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Aboriginal students distinguish themselves by academic excellence Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge soon to be announced First Nations University inks deal with university in Taiwan Canadian students help design experiment for Canadian Space Agency James Bay training board gets $1 million to prep locals for diamond mine jobs |
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| August 2006
Aboriginal students distinguish themselves by academic excellence Hydro-Québec is proud to announce the names of the winners of its 2006 Awards of Excellence, which recognize Aboriginal students for their academic achievement. This year, four college students and one university student from a pool of 25 candidates received awards. Nominations of outstanding quality came from seven of the eleven Québec Aboriginal nations. Along with a prize of $2,000, the university student will receive a 13-week internship in the environment field at Hydro-Québec’s offices in Montréal. The four college students will receive $1,000 each. In addition to highlighting the academic achievements of these students, Hydro-Québec is happy to encourage them in the pursuit of postsecondary studies. The company congratulates all the students who participated in the competition. LIST OF RECIPIENTS University student College students • Cassandre Sioui • Tawnie Miller • Jérémy Watso-Cournoyer Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge soon to be announced The Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge is a national short story writing contest of the Dominion Institute and sponsored by Enbridge Inc. We are challenging young Aboriginal people (Status, Non-status, Métis and Inuit) to take a moment in history and write about it from an Aboriginal perspective. Stories are judged by a panel of Aboriginal authors and community leaders, including Tantoo Cardinal, Tomson Highway, Drew Hayden Taylor and Chief Patrick Brazeau. Participants (ages 14-18 or 19-29) have the opportunity to win great prizes. First place winners will receive a cash prize, a trip to Ottawa for a special celebratory event and have their stories published in The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine. Additional prizes are awarded to participants whose stories finished in the top ten. Past entries to the contest have addressed issues like residential schools, the signing of the numbered treaties, the Red River Rebellion and the extinction of the Beothuk. We will be accepting entries for next year's contest until May 6, 2007. Watch Native Journal and the Writing Challenge website (www.our-story.ca) for the announcement of this year's winners. For information on contest rules visit www.our-story.ca or call The Dominion Institute at 1-866-701-1867. First Nations University inks deal with university in Taiwan AThe First Nations University of Canada has signed a health education exchange agreement with the Tzu Chi University of Taiwan. ``It is only through the sharing of experiences that we can learn from each other to advance the Aboriginal condition at home and abroad,'' Wes Heber of First Nations University said after the signing ceremony on July 21st. The agreement between the Regina-based university and the Tzu Chi University's Institute of Aboriginal Health will support the exchange of health sciences students and faculty within aboriginal communities in Canada and Taiwan. ``This agreement is going to provide an opportunity for our nursing students, in particular, to have an overseas international experience with other indigenous students in Taiwan,'' said Joyce Desjarlais, head of the Aboriginal health sciences program at First Nations University. ``Our students hopefully will have the opportunity not only for an urban experience through a cultural exchange with students from Taiwan, but will also experience health care as it is deliver in urban and rural communities,'' she said. The Aboriginal university, established in 1976 as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, has a history of international academic exchanges for faculty, students and researchers in Aboriginal education. Since its inception, Heber said, the university has signed 14 exchange agreements or memorandums of understanding. Over the past several years, the First Nations University has extended its co-operative exchange programs into the Asia-Pacific region. Exchange agreements have established with Aboriginal universities in China, Taiwan and the university is currently developing ties with the Charles Darwin University in Australia. Canadian students help design experiment for Canadian Space Agency Students from 12 Shad Valley summer programs across Canada recently delivered results of an important light pollution beta-test initiative to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). A shuttle launch planned for the end of August will see Canadian astronaut Steve McLean performing the same experiment on behalf of the CSA and NASA from beyond earth's atmosphere. Called the Canada/US Air Quality and Light Pollution Project, it will engage youth across North America before the next shuttle launch, scheduled for late August. The information collected by Shad students gives a strong sense of local light pollution and atmospheric conditions across Canada. More importantly, as the first youth to test the experiment, their results have influenced improvement of three key protocols to ensure the data collected by youth across North America will be statistically valid. Dr. Tom Stiff, PhD in theoretical astrophysics, working on behalf of CSA, invited Shad Valley students to pre-test the experiment, with the expectation that their results, methodology and data entry would help the CSA fine-tune the experiment and data collection initiative before its roll out to youth continent-wide. Dr. Stiff said, "Working with the Shad students has been wonderful. I can't imagine a more perfect group to field test a project of this scope." Shad Valley is an award-winning summer program for high potential Canadian youth in grades 10-12. 620 students are part of the 2006 program, hosted simultaneously at 12 university campuses across Canada from July 2 to 28. Participants for Shad Valley's 26th summer program were selected through a highly competitive application process that identifies emerging leaders by assessing applicants' intellect, drive, creativity, initiative, and interpersonal skills. Barry Bisson, Shad's president, says, "Shad Valley has a great formula - identify outstanding talent at a young age, help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset, encourage them to consider fields of study at university that will increase Canada's innovation capacity, and motivate them to take advantage of their advantage and have an impact. It's not a surprise that Shad students were so effective in testing the experiment for Dr. Stiff and the CSA." This is not the first time important organizations have teamed up with Shad Valley. Shad's more prominent third party supporters, partners and sponsors over the years have included the federal and provincial governments, RBC, Bell, Encana, IBM, TD, Scotiabank, Nova Chemicals, RIM, and Great West Life, among others. Shad's contribution to education in Canada is unparalleled by any other organization and has expanded the scope of education socio-demographically. Among Shad's many initiatives are a bilingual program at Universite Laval, a yearly program for high potential Aboriginal youth, and a $300,000 bursary fund to support students in need. Shad's unique formula for developing high-potential leaders has generated great results. Some of Shad's more prominent alumni include: Michael Brown senior RIM patent developer; Parker Mitchell, Top 40 Under 40 recipient and founder of Engineers Without Borders; Darlene Lim, Mars expert doing post-doctoral research at NASA; David Austin, Rhodes Scholar and VP at TD Capital; and, Joseph Wu, world-renowned commercial origami artist, among others. Shad also boasts 17 Rhodes scholars and Top 20 Under 20 and Top 40 Under 40 winners among its alumni. Youth interested in taking part in the experiment can log on to the CSA website in mid-August for instructions, www.space.gc.ca. Since 1981, Shad Valley has helped identify and develop a rich talent pool of thousands of young Canadians that will help Canada compete on th world stage. Creative and talented senior high school students, demonstratin strong academic and leadership abilities, are chosen from across Canada to participate in this annual cross-country program hosted by 12 of Canada's top universities. Shad Valley is a program of Shad International, the operating name of the Canadian Centre for Creative Technology (a Canadian registered charity). James Bay training board gets $1 million to prep locals for diamond mine jobs Those hoping to find work at the Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario will have a chance to get special training. The James Bay Employment and Training Board is getting $1 million from the province to fund the training. Training Minister Chris Bentley says the program's aim is to teach Aboriginal youth the skills needed to work at the diamond mine, located in a remote, fly-in-only area in the James Bay lowland region. Another $300,000 will be used to start pre-apprenticeship training projects in welding and construction trades. The diamond mine is expected to employ 375 people directly, with hundreds more projected to find spinoff work. Mine owner De Beers has pledged to give first preference for jobs to those living nearest the site, which are largely Aboriginal communities. |
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