Creative Educational Solutions

The First Nations Postsecondary Institute will begin to offer courses to aboriginal students in Odanak in September 2011. A wonderful opportunity for "Quebec" First nations youth :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILelqjXmSYk&feature=related

This week I went to see Waiting for Superman, a film about the state of the US education system. I came away with the message that nothing is working anymore in American “public” education systems and “private” schools. For children to succeed, quality schools must be created with good teachers in them. Or so the message goes.

( … ) Our children arrive in the world fresh-eyed and full of marvel, ready to offer their gifts and talents. They grow joyfully, trying to find their own particular place. Our responsibility is to help our children give meaning to their lives. For that, they need to find pleasure in what they do and feel free to explore in many different directions. Our children also deeply need to feel guided and supported along their paths by healthy, anchored adults.

I really enjoyed reading the special series “Voyage en Terra Incognita” that appeared each Monday in the “Ideas” section of the Le Devoir newspaper this summer (www.ledevoir.com). The series recounted a dialogue between the Chief of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, Ghislain Picard, and the founder of the Wapikoni Mobile program for Aboriginal youth, director Manon Barbeau.

Women's place in society has always interested me deeply. I have often wondered how women can manage to stay beautiful and healthy and still completely fulfil their role as women.

Take a look at the attached text, written on March 25, 2010, in response to an article by Professor Pierre Demers,