The idea came to mind after a few years ago when I was a head dancer at a local traditional powwow and to give back to the community in a special I decided to hold a dance special for youth with the winning youth receiving back packs full of school supplies and the amount of eager dancers far exceeded the number of my back pack prizes. It also stems from the fact that as an educator I see numerous amounts of students who do not come with school supplies (into the classroom) and it is not because they don't want to, its because they simply cannot afford them. I also know that many teachers utilize their classroom budgets to do this when it can be utilized for more expensive and much needed manipulatives in the classroom. Many teachers dig into their own pockets to supply their students with the necessities and I applaud such educators.
This program has been a dream of mine for quite some time (approximately five years) and I can't say why I've held off for so long to make it a reality but I believe the wheels are now rolling from seeing so many students come through my classroom without the means to provide themselves with the basics, my passion for teaching First Nations youth, and finally having a son of my own and wanting to provide him with everything he could possibly need. I currently attained my M.Ed. through the University of Western Ontario with my thesis focusing on implementing a culturally relevant program in a First Nations classroom stemming from my passion for First Nation Education.
I understand the importance of education (to survive in our Western world) and the importance of knowing who we are as a people. I am not advocating a strict traditional lifestyle, but for all to know that we are a beautiful people with a history that at times still has yet to be told. It is with this confidence and knowledge, that as a child when I heard an educator call another Native student a "stupid Indian" I knew this shouldn't have happened. I brought her to the Human Rights Commission and won with her having to apologize, leave the school (but not the school board), and follow through with cultural sensitivity training. Now to this day, I continue to tell my students to be proud of who we are and to defy the stereotypes that face us as a people.
For the initial year of this contest I will be promising a minimum of three back packs (as additional donations have not been accounted for) for each category as I am covering this cost out of my own pocket and estimate each back pack will be costing approximately $70 - $100 (not including shipping) each. As a single mother, this is all I can afford in this first year. If additional funds are allocated to Mack's Packs I will increase the amount of back packs available for each category (and will make this known on our blog and Facebook page). I hope this is possible as I have and will be applying for contests and donations if this program meets their criteria.
Contest rules and categories will follow soon!
Respectfully,
Mackenzie Sayers
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