Yorkton Tribal Council hosts first science fair

Education is about giving kids possibilities, and encouraging kids to have an interest in science can open up possibilities in their future. The Yorkton Tribal Council was the host of its first science fair, with the goal of getting First Nations kids to consider science for their future.

Mary-Ann Ketchemonia, organizer of the event on the Keeseekoose First Nation, says that the event was part of a new focus for education.

“For years upon years, there has been a lot focus on literacy and a lot of focus reading and writing. Yorkton Tribal Council and the school had decided they wanted to expand and put more attention on the sciences.”

Groups from Keeseekoose, Cote, Ochapowace and Ocean Man participated in the science fair. Ketchemonia is also proud that, for the first time, the school in Kamsack came to the Keeseekoose Chiefs Education Centre to get inspiration from an event, as they went to get a closer look at what a science fair could look like for their school.

On a school level, the fair was a way to get the entire school together. While initially slated for higher grades, a high level of interest among students meant that they had to open it up to more grades, and presentations started with Grade 6 and 7 students. Even the younger grades at the school got involved.

“Every classroom in this school has gotten involved in some capacity.”

Part of the way kids were encouraged to make projects was to combine traditions and look at the science behind them. For example, Lee-Ann Ketchemonia took a look at the harvest  of maple sugar, a traditional activity that her family is involved in for generations, and took a look at the science behind it.

“They have it down to the degrees, the weather, the geography... Everything is down to a science.”

The main goal of the fair is to get kids to realize what career options are available them. Ketchemonia wants kids from Keeseekoose to go into engineering, medicine, and other careers with a science focus.

“These careers are more accessible. Twenty or thirty years ago, they may not have been accessible and they may not have dreamed of these things. Now, we want to show them they can go into the sciences.”

The plan for the science fair program is to see it move around to the other schools in the Yorkton Tribal Council, and Ketchemonia says that watching students get motivated shows the value of having a science fair in the schools.

“I want to have fun with this, I want to have fun with my students. We’re going to set the pace, and we’re going to make it happen so somebody else will want to take over. You empower people, and you want them to get better and better. This is just the start, I look forward to seeing next year’s event.”