Skills Work! in Nipawin

On Monday our team headed up to Nipawin for another day of trades activities, which took place at a hall in Red Earth Cree Nation.  We had 42 young women ages 14 to 16 join us from neighboring communities including Red Earth Cree Nation, Cumberland House First Nation, Shoal Lake First Nation, and from the Nipawin Oasis Community Center.  Joining our team of role models was Tanya Kuziak, from Kenora, one of SaskWITT’s members and a plumber recently initiated into the United Alliance (UA) of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 179.  Tanya received an award earlier this month at the apprenticeship banquet for women for achieving the highest mark on her IP exam in the province for 2012.  Congrats Tanya and thanks for all your smiles and help with the event!

Accompanying us from Regina was Liana Wolf Ear from the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) and Construction Careers Regina.  SIIT works closely with industry partners, related organizations, government, and others to provide relevent Trades & Industrial (T&I) programming for First Nations students.  SIIT connects training program graduates and others seeking employment to jobs through the Industrial Career Centers. The T&I department manages seven Career Centers in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Ronge, Yorkton, Meadow Lake and North Battleford.  Fifteen percent of the students at SIIT are women.  Liana told the girls, 

“Use what you learn today for your future.  When you succeed, we all succeed.”

Thanks for joining us Liana and sharing your message with the girls!

For more information about SIIT go to: http://www.siit.sk.ca/

We had a busy, educational day filled with hands-on activities and the girls got a taste of how much fun working with tools, planning projects, and collaborating as a team can be.  

We are grateful to the following individuals for their help in making this event possible:

Corrine Favel from Cumberland House First Nation.  

Joy Hanson, our seriously awesome “go-to” person in Nipawin who is Chair of the Board for Nipawin Oasis Community Center.  Joy was busy coordinating in Nipawin for us, getting girls signed up for the event, and organizing food for the event, which was prepared by the Nipawin Oasis Community Center.  Thanks for all your hard work; we know you were juggling a lot for this event!  Joy also shared her lovely cabin on Tobin Lake with a few of us on Monday night.  I think that was the comfiest, best sleep I’ve had in a long time Joy!  Thank You!  

Senator Phillip Head from Red Earth Cree Nation who translated Liana Wolf Ear’s message into Cree and helped judge our Junk Yard Wars Competition.  Thanks for spending your afternoon with us Phillip!

A great big Thanks to all the young women who participated in the conference!  There are lots of trades just waiting for you when you finish school!