Eeyou Eenou High School Leadership Conference

Over the past two years, Youth Fusion has been working in Eeyou Istchee (James Bay Cree Communities) to engage youth in schools by developing activities with real-world applications that make school more relevant, welcoming and fun. Youth Fusion's innovative approach is to send university students or recent graduates to work as project coordinators, 25 hours per week, in northern schools for the entire 38 week long school year. Our objective is to decrease absenteeism and in the long term to increase graduation rates (currently less than 1 in 10 students graduate from high school within five years).
Through our discussions with high school students and staff, Leadership has become a focus of our programming. We have helped start an active student council in the schools in Waskaganish, Waswanipi and Oujé-Bougoumou and in Mistissini we are working with established student “acti-leaders.” In each school, student council is composed of class representatives, who are elected by their peers, as well as committees that are inclusive of all interested students, from secondary 1-5 (grade 7-11).
In each community, we have been extremely impressed by teenagers’ willingness to become involved, their commitment to attending meetings, and their readiness to work toward realizing activities for their peers and their communities. Students have organized dances, movie nights, school spirit days, fundraisers, and a Halloween haunted house and more – some attended by over a hundred community members.
Youth Fusion's Leadership project coordinators had observed that there are a lot of initiatives within each community, but little follow-through on projects for youth. We felt that the student council would gain legitimacy and that students would be more motivated to get involved if they could work towards a large-scale regional event (something on par with the ever-popular hockey tournaments). This led to a first Leadership exchange in December 2011, during which student leaders from Oujé-Bougoumou traveled to Waskaganish to meet their student council. Two key community partners got on board: the Petaapin Youth Centre in Oujé-Bougoumou provided a budget and logistics for transportation, and Wiinibekuu School in Waskaganish arranged for students to stay overnight at the cultural camp and liberated a Cree culture teacher to lead traditional activities for the participants. During three days, students bonded through leadership games, music, camping, and traditional activities such as carving their own crooked knives and cooking beaver. This activity strengthened students' sense of belonging as members of the student councils.
The experience was so positive that we wanted to expand it to reach even more youth. We are proposing an annual Eeyou Eenou High School Leadership Conference, with the first edition scheduled for spring 2012. We anticipate participation of 40-50 high school students from 4 communities in the first year, and hope to expand after that. During the Leadership conference, youth delegates will be meet peers who are involved in student leadership across the nation. Through leadership games, traditional activities, and meetings with role models, youth delegates will develop values such as communication skills, team-work, perseverance, self-confidence, and mutual respect, which they can re-invest in their own schools and communities throughout the year.