School District 10, June 18: Indigenous Education Program a big success this year

Mike Hibberson, lead of the Indigenous Education Program, and Michael Garvey, District Elder, gave the board an overview of Indigenous education during the year.

The Indigenous Education Program offers culturally relevant programming and services to students with Indigenous ancestry. Its goal is to increase students’ connection to school and community in ways that reflect Indigenous values and perspectives.

The team includes Hibberson, Garvey, Superintendent Peter Dubinsky, Elders, community members, and Indigenous support teachers (ISTs).

ISTs support Indigenous students academically and socially-emotionally through regular check-ins, setting goals, and monitoring progress. They also bring in resources for teachers to bring Indigenous perspectives into the curriculum.

Garvey’s Elder-in-Residence program has been a “huge upgrade” for the district this year, said Hibberson, bringing consistency across schools.

“It’s been a wonderful experience to be able to go in and be with the kids,” said Garvey.

Each school has been different in terms of its Indigenous awareness and knowledge, he said. He focused on bringing them all to the same level by working on consistent teachings throughout the year.

Some of those teachings include healing and talking circles, smudging, the medicine wheel, and the Seven Grandfathers teachings. Garvey spends time with students one-on-one, and also takes groups out on field trips.

One highlight for Garvey was the Circle of Courage, a framework of how Indigenous people raise their children, he said. The circle includes belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity.

He noticed that students began to use the Circle of Courage as a template for character analysis during novel studies. Garvey shared some writing from a grade 5 student, who used the Circle of Courage attributes to connect with the character in the novel.

Garvey appreciated the times he was able to spend with students.

“Being able to go into class – even math class – and taking a break and sitting in circle with students and just having really good conversations,” he said.

His teachings helped students learn how to deal with challenging situations, which was rewarding.

Hibberson will be stepping away from leading Indigenous education next school year, as he transitions from principal of Nakusp Elementary to principal of Nakusp Secondary.

“I’m really proud of the Indigenous Education Program in our district,” said Superintendent Dubinsky. “I would hold it up against any other district, and that’s because of the dedication and time and effort of our leadership, our Indigenous support teachers, and our elders.”

Distributed learning report

Mitchell Hemphill, principal of Lucerne Elementary Secondary School and the Arrow Lakes Distributed Learning School, gave an update on ALDL. Hemphill joined the district in January.

The growth goal for ALDL this year was connectedness.

“We want to make sure the students are connected to learning, to their teachers, to the school and, most importantly, connected to the community,” said Hemphill.

ALDL teachers Scott Kipkie and Stephanie Mervyn do an excellent job with this, he said, by organizing events and activities like skating, rock climbing, skiing, break dancing, cake decorating, and poetry.

“What I’m really pleased about is the move to integrate into schools so that it’s not just an either or,” said Superintendent Dubinsky. “DL can be an option, but you can still be [at the school]… True blended learning.”

As of June 18, ALDL has 51 students. Kipkie, who teaches out of Lucerne, has 25 and Mervyn, based in Nakusp, has 26.

Starting in October, ALDL will be transitioning its online learning platform from Moodle to Brightspace, a Canadian, cloud-based software suited for schools.

Student achievement data

Superintendent Dubinsky shared the student achievement data.

Every spring, teachers of grades K-10 give a summative assessment of student achievement in numeracy, reading, and writing. Teachers use the proficiency scale (emerging, developing, proficient, extending) to assess each student.

The district then collects and collates the data to track progress and determine goals for class, school, and district levels. This is the fourth year the district has done this assessment.

What makes these assessments especially exciting, said Dubinsky, is that it tracks cohorts of students over years.

“This is where we start to get some meat on the bones,” he said.

Students complete the provincial Foundation Skills Assessments (FSAs) and Graduation Numeracy and Literacy Assessments only once or twice throughout their school years. The district Student Achievement Data assessments on the other hand, are done every year.

Having data from every year for every student allows the district to more easily track how well students are doing, and where there could be improvements, he said.

“We can start asking some questions,” said Dubinsky. “What are we doing well? What are some of the areas we need to improve?”

School growth plans align to strategic plan

The board adopted school growth plans for each of its schools, including Arrow Lakes Distributed Learning.

The school growth plans are part of the Ministry’s Continuing Improvement Cycle, which requires the district to have a strategic plan.

“Once we completed the strategic plan this year, we embarked on the process to try and improve our school plans to make sure they’re connected to the priorities of the strategic plan, and to really try and engage school staff,” said Dubinsky.

Over the last few months, school staff examined what they’re currently doing and what needs to be addressed, then connected it to the strategic plan to come up with inquiry questions.

The end results are plans that are purposeful, meaningful, and engaging, said Dubinsky. Goals are varied across the district. The growth plans are unique to each school, and are aligned with the district’s strategic plan.

Technology plan adopted

The board adopted the 2024-2029 Long-Range Technology Plan, which is updated annually.

The plan covers technologies in three areas: school and student technologies, like laptops, iPads, and A/V equipment used by staff and students; district technologies, used for administration and operations; and networking and infrastructure, including servers, internet and Wi-Fi access.

In the process of developing the plan, the district engaged with employees, students, parents and guardians, partner groups, and other stakeholders. 26 teachers responded to a survey, giving a good sense of the technology, software, and devices being used in classrooms. Technology questions were also part of the budget survey sent out in April.

Some plans for 2024-2025 include upgrading A/V equipment in classrooms, upgrading student and staff devices, and supporting staff with a new Learning Technologies Helping Teacher.

Students in the district are well-served, with a greater than one-to-one device/student ratio. The majority of devices are Chromebooks, and the remainder iPads. All devices are retired and replaced after four to five years of service, at a cost of $40,000 per year.

Staff and students use an array of software, such as Office 365, G-Suite, Open Parachute (Social and Emotional Learning K-12), Rosetta Stone, and MyBluePrint. Software licencing costs $60,000 per year.

The technology budget for 2024-25 is $271,000.

Rachael Lesosky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Valley Voice