Dreaming big

Bruce Meeseetawageesic dreams of one day becoming a social worker in his home community of Fort Hope First Nation.

“The youth in Fort Hope are not really on track anymore,” he said. “They don’t look forward to doing anything, like education and becoming something.”

Meeseetawageesic, 20, is working toward his high school diploma at the Matawa Learning Centre so he can become a social worker, go back to Fort Hope and help guide the youth.
 
He’s one of 27 students at the learning centre, which opened its doors in September 2010 but held a grand opening ceremony Thursday morning.
 
The centre was designed to help Matawa First Nations students complete their high school education after first trying traditional high school.

The small size of the facility – one classroom and one full-time teacher – can be an easier setting to learn than a high school with 1,200 students when arriving from a remote community, said learning centre principal Denise Baxter.

“The city is a bit of a culture shock,” she said. “In most of the northern communities, you can walk from one end to the other; it might take half an hour but you can do it.”

She added there’s also not as much bureaucracy as the public school system, so social supports and outside assistance from experts in subjects like literacy, numeracy and even geography can be accessed quicker.

“It’s like a family in that sense,” Baxter said. “We’re all together eight hours a day. In that family kind of environment you certainly do start to learn when someone’s not at 100 per cent and it allows you to give them that support they need.”

Meeseetawageesic agreed the friendly atmosphere at the centre is what makes an ideal place to learn.

“It has a warm environment,” he said. “It’s a home kind of feeling.”

While some of the students were overwhelmed by the regular high school setting, others have obtained several credits and just want something more focused, so they turn to the learning centre.

“They might be 18 or 19 and thinking ‘Oh, I’m just sick of high school,’” said Baxter. “They know they want to graduate. They have a goal…Some of them are still finding their path and some of them are well on it and know exactly what they want to do.”

The Matawa Learning Centre is about 3,000 square feet and features two classrooms and a computer lab.