Cowessess First Nation reveals its back-to-school plan

While some schools in Saskatchewan are still tinkering with their back-to-school plans for September, a First Nations community has finalized its plan for getting kids back in the classroom.

The Cowessess First Nation released the Cowessess Community Education Centre (CCEC) Back-to-School Fall 2020 plan Tuesday.

The plan was created in consultation with families in the community, Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme told Saskatchewan Afternoon’s David Kirton on Tuesday.

“Communication is a little easier for us,” Delorme said.

The First Nations community has around 210 students who attend CCEC from kindergarten to Grade 12.

In July, Delorme said questionnaires were sent out to all families in the community who have children, asking them about everything from masks to online learning.

“Some pretty tough questions (were asked),” Delorme said. “From all that feedback we developed a draft plan.”

That plan was then vetted through Cowessess’ COVID-19 task force and Chief and Council.

The final plan involves four options, two of which Delorme highlighted.

The first option is how students will return to the classroom in September. Only 10 people will be in a classroom at a time and start times will be staggered.

As well, classes won’t begin until Sept. 16.

“(From) Sept. 2 to 16, we are welcoming guardians, parents and students one at a time to come into the school,” Delorme said. “Some have anxiety, some have fear of the unknown so we’re going to show them.”

The later start to the school year will also give teachers, staff and administration time to be updated on current protocols and procedures within the school.

Delorme hopes the second option will be implemented in October. It involves a split between learning in the classroom and taking education outside the school, with more experiential and land-based learning techniques.

“We have identified some great talents in our community from artists to land-based teachings to even just some kids might shadow the chief for a day, just the day in the life of a chief and how that’ll teach you,” Delorme explained.

“We just want to make sure our kids’ minds continue to be developed in a time of anxiety.”

Another difference between the province’s plans for schools and the plan decided on by Cowessess is when children will have their temperatures checked.

In addition to being screened after arriving at school, Cowessess students will also have their temperatures checked before they board their school buses.

“We’re already working on a communication plan with parents, me being one,” Delorme said. “ I have a 14-year-old who goes to school and I’m at work before he gets picked up. So what happens if his temperature is above normal and he has to stay home?”

Delorme said this protocol is a way to gauge whether kids have higher-than-normal temperatures, which can be a symptom of COVID-19.

Students from grades 4 to 12 at CCEC will also be required to wear masks.

Delorme said only five of the 54 surveys that were received indicated negativity towards students wearing masks while at school. The topic, he said, was “the elephant in the room.”

“We listened to Canada, to the province, to the doctors, to the specialists on masks (or) no masks,” Delorme explained. “We have made a decision that students will wear masks but we also will be talking with parents. If a child has asthma or a child has anxiety or if there’s a real strict reason why they can’t wear a mask, we’ll see what we can do.”

Creative touches like rotating masks and providing colour-co-ordinated masks for students will make the process more efficient, Delorme said.

“We have amazing staff that lead this. Our director of education, our principal, our executive team have been non-stop talking with the province (and) with other First Nations so it’s not just us creating it. It’s just us looking for those great ideas and implementing it.”

The decision to reopen school in Cowessess this fall is one Delorme feels strongly about.

“Physically you protect people by keeping them home, but you’ve got to understand there’s a peer-to-peer relationship and that has been taken away since April,” Delorme said. “That’s where the mental and emotional health of individuals, especially our youth, kicks in.”

Delorme made mention of Tristen Durocher’s camp currently in Regina’s Wascana Park, set up to raise awareness about Saskatchewan’s high suicide rates.

“Mentally and emotionally, our youth on Cowessess are amazing. We’re so proud of our next generation and we will invest anything we can to help them,” Delorme said.

“What we’re trying to balance is the safety of the physical aspect but also the importance of the mental and emotional aspects.”

The Pasqua First Nation has also released its own plan for back-to-school this September.