NTC President Cloy-e-iis (Judith Sayers) has wrapped up her second term as chancellor at Vancouver Island University. The occasion was marked with a celebration held in her honour at VIU on Friday, October 09.
Wearing little light-up sneakers and shawls trimmed with silver and gold sequins, Haahuupayak Elementary School students sparkled with the spirits of their Ancestors as they performed the War Song on Oct. 8 for the 50th anniversary celebrations.
Event co-emcee and cultural educator Trevor Little told the audience that nowadays, the War Song is preparing the children for another battlefield.
“It’s for your education; it’s for your life,” said Little. “And we want to acknowledge the battles that got us to where we are today.”
When students arrived back to school in September at Haahuupayak, it was back to a full and busy schedule. Before they knew it, it was the Terry Fox Run, an annual event held across Canada to raise awareness for Cancer Research.
For twenty years the school has been raising funds in honor of Terry Fox to donate to Cancer Research. In the last few years, the school added a fun twist for the students: The students who raise the most money would get the opportunity to throw a pie in their teacher's face!
– Kids are happily skipping down the street as a school bus fills with kids. It’s 3:00 p.m. and Haahuupayuk School has finished another fun-filled school day. Inside the main entrance is a foyer, the walls adorned with children’s art. Paper shirts painted orange, commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30.
Seven community-minded Ucluelet Secondary grads were awarded seven giant cheques on June 18 at the Ucluelet Secondary School (USS).
Facilitated by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust (CBT), program coordinator Jason Sam said the 2026 education awards committee received a record number of 32 applicants for five scholarships. A total of $114,000 was handed out for post-secondary.
“All these recipients have been highly noted for their contributions for school and community,” said Sam.
For Anika Jensen, graduating this June has been a family affair. The 17-year-old is allowed to invite half a dozen people to watch her cross the stage at the Alberni District Secondary on June 25 – but this month an earlier graduation event put on at the high school by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council allowed even more relatives.
“I got to have a lot of my family there because at my actual graduation for Alberni I can only have six people, so I tried to invite as much people as I could,” said Jensen after being recognized at the NTC event on June 6.
North Island College recently hosted its first-ever cohort of international field school students from Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Mexico.
From May 25 to June 5, a group of 17 Indigenous students and their teachers from colleges and universities located around the Pacific Ocean were in the region to engage in various educational and cultural activities. The trip was the latest exchange as part of NIC’s international Indigenous field school program.
Tina Gus, 55, is following in the footsteps of her father as she trades her catering apron for a toolbelt. A member of the Tseshaht First Nation (c̓išaaʔatḥ), Tina is one of two women in the first Green Building Foundations and Manufacturing training program cohort who went on to work at IGV Housing as a Production Operator.
Tina spent many years working as a cook and caterer.
A new driving school based out of Nanaimo is aiming to bridge a long-standing transportation gap for rural and remote First Nations communities across Vancouver Island.
Routes Driving Academy, founded by Hupacasath First Nation member Randi-Leigh Macnutt, officially opened earlier this spring after nearly four years of planning, training, and navigating regulatory hurdles. While the school offers driving lessons to anyone seeking licensing supports, its primary focus is making driver education more accessible to people living in remote Indigenous communities.
A new cedar carving is gracing the halls of Eighth Avenue Learning Centre in Port Alberni that will remind future generations how the students of 2026 learned about collaboration, planning and problem solving through the creation of an enduring piece of art.
The tall piece, probably about eight feet tall, is called mamuukst̓ałin – Working Together. Funded through Island Health, the project brought together students taking Kristin Russell’s land-based learning class, who planned the piece under the guidance of three gifted artists.