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First Nations students learn hands-on natural resource sector skills

THUNDER BAY -- Give a student a desk and a classroom and they might doze off. But send them into the woods to learn how to use buzz saws or teach them how to use drones and you might just get their attention for life.
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Students taking part in the First Nations Youth Employment Program test out drones on Wednesday in a field off Highway 130. (Leith Dunick, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY -- Give a student a desk and a classroom and they might doze off.

But send them into the woods to learn how to use buzz saws or teach them how to use drones and you might just get their attention for life.

Forty-eight Aboriginal students from across Northern Ontario are getting just that chance over a six-week period this summer, taking part in the First Nations Youth Employment Program. The hands-on activities free the youth, aged 16 to 19, from classroom shackles and open up a world of opportunities, teaching them leadership and skills while opening their eyes to potential career paths in the natural resource sector.

That’s just what Savannah Bondy was hoping for when she signed up last summer.

The 18-year-old Migisi Sahgaigan First Nation student said she took a course two years ago through the Ministry of Natural Resources and fell in love with outdoor work.

“When I worked for the MNR I found it really interesting and it was super fun because I was with three others from my community,” she said, taking a break from activities along the trails of Kamview Nordic Centre.

“This opportunity came up and I decided to apply because it seemed fun.”

She’d much rather be outside than at a desk.

“The hands-on experience is a lot better. I’d rather be out in the forest learning stuff than being stuck in the classroom,” said Bondy, who plans to attend Confederation College, partners in the program since 2000 with Outland Camps.

Lakehead University joined forces with them a year ago.

Anya Scheibmayr, the program supervisor for Outland Camps, said students are learning a wide variety of skills while taking part in the program, where the focus this week is on science.

Students spent Wednesday morning touring Resolute Forest Product’s Thunder Bay facility, then learned how to measure trees and fly drones in the afternoon session.

“The idea really is to introduce the youth to different jobs in the natural resource industry and also different post-secondary options through the college or the university,” Scheibmayr said.

“The idea behind it is to introduce them to those things and then also build a community within themselves and within the management there.”

Older students take on mentorship roles with younger ones during the program’s six-week run.

Kapuskasing, Ont.’s Warren Iserhoff, 19, took part the past two years and is now a crew-leader-in-training in 2016. 

He said it seemed like a fun thing to do, when it was first introduced to him at his high school.

“I enjoy the outdoors … and it was a really good experience to have because you get to meet new people and make new friends.”



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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