Northwest Community College Connections

Early Childhood Education shoots for success

Hlgu Gwiix Mix Lukwhl way                                 
Ksim Laxsgiik Niiy 
Wilps Simoogit Gwiix Maaw Wil Wit Gwiy 
Gitlaxt'aamiks Wil Jogay.

 My name is Auzia Gonu, I am Laxsgiik (Eagle) from the house of Gwiix Maaw, I am from the Nisga'a Village of New Aiyansh. 

 I am in my second year of studying Early Childhood Education at NWCC. I have a passion for working with young children and am very happy that I have found something to do with my life that I am good at and that I enjoy. My goals for this year are to graduate with my ECE certificate and go on and get my diploma. I’ve already had employment opportunities in the ECE field and I’m really excited about my future. 

 Everything is going really great for me right now. I’m completing a practicum at Terrace Campus Childcare Centre and was recently awarded a $2000 bursary for the New Relationship Trust 2012/13. I also play forward for the New Aiyansh Gitmidiik Thunder and will be participating in the 54^th All Native Basketball Tournament in February. Go Gitmidiik! Go NWCC!

Nisga'a Dancers welcome NWCC students in unique learning experience

TERRACE – Northwest Community College (NWCC) students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program got the chance to meet recently with their peers for a spirited weekend of learning, sharing and culture.

The ECE program is offered in a distance format consisting of audio teleconference, weekend seminars, practical field work and online learning. While this multi-mode format emphasizes the importance of learning in students' own communities, the times when they can meet face-to-face are especially valued, says program coordinator Jessica Hrechka-Fee.

"Our distance ECE students travelled from Iskut, Smithers, Kinkolith and Prince Rupert—from throughout the Northwest—to Terrace for a weekend of shared learning and culture," said Hrechka-Fee.

From here, the Terrace-based students planned and brought the whole group to a Gitlaxdax Nisga'a Dance Group practice at the Nisga'a Hall as part of the program's Working with Families course. It made for a day of traditional dancing, local culture and sharing part of "their community" with their classmates.

"ECE students are applying their knowledge in their community," says Hrechka-Fee. "They are showing their understanding of the value of culture, families and community. All together, our students thoroughly enjoyed learning a few Nisga'a songs and dances."

"Visiting the Gitlaxdax Nisga'a Dance Group practice was beyond awesome!," said ECE student Kia Morgan. "I couldn't believe how much I have missed dancing. I plan to go to more practices with my classmates."

The benefit to students of such an exercise is hard to quantify or describe in a program curriculum, says Hrechka-Fee. "Our students could see the power of culture to a family. They felt the students' emotions when they shared part of their culture with the whole group. Students were able to share a part of who they are with people they might work with. They discovered connecting classroom and community is not difficult, and it helps build relationships, support families and allows learning to occur in many ways."

Sincere thanks go to the Gitlaxdax Nisga'a Dance Group for inviting the ECE class to share in the cultural experience and providing such a welcoming environment.

NWCC is a valuable community asset impacting the lives of students and our communities. Through its nine campuses, 500-plus employees and an annual injection of more than $30 million in the local economy, NWCC is an economic engine supporting the many communities that look to us to provide innovative programs and services.

Playground coming to Port Clements thanks to NWCC student’s initiative

NWCC Early Childhood Education student Colleen Beachy is well on her way to bringing a playground suitable for children under the age of five to this open space in Port Clements.

HAIDA GWAII – Northwest Community College (NWCC) student Colleen Beachy is riding a wave of positive momentum in her bid to bring a playground to the Haida Gwaii community of Port Clements.

A student in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program, Beachy is taking initiative after she saw a need in her community for young children under the age of five.

"When I was in my practicum, we had the children outside to play a lot,” said Beachy. “I really saw the importance of outside time for the kids."

Despite being a busy student, Beachy began to ask around, research playgrounds and sought the support of the local school district and Port Clements Elementary School, where she is a noon-hour supervisor. She knew there was a big empty space on the property of the new multi-purpose building in Port Clements and thought since it was in a neighbourhood with families and young children, it would make for an ideal location. Before she knew it, she had learnt about a funding opportunity with Success by Six, she had a received letters of support and the idea was, as she put it, “snowballing.”

Her application to the Success by Six grant was approved for $4,600. Beachy didn’t stop there. She then applied to the school PAC (Parent Advisory Council) and received a further $2,000. The determined student has since applied for a third government grant for $12,000 and, if successful, she plans to ask the Gwaii Trust Society—a fund established to advance economic diversification and sustainable development on Haida Gwaii—to match her funds.

Jessica Hrechka Fee, ECE program Coordinator and Professor, says she’s been awed by Beachy’s determination to meet a need she identified for the betterment of her community.

“She saw a need in her community for young children and she put her learning into action,” said Hrechka Fee. “Being a student did not limit her, but encouraged her. It is inspiring to see our students put learning into action in their communities.  Colleen is a passionate advocate for the early years and she is showing it!"

The bigger picture, adds Hrechka Fee, is that the community of Port Clements can see the role of college students and Early Childhood Educators and, eventually, children will have age appropriate play space in the community.

NWCC celebrates Family Literacy Day

TERRACE – Northwest Community College (NWCC) is a strong promoter of literacy and every year, NWCC staff takes part in Family Literacy Day events throughout the region.

The Prince Rupert Public Library held weeklong events to mark Family Literacy Day, with storytelling, displays, and prizes. The library handed out free replacements of lost library cards, hosted an e-book demonstration and held a Family Story Hour with special guests Carolina de Ryk of CBC Daybreak North and Prince Rupert Councillor Jennifer Rice.

On Jan. 27 in the afternoon, NWCC Prince Rupert Campus staff had the floor and entertained families with storytelling, games, refreshments and prizes.

Also on Jan. 27, NWCC Houston Campus hosted an event to celebrate Family Literacy Day in the Bulkley Valley. Success By 6’s Duane Jackson, a certified Early Childhood Educator, read to parents and talked about strategies for reading to children; this was followed by a Q & A session.

The following day, Family Literacy Day was hosted at Suwilaawks Community School in Terrace. Over 100 families braved the snow and slush to attend and were kept busy with a number of different activities.

NWCC Head Librarian Melanie Wilke attended, along with colleagues Pat Stone, Solveig Adair, Jessica Hrechka Fee and a few Early Childhood Education students. Wilke said the event had several information and activity tables set up in the gym and library and families were invited to participate in several literacy activities. The tables ranged from card making, play dough, poetry making at the NWCC table, puzzles and more. There was also a healthy lunch of soup and raw veggies served.

“Reading is all about fun and when we make it fun for both kids and their families, it’s a great start to a lifelong connection to books and literacy,” said Wilke. “Family Literacy Day is a wonderful event and NWCC is happy to be a part of it each year.”

NWCC Hazelton Campus will tie-in Family Literacy Day with Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14. The campus will celebrate the event from 10am to 2pm, with snacks to be served at lunchtime. The public is invited to attend.


  

Student success: focus on the Early Childhood Education program

Northwest Community College students have great stories to tell. Get to know the future of the Northwest's workforce now.

Early Childhood Education (ECE) students at Northwest Community College (NWCC) get the opportunity to do three practicums during the program, allowing them to create relationships and experience in the field, often leading directly to employment.

Olga Garcia, seen here with her proud son when she graduated from ECE in 2010, is one such example. She was able to stay in her own community and complete the ECE program via distance delivery. She attended classes from her home campus in Prince Rupert via audio conference. During the fall and spring, she travelled on weekends to meet up with her peers and instructors for intensive workshops in Terrace.

Olga returned to school as a mature student after raising her own children and taking time to develop her English skills. She worked hard in her studies, developed relationships with children and families and developed sound professional development skills. She is also the proud recipient of the Rena Gardner Award and Olga obtained work as an Early Childhood Educator before she completed the ECE program. Congratulations Olga!

Olga’s Testimonial

I'm working full time in a day care facility, which has a preschool and a before and after school program. I always loved working with children but after taking ECE, I loved it even more, because I learned the importance of early learning in young children.

The program taught me to see and respect a child as a whole child, with his personal background developmental stage, likes and dislikes. I also learned positive guidance strategies from observing possibly mistaken behaviour triggers, to change my own agenda or classroom layout to improve a balanced and appropriate child developmental curriculum and also consider children's developmental stages within the classroom to provide and plan daily activities.

All this great teaching made a big impact on me. Now I have the opportunity to have a group of 10 children all by myself twice a week and, honestly, I wouldn't be able to provide a good care and balanced program without ECE.

Graduating from the ECE program was the best thing I could ever do to better serve children and families.

Did you know Early Childhood Education at NWCC is designed to allow you to stay in your home community for most of your courses? Students teleconference into class during the week, complete assignments in childcare facilities in their home communities and travel to Terrace in the fall and spring for face-to-face weekend workshops.

Enrol now for September. There are still spaces for fall 2011 intake!

ECE program recognized for First Nations curriculum shift

TERRACE – Northwest Community College’s (NWCC) Early Childhood Education (ECE) program has recently obtained recognition from the Province of BC Early Childhood Education Registry for providing First Nations perspectives throughout its ECE curriculum.

The ECE program at NWCC has been steadily adopting teaching practices to better integrate First Nations knowledge and philosophy, a move initiated by Joan Turecki, the program’s longtime coordinator who retired in 2010. As a result, the ECE department has embraced an educational approach that is mindful of the traditional people in the Northwest and their way of living and caring for their traditional territory.

“We encourage mindful thinking about the ways of learning,” says Jessica Hrechka-Fee, who replaced Turecki. “Rather than being an ‘add-on’ to previous ECE curricula, First Nations knowledge has shaped the program’s core content curriculum, a shift that is in step with Northwest Community College’s values and operating principles that encourage departments to not only be aware of but to commit to embracing First Nations heritage and culture.”

This, adds Hrechka-Fee, allows for opportunities to involve communities in learning. For example, this past year the ECE program visited the Eagle traditional fishing area, Guxts’elixit, of the Gitxsan Nation and had lessons from Sim’oogit (Chief) Skaỳan and Simadiiks.

“We visited the traditional territory for the Kitsumkalum people and engaged in discussions about learning with Elder Mildred Roberts,” added Hrechka-Fee. “We had opportunities to learn about First Nations art and how to introduce it in the early years, from students in NWCC’s Frieda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art. Students were able to complete practica and courses in their home communities using distance technologies with some face-to-face gatherings.”

And in May, ECE will celebrate is first graduating class of First Nations Post Basic Certificate students. This specialized certificate program emphasizes skills necessary for work in First Nations childcare settings.

NWCC’s offering this specialized certificate, along with the fact the ECE department uses the 100- page Aboriginal Early Childhood Education Guide created by Turecki to guide best practices in the program, were factors taken into consideration by the provincial registry with its official acknowledgment, says Hrechka-Fee.

“As a department, it’s rewarding to earn a distinction from the provincial ECE registry,” said Hrechka-Fee. “We have worked hard to shape our curriculum so that it not only connects students to cultural knowledge in the Northwest but also creates a learning environment that reflects the way we would want our students to practise in the early learning field. As a program, we continually look for new ideas, ways of learning and resources that will inspire a shift in thinking and teaching.”

Student Tawnia Carriere is a big believer in the ECE department’s emphasis on inclusivity in learning:

“In the beginning of my ECE course, I did not really understand why there was such an emphasis on First Nations perspectives and culture. I felt I was fairly aware of First Nations culture only to realize there is much to learn. There is a definite impact on the children, peers and teachers alike as they become more aware of their own community. I believe it is very important, actually critical, to make sure we acknowledge cultures and help inform others. So much of First Nations culture and traditions has been lost, we have a part to play in changing this. When an Aboriginal child is connected by seeing some of his or her own culture in a class it gives them a sense of pride; I have witnessed this with my own eyes! It also helps other children to open up, ask questions in a safe environment and begin to understand a little bit more about their classmates. My learning has definitely taught me to include First Nations perspectives into my practice. I have also learned that this can be done in a way that doesn't force other cultures onto a class, but that it can be done in a way that opens up conversation and pride.

As one little boy noticed the pictures of the First Nations alphabet that I brought into the class, the designs and animals that were not familiar and traditional looking, he commented right away. He noticed the change immediately and I was able to give him copies of the exact print on the wall for him to colour and explain what the picture was. Something that simple brought an opportunity to share a glimpse of another art form to the children.”