Summer camp opens doors for aboriginal youth

Science, law, medicine, astronomy, and leadership are just a few topics that students from Maskwacis, Alberta will learn about this summer during a camp on the University of Calgary campus.

Twenty-five junior and senior high school students from the Four Nations (Samson, Louis Bull, Montana, and Ermineskin) are taking part in the full student experience July 6-17, living on campus and attending classes meant to expose them to a wide range of study and career options.

This year’s camp — put on by the Native Ambassador Post-Secondary Initiative (NAPI) at the Native Centre, in partnership with the Youth Education and Career Pathways (YECP) program at Meskanahk Ka-Nipa-Wit School —  is focused on introducing students to STEM programs.

“We want to inspire our youth and encourage them to pursue a post-secondary education one day,” said Mallaina Friedle, the NAPI program co-ordinator and YECP camp co-ordinator. “We are trying to expose them to a little bit of everything.”

Over the course of two weeks, students will take part in interactive science experiments with Minds in Motion, experience a mock trial with Canadian Lawyers Abroad, visit the Foothills campus for Mini Med School, and participate in sessions with the University of Calgary Recruitment and the Native Centre.

They will also spend an afternoon off campus, volunteering with local non-profit Grow Calgary, which provides fresh produce to the Calgary Interfaith Foodbank.

For Christine Yellowbird, a Grade 11 student who is in her third year of the program, being able to attend the camp means experiencing new things every day. “I am pretty thankful all of the instructors are here taking their time to teach us; without them we wouldn’t be able to have this experience,” said Yellowbird, adding that the session on career interests helped her think more about her strengths and what kinds careers might be best for her.

Grade 12 student Ignatius Cattleman is in his fourth and final year of the program and said his favourite part of the experience has been meeting new people and gaining leadership skills as a senior student. “I want to be a role model for some of the younger students, so they have someone to look up to,” said Cattleman.

Although he hasn’t decided exactly what he is doing next year, Cattleman said he wants it to include post-secondary school, a decision he said he probably wouldn’t have made without the YECP program.

This is the sixth year the program has been in operation and the second year the camp has been hosted at the University of Calgary.