Meet SD 57’s 1st Director of Aboriginal Education
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PRINCE GEORGE – Pam Spooner is on the job today, arriving back in the city just yesterday to assume her new position as the Director of Aboriginal Education for School District 57. Her job will be to help incorporate First Nations culture into the curriculum and into the general classroom setting, all of which she hopes will improve the quality of education for all students.
“It’s never ever just one thing. It’s never ever just one person. It’s never ever just one department. It’s never ever one thing that’s affecting graduation rates,” says Spooner, who was both a teacher and principal at Nusdeh Yoh, the District’s first Aboriginal choice school. “I think its the relationship-building of the support staff, the teachers, the principals. And it’s really allowing families to feel safe in schools and students feeling that sense of pride.”
District 57 has seen modest increases in aboriginal graduation rates and the hope is to build upon that. But that education comes with a greater appreciation of the land upon which you live.
“It really defines who we are as Indigenous people and it is actually your connection to that land, too. Lheidli T’enneh means “People of the Confluence” where the Nechako and the Fraser meet. I am Gitxsan. Gitxsan means “People of the River of the Mist.” It really explains the territory you live in.”
