July 2021

YFNED is working towards the long-overdue, unified control of First Nations education in the Yukon.

Kids Love YFNED Summer Culture Programs

The First Nation Education Advocates and their hard-working team of Junior Advocates have been going full-tilt this month operating three summer youth programs.

Ätà Kù

The camp has been bustling this month. In preparation for moose hunting in August, campers are doing physical conditioning with Rez Gym (see story below), learning bush skills and equipment use, prepping and fixing up camp including fixing up the smoke shack for salmon camp.

Over 65 people came through Ätà Kù on July 29 to attend our Sockeye Salmon Fish Camp — a successful collaboration between YFNED, the Burns Family, and Skookum Jim Friendship Centre.

Our program at Ätà Kù also includes weekly Wednesday art therapy for younger students led by our First Nation Education Advocate Olive Moreland and Maegan Garrett.

Ätà Kù is supported by these incredible Knowledge Keepers: Charlie, Donnie and Russell Burns and their families, as well as Nia Breton.

Early Years Readies for Launch

YFNED has officially outgrown its existing office space and has acquired the blue building across the street to house our new Early Years program. At 207 Black Street, this beautiful space will house the Program Manager, the Rural Coordinator, the Early Years Visitors, and provide a workshop and drop-in space for families in the program.

The new manager, Audrey-Ann Martin, and Rural Coordinator, Mary-Jane Oliver hit the ground running since commencing in early July. They have been meeting with other resources/organizations with programs for families, and getting to know all the programs of YFNED to ensure full delivery of wrap-around services. In addition, they have been:

• Organizing our new Early Years Office to be able to welcome families starting in September.

• Meeting with Education Advocates about families that would be interested in joining the EY program.

• Planning an open-house for families to launch our program in September.

• Developing promotional materials. Check out www.yfned.ca/earlyyears

MTU Grows and Connects

July has been all about growth, connections and relationship-building for the Mobile Therapeutic Unit (MTU). In preparation for a busy school-year, the ever-expanding MTU gathered for many days of strategic planning, visioning and scheduling, so that they can offer their services to all the communities in the most effective way possible.

Allied Health

The MTU welcomed Megan Norris, a talented Speech and Language Pathologist, to join our Allied Health team as our second SLP. A third SLP is joining in August.

Our Speech and Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists worked with many urban families over July, as many rural communities imposed travel restrictions. They completed hearing screenings for 8 students and travelled to select communities, including Carcross. They also attended the Faro Literacy Camp to support students and conduct hearing screening, and attended CYFN’s Family Wellness Fair on July 16 at the KDCC.

Wellness Team

Earlier this month, our Wellness Team visited Mayo to participate in a Paddle Canada canoe course with 6 youth from the community.

The group learned basic flatwater canoe skills and safety at Five Mile Lake as well as supported and connected with the youth. They had a blast reconnecting with many of the students who participated in June’s mural project.

The MTU welcomed two new Wellness Support Workers: Tanner Coyne and Lara Bode.

Cooking Up Something Good

YFNED’s Nutrition team is incredibly productive this summer providing services to all of YFNED’s programs. Their team of cooks have been providing meals to our three summer programs serving 3 meals/week to dozens of people.

They have also been preparing pre-made, delicious and healthy meals to families in need on a bi-weekly basis. Called the Summer Hampers program, it provides big boxes of pre-made meals to over 20 families, many of whom are already connected to YFNED through our wrap-around services. As such, the hampers are delivered by our First Nation Education Advocates, to maintain connection and support over the summer months.

The Nutrition team currently has 5 cooks working out of the French high school CSSC Mercier’s beautiful commercial kitchen. Another 10-20 cooks will be joining the team over the next few months to help support the launch of the new Hot Meals program which will be introduced at all Whitehorse-based schools.

We are developing contracts with up to 9 local restaurants/catering businesses to help support this new school-meal service.

Coming up on Thursday, August 19th at the KDCC is our Back-to-School Feast, for all Indigenous families. More details will be available soon.

Rez Gym 2.0

Want to get fit… on the land?

YFNED First Nation Education Advocate Dwight Snowshoe created Rez Gym 2.0 -- an amazing, portable, land-based fitness circuit. He's setting it up at YFNED's summer camps so that the teens can build up their physical conditioning in preparation for harvesting, hunting — and life.

The take-away message: you don't need fancy gym equipment or an expensive membership. Get out on the land and use the things around you to achieve full-body fitness! This is a great option for people living in the communities.

To learn more about Rez Gym and learn to set up your own, check out Dwight’s Rez Gym 2.0 video (produced by YFNED's Douglas Joe of Creative Crow Media).

Junior Advocates Make Awesome YFNED Social Media

Guna Jensen, our Art and Media Specialist, has recently taken a number of Junior Advocates under her wing. Together they are developing fun, humorous and educational social media content for YFNED’s growing audience on Instagram and TikTok.

Alongside learning about communications work in general, these Junior Advocates have begun acquiring skills in various art programs including Procreate and Adobe Illustrator. Soon their illustrations will be showcased on YFNED’s Instagram. So, if you haven’t followed us yet, get on it!

“I have learned so much about Indigenous culture and identity working at YFNED,” says Jaxson, one of the Junior Advocates on this project. “We are having so much fun brainstorming projects for our social media and learning the process of seeing projects through. We’ve already gained so many skills in digital art, editing, and learning how to share the voice and vision of YFNED.”

New Statutory Holiday for Truth and Reconciliation

There is a new statutory holiday on September 30 of each year for federally regulated public sector and private sector workers. Aligned with “Orange Shirt Day,” this new holiday will be a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour survivors, their families and communities and ensure that the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Indigenous organizations need to determine if their organization is federally or territorially regulated. Those organizations that are regulated by the province or territory, may change employment policies to reflect this day.

Welcome New Staff!

Audrey-Ann Martin is the Program Manager for the new Early Years program.

Mary-Jane Oliver is our Rural Coordinator for the Early Years Program.

Megan Norris is a Speech Language Pathologist with our Mobile Therapeutic Unit (MTU).

Tanner Coyne has joined the Mobile Therapeutic Unit (MTU) as a Wellness Support Worker.

Lara Bode is also a new member of the Mobile Therapeutic Unit working as a Wellness Support Worker

Amilia Avril is a new Administrative Assistant with the Nutrition program.

Olivia Thompson is the new Administrative Assistant with the Early Years program.

For full staff bios and headshots, please visit our Meet the Team page on our website (new pics and bios uploaded next week).

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug 11-12 First Nation Education Commission meetings

Aug 19 YFNED’s Back-to-school Feast for Families

August 23 First day of school (most Yukon schools)

September (TBA) Early Years Launch Open-House