Theran and His Problem
Theran is an eight year old boy of the Weenusk First Nation, in Peawanuck, an Aboriginal community on the shores of Hudson's Bay, on the far reaches of Northern Ontario. Unlike other boys of his age in cities such as Toronto, Theran is barely able to write the most basic of sentences, and is hardly able to read. My eyes were opened to the problem of illiteracy in Canadian Aboriginal communities this past summer through my involvement with the Lieutenant Governor's Aboriginal Summer Reading Camps program, run by Frontier College. As part of the program, I was one of two administrators, and one of six counsellors for the camp in Peawanuck, Ontario. As a member of the only team of high school students, I and five other students went to the community to run the literacy camp for children aged five to sixteen. In the week of training which we received before going to the community, I learned how serious the problem of illiteracy is on the reserves - Aboriginal children are on average five years behind their counterparts in metropolitan elementary schools. I personally feel motivated to help alleviate the problem. As I have been fortunate enough to be in a family that has always encouraged reading, and have been privileged enough to have the means to properly learn how to read and write, and access a library that has all the reading materials I could ever want, I feel that it is my duty to help those who are not as fortunate. Having been to Peawanuck, and interacted with fifty different children with varying levels of ability, I was able to see that the problem is not one that can be solved in only one summer, but one that needs constant work, so that the children who need help can continually improve. Through running the camp I was also able to form connections with these children, spurring me to want to take further action against the problem of Aboriginal illiteracy.
Making sure that the Aboriginal children's literary skills are up to scratch is the fundamental first step to helping children in isolated communities gain an equal footing to their non-Aboriginal peers. The ability to read and write enable a child to successfully manage their school career, through university, ultimately allowing them to be both educated, and have a good job. While literacy may be taken for granted by most, it is important to realize that on the reserves, primary school teachers quite often do not live on the reservation, and many times change from year to year. This leaves the children of the schools with inconsistent schooling, as new teachers are not aware of what has already been taught, particularly in Peawanuck. As such, many of the children which I talked to came to dislike their teacher, and look forward to the time when they could learn from a new teacher. Many of the problems seen in Aboriginal communities, such as drug abuse, suicides, and unemployment, can be alleviated in the long run simply through children gaining the basic literacy skills which they need to succeed in life. With these skills, children, and later adults, will have greater self esteem, reducing the number of suicide cases, and ensuring the children's success in the future, as well as allowing the children to become educated about the risks that drug use entails.
The final importance of this issue comes in the power of these literacy skills to educate. This comes first through those who help improve the situation; for example, once the school year began, the whole team gave a presentation to our high school about the community of Peawanuck, and of the problem of illiteracy in these communities. The power of literacy comes also in the ability of the children who are now better able to communicate, who can now teach others about the problem of illiteracy in their communities.
And my short writing about one activity:
The last two years I have been a member of my school's Varsity Football team. As a player in the Defensive Back unit, I primarily played Cornerback, sometimes playing Safety and Halfback. While in my first year, the team did not have a very successful season, it was this feeling of loss that brought the team closer together, and better prepared us for the next year. The extent to which our team improved was clearly demonstrated by us finishing third in the league. Being a part of the football team did not just include simply putting on a bucket and equipment every day for practice - when I joined the team, I had my family grow by fifty brothers, an unrivalled experience. I felt that I grew with the team, as I first became entrenched in thinking like a football player then, with a new coach, gained better technical skills.
Theran is an eight year old boy of the Weenusk First Nation, in Peawanuck, an Aboriginal community on the shores of Hudson's Bay, on the far reaches of Northern Ontario. Unlike other boys of his age in cities such as Toronto, Theran is barely able to write the most basic of sentences, and is hardly able to read. My eyes were opened to the problem of illiteracy in Canadian Aboriginal communities this past summer through my involvement with the Lieutenant Governor's Aboriginal Summer Reading Camps program, run by Frontier College. As part of the program, I was one of two administrators, and one of six counsellors for the camp in Peawanuck, Ontario. As a member of the only team of high school students, I and five other students went to the community to run the literacy camp for children aged five to sixteen. In the week of training which we received before going to the community, I learned how serious the problem of illiteracy is on the reserves - Aboriginal children are on average five years behind their counterparts in metropolitan elementary schools. I personally feel motivated to help alleviate the problem. As I have been fortunate enough to be in a family that has always encouraged reading, and have been privileged enough to have the means to properly learn how to read and write, and access a library that has all the reading materials I could ever want, I feel that it is my duty to help those who are not as fortunate. Having been to Peawanuck, and interacted with fifty different children with varying levels of ability, I was able to see that the problem is not one that can be solved in only one summer, but one that needs constant work, so that the children who need help can continually improve. Through running the camp I was also able to form connections with these children, spurring me to want to take further action against the problem of Aboriginal illiteracy.
Making sure that the Aboriginal children's literary skills are up to scratch is the fundamental first step to helping children in isolated communities gain an equal footing to their non-Aboriginal peers. The ability to read and write enable a child to successfully manage their school career, through university, ultimately allowing them to be both educated, and have a good job. While literacy may be taken for granted by most, it is important to realize that on the reserves, primary school teachers quite often do not live on the reservation, and many times change from year to year. This leaves the children of the schools with inconsistent schooling, as new teachers are not aware of what has already been taught, particularly in Peawanuck. As such, many of the children which I talked to came to dislike their teacher, and look forward to the time when they could learn from a new teacher. Many of the problems seen in Aboriginal communities, such as drug abuse, suicides, and unemployment, can be alleviated in the long run simply through children gaining the basic literacy skills which they need to succeed in life. With these skills, children, and later adults, will have greater self esteem, reducing the number of suicide cases, and ensuring the children's success in the future, as well as allowing the children to become educated about the risks that drug use entails.
The final importance of this issue comes in the power of these literacy skills to educate. This comes first through those who help improve the situation; for example, once the school year began, the whole team gave a presentation to our high school about the community of Peawanuck, and of the problem of illiteracy in these communities. The power of literacy comes also in the ability of the children who are now better able to communicate, who can now teach others about the problem of illiteracy in their communities.
And my short writing about one activity:
The last two years I have been a member of my school's Varsity Football team. As a player in the Defensive Back unit, I primarily played Cornerback, sometimes playing Safety and Halfback. While in my first year, the team did not have a very successful season, it was this feeling of loss that brought the team closer together, and better prepared us for the next year. The extent to which our team improved was clearly demonstrated by us finishing third in the league. Being a part of the football team did not just include simply putting on a bucket and equipment every day for practice - when I joined the team, I had my family grow by fifty brothers, an unrivalled experience. I felt that I grew with the team, as I first became entrenched in thinking like a football player then, with a new coach, gained better technical skills.