a school in the city of Saskatoon where the Indigenous population is steadily increasing.”
SSBA President Dr. Shawn Davidson says that the award winners are usually educational trendsetters.
“(St France’s Cree Bilingual Program) has really been a leader as far as developing curriculum and developing a program for the province which then gets shared to other school divisions,” says Dr. Davidson. “There are lots of good things that come of these awards because the work gets shared and the programming gets shared.”
The award was originally founded in 1999 and is sponsored by Xerox Canada.
In addition to the award, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools has been awarded $3,000 to help further the development of the Cree Bilingual Program.