It was a historic moment for two Mattagami First Nation graduating students.
Max Worme-Naveau and Leiland Wheesk are the only students graduating from the Keewaytinook Internet High School (KiHS) in the community this year. KiHS is an online program allowing First Nations students to earn their high school diploma while staying in their communities. In Mattagami, the program started running last year.
In total, 30 KiHS graduates from different communities across Northwestern Ontario were honoured during a virtual ceremony today.
The online event featured congratulatory speeches from dignitaries, a performance by Thunder Bay-based singer Nick Sherman, a keynote speaker Jacky Chan and a speech from a valedictorian.
KiHS Mattagami students usually have two graduation ceremonies. The first one is held virtually when graduates and their families celebrate from their communities. Then, they usually gather for a big in-person celebration at Thunder Bay. This year was the first time only an online ceremony was held due to the pandemic.
Worme-Naveau, 20, who has applied to study at the Northern College’s Motive Power Technician Program, was presented with a Rotary Club Scholarship worth $1,200 per year during the ceremony. He also said he chose to study at Northern College due to its proximity to home.
“I’m happy that I got (school) done,” he said after the graduation.
He said studying at KiHS was easier for him because it’s located right in the community and didn’t require him to wake up too early to go to school. The overall experience studying at home was “fine” for him, he said.
Worme-Naveau said he enjoyed the co-op program the most as he’s into the hands-on type of learning.
Wheesk, 28, who applied to study heavy equipment techniques at Northern College, said he had to buy a laptop to study from home.
“It was kind of difficult. The classes were closed and I couldn’t work from home right away. So, I had a late start in the class but eventually got to pass. So it kind of put a stop on a lot of things that got delayed.”
Wheesk said his family and friends have been supportive telling him to “just get it done.” Now, that he’s earned his high school diploma, his goal is to get into college and work at a local mine.
“You don’t know what to expect. I wasn’t really prepared for something like that,” Wheesk said about his experience graduating amid the pandemic. “My learning from this: be prepared for anything.”
KiHS Mattagami First Nation classroom mentor and teacher Ian Vaithilingam said graduates will always remember this graduation.
“The class of 2020 will go down in history as the ones who were resilient enough to still cross the finish line during the global pandemic,” he said. “The fact they made it to graduation is a really big deal because it was definitely tough in the last couple of months.”
“It was a huge effort, not only by the school and the staff to turn on a dime, but the community also supported the students and that’s what allowed them to be successful this term.”
Usually, high school students are bused to Timmins or come to study at the school located on the second floor of the fire hall in Mattagami.
When the pandemic started and classrooms got closed, students had to study from home.
Mattagami First Nation bought about 30 Chromebooks for elementary and high school students who didn’t have access to computers, Vaithilingam said. He noted the band acted very quickly, which helped the students aged 18 and younger to start working from home right away.
For Vaithilingam, it was challenging to work from home and communicate with students online.
“It was a really difficult end of the year. I missed my students, not being able to see them. I think we all struggled from working from home, the teachers included,” he said. “So the fact that we do have two grads and we had quite a few students get credits this term, I’m really relieved.”
