Video Design & Production Program for Senior Aboriginal Students.
Video Concept: The Circle of Courage.
Healthy Living Concepts: Belonging, Mastery, Generosity & Independence.
This year, 14 of our grade 6/7 students with Aboriginal Ancestry participated in a two-week Video Design Program. The topic of the project is the Circle of Courage. The Circle of Courage is based on the medicine wheel and is intended to help youth live a resilient and healthy lifestyle. There are four quadrants in the circle: Belonging, Mastery, Generosity and Independence. The 14 students were split into four small groups and each group created a video on a quadrant of their choice. The youth learned how to properly use technology (tripods, camcorder, microphones, etc), shoot the video, edit, and create animations. Their learning over the two weeks was outstanding. It was very impressive to see our students grow in confidence and work together as a team. We viewed this video school wide, and have presented it with the Aboriginal Education Council, and the School Board of Trustees. We will be showing it once again during our last regular assembly in June. We hope you like it!
Supported by funding from a Northern Connections grant.
Full Story:
Lakeview Elementary is a rural school in Quesnel, BC. Our school is on the South perimeter of Quesnel, and has a student population of about 250. Economically, Quesnel is a resource dependent city with significant ties to the forest industry. The Quesnel Forest Region has been devastated by the Pine Beetle epidemic. Due to this devastation and an every decreasing timber supply, we are currently seeing economic impacts. Most recently (late 2013) one of our mills, Canfor shut down. This resulted in 209 direct job losses and an estimated 800 spin-off job losses. For a city of approximately 10,000, this closure had a significant economic impact.
Our School District has seen a steady decline in enrolment, and as such, we are continuously adjusting our resources and programs to offset this impact. We see the economic transition in Quesnel as a time to engage our students in education with relevancy to our local region. In our secondary programs, students are provided with trades electives, and are presented with thorough orientations to local and regional education opportunities. We have a local campus in Quesnel for the College of New Caledonia, and the University of Northern British Columbia. Now more than ever, we are promoting these local education opportunities to our students.
This year, 14 of our grade 6/7 students with Aboriginal Ancestry participated in a two-week Video Design Program. The topic of the project is the Circle of Courage. The Circle of Courage is based on the medicine wheel and is intended to help youth live a resilient and healthy lifestyle. There are four quadrants in the circle: Belonging, Mastery, Generosity and Independence. The 14 students were split into four small groups and each group created a video on a quadrant of their choice. The youth learned how to properly use technology (tripods, camcorder, microphones, etc), shoot the video, edit, and create animations. Their learning over the two weeks was outstanding. It was very impressive to see our students grow in confidence and work together as a team. We viewed this video school wide, and have presented it with the Aboriginal Education Council, and the School Board of Trustees. We will be showing it once again during our last regular assembly in June. We hope you like it!
The students learned about resiliency and an important way of living through the concept of the Circle of Courage. The students at Lakeview worked in a safe and trusting environment with each other, and their confidence grew incredibly throughout the program. This project provided the participants with a high level of engagement in school and promoted their overall appreciation of learning, growth and development.
The biggest challenge was scheduling this two-week program into our school. We had to locate and find room availability for it to occur. This is a minor challenge considering the project’s success. The key element of success was simply how engaged and committed the 14 students were to this project. They are very proud of their accomplishment, and this is evident when they present their work to their schoolmates, school staff and dignitaries in the Quesnel community.
The most apparent change I noticed in these students was their growth in confidence in their own work and with each other. In just two short weeks, I saw personal growth in each student, albeit some more than others, that I hadn’t seen all year. My advice for others is to find opportunities for hands-on, relevant and meaningful learning experiences in school. This was authentic learning at its best!