Holland College | First Nations youth get first-hand experience
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First Nations youth get first-hand experience

This July, while other kids were hitting the beach or staying cool playing video games in their basements, 11 Grade 11 and 12 students from Scotchfort were taking part in a whirlwind program designed to give them exposure to a multitude of employment and career opportunities available to them with training from Holland College after they graduate from high school.

The Pathways program is an initiative of the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island Employment Services program with support from the Abegweit First Nation. The pilot youth summer camp was designed by Holland College’s Office of Contract Training and staff from the College’s Transitions program, which runs throughout the school year for high school students.

Jeff Brant, Director, Socio-Economic Development, for the Mi’kmaq Confederacy sees the program as a crucial service to offer to aboriginal youth.

"This program is extremely important to the overall development of the aboriginal workforce in the province, as it provides much needed exposure to the employment and career opportunities available to young aboriginal people living in P.E.I. This program provides hands on learning in an environment that lets the participants explore all they can be," he said.

Students participated in interactive activities at Holland College’s Culinary Institute of Canada, the Canadian Golf Academy, the Charlottetown and Georgetown centres, and the Aerospace Centre at Slemon Park in Summerside. Students tried their hands at a variety of skills including carpentry, preparing a gourmet meal, putting, chipping, and re-gripping a golf club, changing oil and tires, setting a table and serving a meal, welding, attending to the elderly, and building a wind turbine. Throughout the program, guest speakers visited the students to discuss their areas of expertise.

Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island Employment Services is hopeful that the success of this pilot project will lead to camps every summer, providing a valuable tool for increasing employment levels of aboriginal people and building sustainable aboriginal communities.
The project was funded through the Government of Canada’s Aboriginal Human Resources Strategy with additional financial and in-kind contributions from the Abegweit First Nation.

For more information about this release, please contact:
Sara Underwood, Media and Communications Officer
Tel: 902-566-9695
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009