Staff and students of the Vast and Choices DL (directed learning) Program gathered for the Second Annual Success Forum at the Vast Centre on Feb. 26.
With graduation just a few months away, the goal of the forum is to recognize student achievement so far and provide a bit of extra incentive to stay on track to achieve their Dogwood Certification.
“Please take this as an opportunity to network with community resources and to light a fire under your butts to keep going,” said instructor Kama Money.
Those community resources included recently-elected School District 70 trustee Jane Jones, SD 70 chair Pam Craig and long-time trustees Pat Dahlquist and Rosemarie Buchanan, as well as NETP case manager Ellie Sampson and Naomi Moran from AV Employment.
Nuu-chah-nulth culture was an important element of the forum. Elder Benson Nookemus opened his welcoming address in Nuu-chah-nulth.
“I am one of the few people who can still speak our language fluently within the NTC. There are fewer and fewer of us,” he began. “What I said was, ‘I am very happy to see all of you that are still going to school and I encourage you to keep going.”
Nookemus said it was “a little different” when he attended Alberni Indian Residential School.
“It was an awful place and it was an awful time in our lives, and that is why I am so glad to see such a mixture of our people gathered here to learn from each other.”
Nookemus urged all students to keep moving forward beyond high school.
“You will become somebody. Who knows, maybe you can become one of our premiers.”
Following Nookemus, 2003 Vast grad Reg Sam dispelled any notion that the alternative school serves only students who have difficulties with the classroom setting or with schoolwork.
Sam recently achieved his Master’s Degree in Education Leadership from Vancouver Island University, and he said Vast provided support at a critical time in his life.
Sam, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Pathways to Student Success Supervisor, said culture has been a critical part of his education.
“My name is Chimaook, which was given to me by the Tseshaht, up the river. It’s a really important thing to have that identity and to know who you are before you get into academics,” he said.
“I would like to acknowledge the Tseshaht and Hupacasath for allowing this great work that happens day to day here in this amazing facility.”
Sam said that, while attending high school at Alberni District Secondary School, his father, Charlie Sam, fell ill and it fell on his young shoulders to take care of his father and supervise his recovery.
“ADSS couldn’t accommodate that and I fell behind. That was when Vast opened its doors to me,” he said, adding that Vast gave him the flexibility to work, take care of his father and maintain his class work.
“I had to do it on my own terms and I knew I had control over my own education and I knew I could do it,” he said.
Sam also acknowledged long-time Vast educator Angie Miller, who taught him at both Sproat Lake Elementary and A.W. Neill Middle School as he was growing up, and then at Vast, after he left ADSS.
Miller had her own ceremony to perform. Calling for the prospective graduates to line up, she presented each with a braid containing a blue stone.
“Blue is a very important colour in Nuu-chah-nulth tradition,” she explained. “I want you to take it and present it to an adult to hold until you graduate.”
It was an emotional moment for some. A few selected a parent to hold the stone; others chose a teacher.
Following a video featuring photos of each of the prospective graduates, vice-principal Nick Seredick presented achievement awards. A number of the students were unable to attend, including Tyler Nookemus, of whom Seredick said, “has been an absolute all-star in the woodworking program.”
But the crowning achievement for Vast could very well belong to Moriah Cootes, who was very much present for the success forum, and coordinated the gift draw.
In a new initiative between SD 70 and the City of Port Alberni, Cootes was selected to serve as student representative on city council. With the entire Alberni Valley high school population to draw from, the young Vast student was selected to take a leadership role in the greater community.
Like Reg Sam, it was not a lack of scholastic ability that led Cootes to leave ADSS for Vast. In fact, it was very much the opposite.
“What led me to make the decision was that I was not keen on how the school ran things,” she explained. “I wanted to work at my own pace and I got tired of having to wait for the entire classroom to finish so I could move on and have the teacher give me more work. So I decided to come here.”
Currently, she is working on Communications 12 and Math 12 at Vast and Chemistry 12 at ADSS. She plans to attend North Island College this fall.
The selection as student rep came as a bit of a surprise, but she said she is prepared to attend her first meeting in March.
“I’ve always been keen on leadership courses, taking charge and having my say,” she said. “I’m the kind of person who will tell you what I think. And I guess the teachers like that about me – that I can get my point across for what I want.”
Seredick said along with providing supports for students who have difficulties, Vast also has the flexibility to allow students like Cootes to progress at an accelerated rate.
“That’s one of the beauties of our programs. They are so diverse and can meet the needs of each individual student. So if they want to progress at a quicker pace they are welcome to do that, but if they need that extra time, we are happy to accommodate that. I would say, both the diversity of the programs and the different ways of students being able to show their learning, those are really the hallmarks of our program.”
Vast principal Sean Petersen said the current crop of students has been outstanding, based not only on academic achievement, but also on the group chemistry.
“There is something in this building I have never felt – this absolute commitment of students and staff on the learning pieces,” he said. “This is a cohort that really gets along as friends, and they help and support each other in learning. So it’s a unique set of friendships, not only among their peers, but also with staff.”
