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BG - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday June 14, 2006 —

~ Aboriginal youngsters

getting a headstart |

By SARAH A. ;
ZIMMERMAN

‘THE: ‘SOUND. of children:
playing ‘and, laughing  is*

‘ pervasive at early childhood

“education programs, both

on and off Teserves in \ the

Terrace area.
‘The communities of
- ‘Terrace, Kitselas and Kit-

‘sumkalum are home to sev-

eral different incarnations of
what’s called the Aboriginal

‘Head Start Program, a feder-
“~ally. funded program for ab-.
~‘original children throughout.

_ Canada.

The © ‘programs have six
objectives in.common: edu- .”

cation and school readiness,
“aboriginal culture. and lan-
guage, parental involvement,

* -health promotion,. nutrition

. ‘and social support..
But part of the program -

“is a desire to promote local

‘control over developing the
program to meet the needs
-of » the communities they
serve.

os «The three - programs in’
a Terrace, Kitselas: and.” Kit-

-sumkalum’ all vary slightly.

-_ “Th. Terrace, the Kermode -
- Friendship Centre’s program:

_is so popular there is a 35-

child waiting list. It offers .

pre-school programming for.

_ three- and four-year-olds.
_ . “There needs to be more -
._ preschool space made avail- -
‘able for this program,”

coordinator Diane Collins.
This year, in an effort to
meet the demand for the pro-

gram, a large intake of four-, .
year-olds was.made to-open::-
up space. this fall-for more

‘ children.

While the objective is to
give every child two years
of pre-Kindergarten devel-
opment, due to the demand
many children are only able
to take part for one year,
says Collins.

The, program’s success
both on and off reserve lies
largely in its mandate to pro-

‘mote’ lifelong learning and

Collins’
means a family involvement —
worker. works closely with -

says -

‘integrate a number of objec-
tives that promote a holistic
approach «to “learning , and

“recognizing the importance

of the years before the age

of six as being critical to a’.

child's development.

“One of its core. objec- ;

‘tives is lifelong learning,”
explains.

the parents and we do work-

_ shops with parents like read-
.ing and dental workshops

and we have feasts for. fam-

_ily-cultural involvement and
we have a big Christmas din-. -

ner. we work with Kermode
Friendship Centre on.” -.

‘»: The -Aboriginal Head
Start programs aré not just

-a daycare — the program

encourages working with

parents, extended families ;

and community elders to
promote cross generational

interaction and to teach chil-:

dren about the various First

Nations cultures in the re-
‘gion. . °

‘The Kermode Friendship

Centre has expanded. its of- |
- ferings to youngsters in the»

area by having a drop-in pro-

gram called The Community
Action Program for Children’

at its new satellite office on

‘the corner of Kalum St. and

Park Ave.

- The program encourages
parents to come in with their
children to play, visit and
learn together,’ says Lisa

‘Lawley.

“There are days parents
need to have a talk,” says

Lawley, adding the centre:.;

has child minders available
sO parents can talk to work-
ers’ knowing their children
are safe.

“The kids think it’s their
place,” she says, adding
many of the same parents
and children come in every

day. “To us we kind of run it,

but the kids own it.”
» Anne Wright is the early

childhood educator for the ©

head. start program on the

From Page B5
Local friendship centre

“That

Kitselas: reserve’s Gitaus
subdivision.
Whilé « the program's

"goals and objectives are the

same as other Head Start

programs, the program at

Kitselas-is for children two
and a half years old. to five
years old.

That: program has space
available for 15 children in

the morning and 15 children -

in the afternoon. At the mo-
ment, seven, children attend
the morning program and 10
attend in the afternoon. | —

Born and ‘raised on the:

Kitselas reserve herself,

Wright says it’s rewarding to’

now be teaching the young-
sters in her own community

_and preparing them for, jek

ementary school.

“I enjoy seeing the chil-
dren after they go on to
Grade 1 — as years go on I
see. them prospering and
turning into their own per-
son,” she says.

that is as similar as possible
to Kindergarten so they will
be feeling comfortable when
they get there.”

-‘And on the west side of |
Kitsumkalum’s |

Terrace,
Head Start program is just

. slightly different than ‘the

others.

Rather than _ offering

half day programming for: |

schooling, the Gila Kyew
Nluulk (Robin’s Nest) Head
Start and Daycare offers full
day child minding for par-'

ents, says its. manager Lil-_

lian Samson.
With 17 spaces and no

waiting list, the program is-

open to children of people
who live on the Kitsum-

kalum reserve or band mem-
. bers living off reserve.

Just like the other pro-
grams, Kitsumkalum’s Head

_ Start. centre focusses on

lifelong learning, elder and
community involvement and
‘cultural and language build-

‘serves many people

“We have an open door policy,” she said,
adding the centre tries to meet the needs of
the multicultural community. “As much as
we include aboriginal culture, anyone can

receive the services.’

’ The busy slate keeps: the centre’ s staff
and the building on Kalum St, busy, which
. hasn't always been the case, says Weston, an
“employee there for three years.

Tt yous were to have walked by {the :

“buzzing.

Weston.

friendship centre] three years ago, there
wasn’t much activity — now the place is just

“We're meeting the needs that are
out there and that makes us proud,”

Anniversary ‘celebrations will coincide
with Riverboat Days.

‘Kermode Friendship Centre is located at
3313 Kalum Street.

t

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Serving the Aboriginal people of the Northwest for over 26
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said . -

Diane Collins —

ing.

ing even though they’ have

“preschool aged children at ao

home.

““T think it’s really: impor-
tant that adults now have a
choice about wanting to go

back to school or going back ©

to work — they can leave their
children’ at their daycare,
comfortable in the knowl-

- edge that their children will

“I am very rewarded be- ©
_cause I try to help the. chil-
dren have an environment

be well taken care of,” says
Samson, adding the daycare
is free for parents.

.. “If you have a low-end _
job then basically all of your -

money would be going to

child care and it just makes

things a little bit easier for

them and to make better .
choices for their living.”

- But the whole-day pro-
"gramming also gives parents. "|
the ability to pursue acareer, ~
skills training: or school-_

Journée

sN National nationale des

wN Aboriginal - Autochtones
Day os

Pembina Pipeline Corporation would like to express
our support for National Aboriginal Day. Pembina ~
values and recognizes the ongoing contributions of :
Aboriginal cultures’ and peoples to Canada. We are
‘ committed to strengthening our relationships with
Aboriginal governments and communities.

PEMBINNY —

| MERIERIclom Ret ———e ;
Pembina Pipeline Corporation a ; |.

Province of
British Columbia

Robin Austin
* “MLA Elect Skeena

“ap WO Toot wed a aUeby

~ gee & "le r
SA Pent ral

Congratulations to all First Nations
on National Aboriginal Day! —

I am pleased to celebrate with others, the many contributions
aboriginal people have made to British Columbia.

-extends congratulations
to all First Nations on.
National Aboriginal Day.

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