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(submitted photo/ The Full Circle Conference Facebook)
MLTC Full Circle Conference

MLTC Full Circle conference focuses on empowering youth through land-based learning and language revitalization

Feb 10, 2020 | 5:11 PM

Educators in the region are encouraged to attend the fourth annual Meadow Lake Tribal Council’s (MLTC) Full Circle Conference, coming up in March.

Celia Deschambeault, organizer of the conference, told meadowlakeNOW the MLTC’s department of education works with school staff, teachers and principals to determine the event layout. Members vote on which speakers will attend, themes or subjects educators would like to see and conversations that would benefit students the most.

“Full circle focuses on mental, physical, emotional, social needs of our teachers and how they support students and children,” she said. “We’ve looked at land-based learning, language revitalization, wellness and cultural activities to cover all those components.”

Deschambeault said the Full Circle Conference was originally intended for local teachers and assistants. But news of event’s success travelled quick, which led to the event’s growth and more people outside the agency attending.

Dr. Neyooxet Greymorning is a keynote speaker at the event whose discussion Accelerated Second Language Acquisition focuses on restoring and maintaining Indigenous languages.

“Some of our presenters are actually in-house presenters. Staff and consultants are relaying what they’re doing in schools to the general public,” Deschambeault said.

This year’s three-day conference will emphasis the challenges youth face, particularly growing up in Northern Saskatchewan.

“We have so many issues going on with our youth right now and we’re trying to focus on them. We ended up choosing the speakers who were empowering to our youth through land language relationships and culture,” she said.

Deschambeault said this year 600 people are expected to be in attendance — a large number when compared to the 400 from previous years.

“Our conference is unique in a sense that we are providing multiple areas for any educator, any teacher or anyone who is involved in education to support our youth,” she said.

The conference runs from March 18 to 20 in Saskatoon. More information and registration can be found here.

nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722