Northland School Division No. 61 (NSD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Pearl Calahasen as First Nations, Métis and Inuit Pedagogical Supervisor. Calahasen returns to the Northland family after serving 26-years as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Lesser Slave Lake constituency.
"When the position became available, I thought this role was up my alley," said Calahasen. "I always wanted to be involved in the Indigenous languages and ensure that students and communities can revive their language. Without language you can't deal with culture and you really don't know who you are."
Calahasen's education journey began at the Alberta Vocational College in Grouard where she taught for three years. During that time, she earned a Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Alberta (U of A). In 1981, she was hired by NSD as the Associate Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Her responsibilities included curricular weaving of Indigenous language and culture into school programs. In 1983, Pearl was seconded to the Ministry of Education and joined the Native Education Project team. The team was instrumental in developing Cree language curriculum and resources. Calahasen says she is excited to see how far NSD has come since that work and is looking forward to crafting a plan to improve supports for students and educators.
"In this role, we will develop a plan to ensure educators are confident with teaching Indigenous languages and infusing language and culture into the curriculum," said Calahasen. "Using Indigenous language is always a great tool for us to get kids interested in who they are."
Throughout her political career, Pearl continued to advocate for NSD and Indigenous education. In 2011, she was selected to be the co-chair of the Northland Community Engagement Team (NCET). The team developed Kids First, the report by NCET; which includes a vision for Indigenous Education Excellence and a Community Engagement Framework http://nsd61.ca/download/68518.
"Being involved with NCET deepened my understanding of what needs to be done to help NSD students, parents, community members and educators to come together to make sure education is a priority," said Calahasen. "I'm excited to be back with NSD so we can get the best out of our students so they can challenge whatever is out there; and help our educators in any way we can to make this a better place. I also want the kids to feel proud about who they are, what they're learning and why they're learning their own language."
