Waterhen residents reeling from tech thefts at local school

The news that over $80,000 worth of iPads and Chromebooks were stolen from the Waweyekisik Educational Centre on Waterhen Lake First Nation, has left school staff at a loss.

Last weekend, the Kindergarten to Grade 12 school was broken into and the video surveillance system was damaged in the process.

Band Coun. Dustin Ross Fiddler said there is a lot of outrage in the community right now.

“The community is very angry and upset,” he said. “[We] try to…support [students] mentally, physically and emotionally, and academically with these resources and now they’re gone, and our youth are the most affected.”

Fiddler said the fact the administration staff at the school, led by principal Dr. Islam Konok, had worked for over a year and half to be able to add these resources to the school adds to their frustration. The 100 iPads and 80 Chromebooks were going to be used for math and reading intervention.

Missing Girl

UPDATE: Have you seen Savannah?

Apr 24, 2024

Missing person

Spiritwood RCMP searching for missing woman

Apr 24, 2024

Riding boundaries changing

MP Gary Vidal announces he won't seek re-election

Apr 23, 2024

“It’s crucial that we get our First Nations youth the skills to be able to participate in a technology economy,” Fiddler said.

Konok said the computers would have allowed individual students to work at their own pace, review testing results, and have a bit more one-on-one time and learning interaction.

“We’re all feeling about this, we’ll go on, we’ll move forward,” he said. “We’ll try to recover the loss as soon as possible.”

Fiddler said that the band is offering a cash reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case. He is hoping anyone with knowledge of the incident would come forward.

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath