The tide of support is swelling to combat the closure of the Native Education Centre/College. People from all Nations across Canada are sharing their concerns, ideas and resources. People are expressing their thoughts with traditional prayer and song, through written words like emails or letters, by phoning to share stories with NEC staff, and by joining in rallies and marches. To help organize the surge of support letters and messages, the homepage of RedWAY BC News has been updated to include a link to a “community response survey.” The intent is to provide a single point of contact for the community to record their responses.
I spoke with a few other teachers, coordinators and staff at NEC and they like the idea of having a digital collection tool. It is an easy to use, quick on-line tool that doesn’t take long to fill in but will provide a one-stop-shop to gather and compile stories and insights from students, teachers, community leaders, friends, family and advocates for NEC.
The survey has one page of background info, one page that has the official press release, and then one page of questions – but people are invited to write as much or little as as they’d like to provide supporting letters or share comments about how the Native Education Centre has impacted your life, and possilby the lives of your family and community members. Now would be the time to turn ideas and good intentions into actions.
Even if you called NEC already, sent emails around, attend rallies, or wrote a letter, please consider the value of taking 10 minutes to visit the link to formally add your voice. You can copy and paste letter content, if it’s quicker and appropriate. By documenting your responses, it’ll be easier for staff and leaders to compile everything in one place, so a strong, unified message can be presented.
I have been honoured to teach there for the last 7 years, and I personally feel that NEC can best serve the community as a school that supports Aboriginal people returning to or continuing on their own learning journey. I believe there needs to be more work done by the Board and the province to listen to students and staff, update the NEC mandate to reflect current market needs, innovate its courses, build on past successes and attract new socially responsible partners who will respect the wealth of experiences and knowledge held within its cedar walls. But what they really need to hear is your opinion.
Go to the community response survey link through the leading article in the ezine at www.imninc.com/spiritlink.
And please send this message to everyone you know who has had their life impacted by NEC over the last 40 years. Your lists are extensive, so please forward this to encourage all current and former teachers, students, Alumni members, Board members, local and outreach staff/administrators/support team, community partners, etc…. take 10 minutes today to record your voice, too. I’ll feature the link again in the National Aboriginal Day issue of RedWAY this Wednesday to encourage others to consider sharing their opinions immediately – with over 7000 international subscribers, I’m sure more people will want to document their displeasure, too.
Blessings for a peaceful, respectful and responsive march tomorrow morning at 9am from NEC (285 E. 5th Avenue) to Vancouver Community College (Glen and E. 7th) to show support for NEC to Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell.
In honour and respect,
Kristin Kozuback, C.S.P.
ph: 604-783-8304
Owner, Spiritlink Communications www.spiritlinking.com
Enhancing Sales and Marketing Strategies with Creativity and Innovation
Publisher, RedWAY BC News E-zine
Communication Tools Harnessing Technology to Honour, Inform and Connect Urban Aboriginal Youth
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