Native students get boost by new $1 million program By CRIS LEYKAUF WHY AREN’T more native students graduating from high school? It’s a question the school district is trying to solve through money from the education ministry. This year the district is spending more than $1 mil- lion to help aboriginal stu- dents and to promote First Nations culture, ‘ Of “that sum, about $420,000 was carried over from last year. That’s be- cause the school district and Tepresentalives from the lo- cal native ~— community couldn’t agree on how 10 spend the money. So that left district admin- istrators with a lot of mancy fo spend this year on aboriginal education. ‘The money was targeted by the education ministry solely for this purpose, And ‘it’s money well Spent, according ta the school district’s new direc- tor of First Nations educa- tion, Dr. Kenn Whyte, ‘We've’ always known THE FIRST NATIONS resource team at Clarence about (problems facing ma- Wichiel Elementary hosted a feast recently for staff at tive students), but we didn't the school. Each guest was given a keepsake gift have enough resources todo with four ribbons on it, representing the four nations anything about it,’ said The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 16, 1996 - A3 News in Brief Bs of the world. It was the first of many traditional lun- ches which the team plans to host. They plan to invite staff fram other schools and hope parents will help in preparing the lunches. Whyte. Aside from Whyte, 12 other peaple have been hired. They form a First Nations Resource Team. Half are located at Clarence Michiel Elementary, and they run a language and culture program out of the school. [ts members are also a resource for the entire school communily. The language and culture centre will be avail- able to the entire community, said Barbara Toye-Welsh, principal of First Nations educa- tion and head of the centre. “It will offer a real living experience of First Nations culture,’’ she said. “We want it to be a natural process and a given, that we are in Tsmishian and north coast cultural territory,’ said Toye-Welsh, “‘It’s not just the dance and song, having someone come in, and then you can say — we've done our cul- tural thing.’’ For instance, if a class is studying button blankets, students can study related songs in music, how buttons were used for counting in math classes and in physics look at the patterns on the button blankets. Toye-Welsh predicts students probably won’t see the programs in the classroom until the end of October. There are also four home school coordinators based around the city who act to bridge the gap between parents and the school. “Their role is a3 an advocate, helping when- ever they can, being a friend and a confidant,” said Whyte. Since poverty is an issue with many native families, the coordinator’s job can be as simple as making sure a child gets lunch. There are also two new high school First Na- tions counsellors — onc at Skeena and one at Caledonia. One of the duties of this new resource team is to collect information on native students, says Whyte. Out of a student population of 5,500, approxi- mately 1,500-1,600 are of native ancestry. Whyte wants to determine how many native children are in each school, which nation they are from, and how their education is progress- ing, “Are a whole lot at risk right away, or does it happen at the junior high level?’’ Whyte said of one question that needed answering. He hopes the increased spending is the best way to avoid far more expensive problems later on. **More First Nations people are being hired, and there’s more awareness between teachers and parents,’ Whyte said of the progress that has already been made. It’s been a litle long in coming here, added Whyte in refercing to initial disagreements be- tween the school district and the local native community on how money available from the ministry should be spent. *“But] want to emphasize there really is a truc parinership here between the district and the First Nations community. It was hard coming, ' but it’s a good one now.” Paint depot opens STEWART IS the latest northwest location for a paint collection depot sponsored by the B,C. Paint Care As- sociation, It's located at Tidewater Equipment and joins depots here and in Kitimat as locations accepting surplus paint. The idea is to collect paint which can then be recycled or reused instead of having it poured down drains or thrown away at garbage dumps, Only latex or oil-based paints in original containers are being accepted for now. The depots won’t take sol- vents, acrosol containers, automotive and marine anti- fouling paint or paint in unlabelled or glass containers, The paint care association is made up of the majority of paint manufacturers in Canada. DFO nets fishers THE DEPARTMENT of Fisheries and Oceans con- linues to patrol the waters and shores of our rivers for lawbreaking anglers. And despite not having held any roadblocks recently, officers have caught anglers for a number of infractions, Several people have been charged for illegal use of bait, angling withoul a proper licence, angling without a sicellicad stamp, allempting to snag fish, fishing in a closed area and fishing with more than one linc. Welfare rule revived ALTHOUGH DEFEATED in a court action, the provincial govemmment has brought back in its con- troversial three-month social assislance residency re- quirement. This time the requirement to live in B.C. for three months before being eligible to collect is coming under new Icgislation. But the province has also established an appeals pro- cess for those who feel they were turned down unjust- ly. The original three-month requirement was heavily crilicized by welfare advocacy groups and by the feder- al government which said the move threatened ihe uni- versal aspect of Canadian social assistance plans. No password, no money BRUTE FORCE was unsuccesful in a recent robbery attempt ou a Kitwanga automatic teller machine. Around 4 a.m. Oct. 7 suspects entered the Kitwanga Petro Canada service station. They tried to use a chain to pull the front portion of the ATM. The chain was strung through the rear entrance of the buidling and at- tached to a large log loader which had been stolen from a ncarby logging site, The suspects weren’t able to gain entry to the ATM, however they did cause extensive damage. Police are asking anyone who may have information to call Cst. Jay Donahue of the New Hazelton detach- ment at 842-5244, Northern Savings has an open and shut case when it comes to service and convenience. Simply put, we’re open when the banks are shut - later in the day, on Saturdays, and we're opening branches, not closing them. . We're open for business loo - large or small, your business s account 18 welcome at Northern Savings. And when il comes to local support, we are and always will be open to: the needs of our . community. , member-owned... .triendly .. Some words say it all. Case closed. Local . Experience the difference yourself. . Join us for refreshments on Saturday, October 19th. Nd Prince Rupert Queen Charlotte 627-7571 - 559-4407 “Masset _ N O RTHER N Terrace 523: SAVINGS 638-7822 626-5231 Did you know... We Design & Print Business Cards & Letterhead! Terrace’s new area code, (250) is in effect October 1, 1996. October Special 500 Business cards Black & 1 color $415 TERRACE. ~ STANDARD 3210 Clinton St. Terrace 638-7283 * Sam * Karen * Rick * Janet