Students from Sydney and the surrounding areas were in for a special treat Feb. 16/05 at the Membertou Trade and Convention Center.  There were approximately 800 students in all from grades primary to six who attended the show.  They were entertained by Beolach, Eric Angus Whyte, and Joel Denny and the Denny Family.  The show was well enjoyed by everyone with clapping, dancing, and screams of excitement.  This was the perfect way to get all fired up the ECMA 72 hour Showcase weekend.

Claire Gloade

Saturday, February 19, 2005 was a night to remember.  The Membertou Trade and Convention Center was host to the Aboriginal Showcase for the ECMA’s.  We all had the pleasure of seeing and listening to the extraordinary talents of Joel Denny and the Denny Family, Morning Star, Forever, and Andrew “Mooney” Francis, all from the Eskasoni First Nation community.  We also heard from The Gary Sappier Experience hailing in from Tobique First Nation, NB.  Also introduced to us were Meshikamau, an Innu band from Labrador, NL.    We all enjoyed the sweet sounds of a young lady all of but 16 years old.  These bands were very enjoyable to the people of NS.  Everyone enjoyed the night with dance and excitement but no one expected that an actual ECMA was going to be handed out to one of these talented groups.  And no one thought that George Canyon was the one to be handing it out.  Forever won the ECMA for Aboriginal Recording.  This was and extra special night for all who attended and I’m proud to have been part of it all.

Claire Gloade

L-R  Spencer Wilmot; CME, Eleanor “ Tu’Ti” Bernard; MK, Danny Paul; Author, Valerie Marshall-Bowers; Special Education Consultant, MK

The above pictured Scholars and Educators, were among an illustrious group invited to the “Education Partners Forum.”  The site was the CEC High School in Truro, NS on Feb. 18 & 19, 2005.  This Forum brought together about 500 individuals from across Nova Scotia to discuss new concepts on how to achieve higher student outcomes.  Previous Canadian studies have shown that the NS Public School system has scored below the average national test results in Literacy and Numeracy.

This Forum then looked at what approaches could be implemented to increase these scores.  These approaches were contained in a consultants’ report that looked at other primary-12 programs across the country to identify “best practices” from high scoring provinces.  The greatest fear expressed by many of the Forum participants, was that the plan was already in place and this forum would be used to validate it.  The Education Minister ensured the group that their voices would be listened to and that a “Forum Proceedings Summary” would be distributed to all attendees.  This may/or would be in the form of a posting on the Department of Education web-site.

MK clearly stated to the forum that all these steps have to ho beyond blaming students for these results and to look at making changes System wide.  Examples such as: content delivery models that explore and use different delivery models to reflect the different learning styles of students especially the native ones.  All schools have to reach out to the Parents and the Communities to become active partners in the schooling of our Children.  A link to this proceedings summary will be made available in the future.

John J. Paul

Director of Programs and Services, MK

This will be the 5^th year that this symposium will be offered on May 16 and 17, 2005 at St. F.X. University in Antigonish. The success of this forum can be attributed to the efforts of the St. F.X. Education Department and Mi’kmaw participants who have facilitated this forum.

With the input and assistance of a committee drawn from First Nation educators in Nova Scotia, the symposium this year will focus on developing a framework document to Mi’kmaw Second Language. It will present a vision, principles and strategy statements for Mi’kmaw language instruction from P-12.

This forum continues to be supported by Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, Nova Scotia Department of Education, and Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

Previous conferences have focused on promotion of Mi’kmaw language in the schools as this most precious of gifts is being lost. The promotion and development of school-based strategies to stop and reverse this trend of language loss is the ultimate goal of this group.

Further information on this symposium and on previous conferences can be obtained from:

Jeff Orr, St. F. X. University, Antigonish, NS, Tel.: 902-867-2214 jorr@stfx.ca