The Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) Board of Education is being recognized for its implementation of Indigenization in northern schools.
The 2024 Premier’s Board of Education Award for Innovation and Excellence in Education was handed to the organization by the Saskatchewan School Boards Association on behalf of Premier Scott Moe during the SSBA’s Annual General Assembly on Monday.
For several years NLSD has promoted the Cree and Dene languages in their classrooms along with cultural and land-based learning. As a result, the organization has seen positive changes in students’ attendance and academic success.
“We actually pulled some data just to look and see how the kids are doing even at the grade one reading levels and in instances where they were focused on the language programs or emersion programs, we found that we got a 13% increase in grade one reading results which is very exciting,” explained director of education, Jason Young.
Along with language classes in NLSD schools, this year the organization will be sponsoring 10 students to take the Indigenous Languages Certificate program at the University of Saskatchewan and plans to sponsor another 10 next year.
“Almost 90 per cent of our nearly 4,000 students identify as Indigenous, so this work for us has significance that extends far beyond test results and memorizing textbooks,” said NLSD board chair Joey McCallum when receiving the award. “It is our great honour and privilege to receive this award tonight and we thank the province for its recognition of such a vital project.”
“Very exciting, we were honoured and overjoyed, I take a lot of pride on behalf of everyone that’s doing the work and so I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to be there to receive that award with the board but certainly we know that it couldn’t be possible without the hard work of our staff,” said Young.
“I am pleased to see the Northern Lights School Division Board of Education’s innovative approaches to promoting indigenous culture in education,” said Education Minister Everett Hindley. “The Government of Saskatchewan applauds the division for its leadership in reconciliation through education.”
Young stated that there is still a lot of work to be done and the NLSD will continue to grow and work on their cultural and language programs but it’s important for staff to take the time to celebrate this big accomplishment.