By: Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Albert Daily Herald
After starting in 2021, the Prince Albert Catholic School Division’s Michif language program will continue for the 2025-2026 school year.
In 2024-2025 it expanded to a second classroom in St. Michael Community School.
The division recently received confirmation that they have been approved for $150,000 in funding for the next school year. This is part of the Michif Early Learning Pilot Project (MELPP) that began in partnership with Metis Nation-Saskatchewan.
PA Catholic Education Director Lorel Trumier said the program is in great hands.
“We have such a dynamite program at St. Michael, a dynamite teacher in Lindsay Shultz, and we have many Elders and Knowledge Keepers that are engaged in the program along with (Principal) Mark Phaneuf’s leadership there to help them and have the program thrive at St Michael,” Trumier said.
“We are pleased that we can continue that and have that other additional commitment to that project,” she added.
The project offers a full-time Kindergarten program that includes Michif language programming. Metis children have priority access to the program. The program employs a language knowledge keeper to support language development.
Students attend full day classes on Monday to Thursday at St. Michael.
The MN-S announced the expansion to the early learning language pilot projects in 2021.
The language has less than 700 fluent speakers in Canada. According to MN-S both the MELPP and the sister project the Dene Early Learning Pilot Project (DELPP) are significant and unprecedented steps in preserving Métis culture. The pilot was originally announced in September 2020.
In the province, there are currently over 130 Kindergarten and Pre-K students learning both Michif and Dene.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca