Kim Leary glances over at one of her students. He is slowly and methodically passing a soccer ball from one foot to the other. He is a gifted soccer player, so his uncharacteristically sloppy movements reveal something more to the teacher observing him carefully. “You look less energetic than usual,” Leary says. She asks him [...]
Shelly Johnson, whose traditional name is Mukwa Musayette, meaning “walking with the bears,” was among the aboriginal graduates who recently received a PhD during the May 2012 ceremony at UBC. The event was more than just a celebration of personal accomplishment for Johnson. She is one of 11 aboriginal students who got graduate degrees this [...]
Heajung Son said she was terrified when two men banged on the door of her apartment and demanded to be let in. The men, the building owner and an employee, eventually unlocked the door and confronted her roommates about three months of unpaid rent, said Son. Son, an ESL student from Korea, said she and [...]
Vancouver’s first aboriginal school program has almost tripled its enrolment since August. The program, located at Sir William MacDonald Elementary School in northeast Vancouver, has increased enrolment to 16 students from six in the first four grades now being accepted. Continued growth could result in expanding the program into the secondary-school system, said Vancouver school [...]
Over 2,000 students from all over the world recently gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the 21st World Model United Nations Conference. Also known as WorldMUN 2012, it is an annual student simulation of the UN. The local and international students attending the mini-UN came to debate, negotiate and solve challenging global issues, such [...]
Ryan Clayton and Kaitlin Burnett traveled to Victoria, B.C., late last month to meet with Minister of Education George Abbott. During their meeting, they handed him 250 letters written on purple paper, each one asking that a sexual orientation and gender identity policy aimed at stopping homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism in schools be implemented province-wide. [...]
Vancouver’s Non-Partisan Association (NPA) candidates for school board are proposing a new way to pay for future city schools: public/private partnerships. “We have been promoting [the ‘no-cost’ model] and it’s no different from what we’ve done in the past. It’s just that we need to get it out there,” said the NPA’s Ken Denike. The [...]
The city needs to improve Aboriginal education, says Vancouver School Board (VSB) chairperson and municipal candidate Patti Bacchus. “The graduation rates are fairly abysmal and school completion rates for students who complete high school are shockingly low relative to non-aboriginal students,” she said. As of 2009, 47 per cent of Aboriginal students enrolled in grade [...]
In January 2011 Jo-ann Archibald held community consultation forums to determine the community support for a school with an “Aboriginal lens.” Parents, students, teachers and stakeholders were asked a variety of questions. Related: Vancouver aspires to improve Aboriginal schooling A student forum at MacDonald elementary on Jan. 21, had 55 participants. The forum asked for [...]
The Ministry of Education will contribute $353 million to construction of new schools in British Columbia. The plan includes approval for a new elementary school in International Village. “The International Village school, it has been on the school board’s capital plan request for about ten years. It moved up to first place in 2009 after we [...]
