Tatawow to MESC’s annual Nehiyawatisiwin Conference. This years conference theme is Kiskisototâmowin - Remembering. MESC’s planning committee was guided by the Circle of Elders to select the conference theme.
The power of one word lessons and why it's important to know how to ask questions. Cree Simon will present how one word in the Cree language can be a spark of conversation, learning and a great motivational set for classroom lessons. The presentation will also examine common questions often asked of fluent speakers and why it's important to be mindful of what we are asking, who we are asking and sometimes why it's important when we are asking.
First time presenter but life long L1 speaker of the Cree language. Fluent in 4 of 5 dialects in western Canada. Teacher by profession, school administer by requirement, Social media content creator with over 20,000 members as a hobby.
An inspiring presentation of the importance of caring for your energetic health. You will learn energetic healing techniques that will help you heal your energetic body, maintain and protect your personal energy and connect with your inner intuition. Everything is Energy.
Heighten self esteem of students. Rock Music, contemporary music and genres, Indigenous themed music appreciation and instruction highlight my program. I seek out talent to perform or produce videos to enhance our promotion. Often students use music as a therapy tool. To express musically is to enhance courage and intelligence.
Meet and learn about the role of MESC’s School Resource Officers. MESC works with four SRO’s: Holly Porterfield, Stephanie Corbett, Colin Efford, and Garrett Dove. Meet Holly Porterfield to share and discuss how the SRO's supports our students and schools.
Maskwacîs Education Schools Commission (MESC) is pleased to offer an interactive high-quality Misatim Horsemanship Program to engage and empower students to develop confidence and resilience through a safe educational experience with horses while reinforcing MESC’s foundational values of Îyinîw Mâmitonehicikan (Indigenous Thought), Nehiyaw Pimâtisiwin (Cree Life), Nehiyawewin (Cree Language) and Wâhkôhtowin (Relationship and Kinship). Please join our Mistaim facilitators, Warren Omeasoo and Dianne Crane to learn more about this incredible program. Warren and Dianne are both CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association) certified.
Wilfred Buck is a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and educator. His passion for “looking up at the stars” has led him into a lifelong career of researching ininew star stories. Please join Wilfred and his oskapwew in his mobile planetarium to experience seeing star constellations and listening to their associated stories from ininew stories. Sessions are approximately 20 minutes each with a maximum capacity of 40 per session.
Autism in Indigenous communities is a highly underserved and under researched area. Drawing from his own personal experiences as a father to autistic children and as a PhD in Medical Sciences student who is researching autism in the community of Maskwacis, the speaker Grant Bruno, will weave together a story that includes both personal and academic evidence that will shed light on the realities of autism in Indigenous communities in Canada.
Chief Delorme brings a message with personal journey experience, driving truth to assure truth comes before reconciliation and provides options to assure reconciliation is understood and empowered by all. With his message, storytelling, humour, and delivering truth in a means that is empowering minds.
Violence Threat and Risk Assessment (VTRA) Awareness. VTRA is a comprehensive model ideal for identifying persons of concern early in the pathway to more serious violence, and for assessment and intervention strategies where there is an identified risk. The goal of this session is to provide an awareness of the VTRA model and how communication, school culture, and the power of positive meaningful human connection are the best violence prevention strategies we can utilize.
Coordinator of Collaborative Intervention, Student Services
I've worked in Maskwacis for over 20 years as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal and am currently in a new role as Coordinator of Collaborative Intervention with MESC's Student Services Branch. I love to learn new Cree words and phrases. Talk to me about how you are learning... Read More →
Bridging Western thought with Nehiyaw thought is our current challenge. Indigenous pedagogy requires us to stretch ourselves past traditional forms of education that can only be found in the spirit of the nehiyawak. Iyiniw mamtonecikan is a way of thinking and being that can only be achieved by seeking, delving, sifting, and taking courage as it often doesn’t align with western ideas of our existences. This presentation will demonstrate the exploration of understanding the concept of iyiniw mamtonecikan and its application that is still a work in progress.
Art is a way of knowing. When we engage in art can be the beginning of a journey to explore our beliefs. We may find the reason for pain or depression or identify sources of joy and creative potential. Expressive art-making inevitably reveals our personal stories: including our feelings, thoughts, experiences, values, and cultural nuances. In art therapy, we are given a way to know ourselves through a new process and an opportunity to transform our perspective. The process of art therapy and its potential to help people grow, rehabilitate, and heal also comes from the actual making of the art. Mainly, this will be an experiential learning hour. The participant will be invited to engage in several expressive art activities. Adults tend to think that they have no artistic talent as their previous experiences were in the elementary grades; these may have been good or bad. No skill is required as all activities will be based on a high-sensitivity and low-skill model. Everyone has the ability to be creative through art.
The Learning Services Branch has been working hard to develop and deliver quality curriculum and resources to support MESC students and teachers. To date, curriculum has released three curricula (Wahkotowin, Nehiyawewin, Nehiyawatisiwin) and developed numerous resources to support the future implementation of MESC's K-9 nehiyawewin. MESC schools. Join the Learning Services Branch members as they showcase these exciting new resources and programs to support MESC students and teachers.
This session will highlight tips, tricks, and best practices when incorporating Technology in your classroom while weaving in Cree Language & Culture. There will be a brief overview of Google tools, Canva, and other Programs/Apps that will allow you, the educator, to focus on the curriculum, while weaving in Cree language & Culture in easy and efficient ways.
In our role as a Student and Family Support Workers we work collaboratively with students’ families within the context of the school, and community. Furthermore, we work collaboratively to build the capacity of the persons in our care within the life-spaces where they work, play, learn and live. We model the core values of Wahkotowin (good relations), Iyiniw Mamotohnehickikan (Cree though), Nehiyaw Pimatisiwin (Way of life, open mind), and Nehiyawewin (Cree Identity, self- reflection). We believe in building relationships in the space between (where we collaborate). A space that provides therapeutic care by working for, alongside and together with the child, youth and their families. We work to empower personal agency (student power) and reduce the harm that hinders persons in our care from striving. We are mindful of cultural humility (self -reflection, I am not an expert) and cultural competence (inquiry) through knowing (and not- knowing), doing and the being of praxis. Our professional practice promotes care from the inside out. We look forward to sharing our perspective with you. Thank you for your attention.
