Gilakas’la,
Welcome to the November issue of our Indigenous Education Newsletter.
As we prepared this edition of our Indigenous Education newsletter, we reflected back on the incredible changes we’ve seen in the last 9 months. COVID-19 has changed our world and impacted every aspect of our work and personal lives. For Indigenous Education at NIC, it also provided unique opportunities for us to rethink how we approach our educational work and our work toward connection and reconciliation.
We transitioned our language courses to online learning, with positive feedback from students who were able to access courses from across the region. The challenge of transitioning land-based cultural learning into an online format led to students building their community online and fostering connections that would not have been possible before.
This fall also marked a milestone for us at our Campbell River campus with the ground-breaking on our new Gathering Place. This new space has been years in the planning and will provide a new, indoor space for Indigenous students and the entire college community to use and enjoy. We want to thank the Gathering Place Committee for their guidance and leadership throughout consultation and design process.
As we look to the months ahead, we know there will be continued challenges in terms of program delivery and project development, but our last few months have shown the commitment, dedication and passion that our entire NIC community has in ensuring our students have the best experience possible.
If you know of a positive news story, project or activity that you want to share, please let us know: ab.ed@nic.bc.ca.
- Kelly Shopland
Director, Aboriginal Education
