Education the key: Seven Generations grads

Institute closing in on 1,000 grads
Seven Generations Education Institute hosted an alumni career exhibition before its 20th graduation celebration in Thunder Bay.
“We’re probably closing in on about 1,000 graduates in the 20 years,” said Mark Sault, Seven Generations Education Institute’s director of post-secondary student support program. “We had about 25 to 30 alumni come back and they are going to be doing a little promotion on where they work and where they went to school.”
Ojibwe-language teacher and Thunder Bay Legends singer Marlo Dahl served up a surprise session of hit songs during the 20th Graduation Celebration dinner Sept. 11 at the Victoria Inn in Thunder Bay.
“She sings with the Legends,” Sault said about the Seven Generations Education Institute alumnus.
Dahl teaches at the St. Edward Catholic School in Nipigon; she graduated from Lakehead University’s Native Teacher Education Program in 2008 after working as a dental assistant for 14 years.
“This is a second career for me,” Dahl said, explaining she decided to embark on a teaching career after doing some teaching in Confederation College’s dental program. “My love of teaching was definitely developed there and I decided to go back to school at the age of 32.”
In addition to celebrating 20 years of service from the Thunder Bay office, Seven Generations Education Institute also celebrated 25 years of service at its head office in Fort Frances.
“Of our 120 (full-time students), I’d say about 80 to 90 per cent earn a bursary,” Sault said. “So that’s a good thing, but our finances are really tight. We spend usually around $50,000 every year on student bursaries. We honour them as well as our graduates, same time, same place.”
About 35 graduates were celebrated during the 20th Graduation Celebration, with about 300 people in attendance.
Professor Lance Triskle, the Seven Generations Education Institute alumnus who was master of ceremonies during the 20th Graduation Celebration, took up his career in education after pursuing a career in law.
“If you are considering a new career or a first career, always remember that often you don’t choose the path, the path is sometimes chosen for you,” said the Lake Helen band member who completed a Master of Laws at Osgoode Hall Law School with a concentration in alternative dispute resolution in 2009. “I didn’t foresee teaching when I started law school either.”
Civil engineer Rob Olivier has worked around the world since graduating with an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Windsor in 1994.
“I had the opportunity to go out and work internationally with indigenous people in Africa,” said the Ginoogaming band member and Seven Generations Education Institute alumnus. “The opportunities are there. I’m really grateful for the education that allowed me to have a lot more influence in the world around me and made my life a lot better.”
Seven Generations Education Institute teacher Donna Chief was recently promoted to vice-principal of the northern sites.
“This is my eighteenth year in teaching,” Chief said, explaining she spent most of that time teaching in the United States but came back home to her home community of Wabigoon Lake five years ago to teach with Seven Generations Education Institute.
“They just promoted me to vice-principal, so I’m pretty excited about that. They encouraged me to get my master’s and continue on.”
Chief encourages people to continue on with their education.
“They don’t even realize how many doors open to them even with just a little bit of education,” Chief said. “My goal is just get their Grade 12 and that opens doors for any mining company – you have to have at least a Grade 12 for a lot of entry jobs, even labourer jobs.”