Ojibwe immersion school opens its doors to Anishinabek youth

By Beverley Carter

M’CHIGEENG FN – The first day of an Ojibwe immersion school was Sept. 4 for 13 kindergarten children attending Mnidoo Mnising Anishinabek Kinoomaage Gamig.

With ongoing years of committed support of the KTEI Board of Directors and the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM), the decision and support for Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute (KTEI) to forge ahead and implement an immersion based learning model beginning with Kindergarten children for the Fall of 2013 was made. Time is of the essence as every day and every year more and more Anishinabek language speakers are leaving to the Spirit World.

Since the Spring announcement was made to proceed, parents and extended families of the 13 children enrolled in Mnidoo Mnising Anishinabek Kinoomaage Gamig have been actively involved in the planning of their child’s educational future. Regular monthly meetings were held this past summer to explain the school’s educational philosophy and approach to early childhood learning with the Ojibwe language immersion environment. Queens University, a long-time and valued partner in KTEI post-secondary education, is a key part of the new immersion learning initiative going forward. Under the leadership and expertise of Dr. Lindsey Morcom, KTEI and its University partner will collaboratively complete the research and evaluation component of the school outcomes each year. Dr. Morcom has also been valuable in providing community and parental knowledge by explaining and communicating the various models and strategies of language learning and the well-researched and documented benefits of multiple language acquisition from an academic perspective.

One very important critical success factor for the immersion school – parental engagement and commitment – has been fully communicated right from the very start. Many tasks, such as designing and installing an ecofriendly playground and finalizing the monthly parent volunteer schedule, are only a few of the current priorities which moms, dads and family members had been busily working on in anticipation of the first day of school on Sept.4.

The first intake of Kindergarten students got a flavour of their new school on Aug. 22 orientation day with their parents/guardians, 100% immersed in Anishinabemowin.

They will be engaged in outdoor community experiential learning and regularly visiting and conversing with community elders and groups such as the Anishinabemowin Gamig Elders’ Centre in M’Chigeeng, as part of their early learning.

Chief Joseph Hare of the M’Chigeeng First Nation, who is also the Tribal Chairperson for the UCCMM, said “it’s time for our children to learn, grow and play in Ojibwe.

With many children from the M’Chigeeng First Nation enrolled in the new school, our community is proud to support the interests and several language learning strategies in our community.”

Stephanie Roy, the Executive Director of KTEI, who has spearheaded the initiative since its early beginnings a number of years ago, said the M’Chigeeng educational model “thoughtfully blends Early Learning Kindergarten (ELK) curriculum together with layers of Anishinaabemowin immersion language acquisition, and using principles of environmental stewardship through an official Eco School designation”.