Sequoia Outreach: grad must go on

Times Reporter 

 

Their communities have been destroyed; their clothing and valuables were washed away; but the Sequoia Outreach grads gathered their spirits and celebrated the achievement of their high school diplomas in Strathmore on June 25, despite everything they’d been through in Siksika.

“I asked them to discuss it with their families, elders, and community members, to let me know, and that we would consider every single person’s opinion in the matter. Every single family got back to us and said that they wanted to go ahead,” said Principal of Sequoia Outreach School, Denise Peterson. “They believed it was important to celebrate and that this graduation represented hope for the future, and particularly at this point in time, would be uplifting.”

Some of Peterson’s students have lost homes completely, or had family member’s suffer the same fate. All students have been affected by the water shortages and power outages.

“Siksika is like a very large family, so when you have 1,000 people that are displaced, it’s going to affect everyone,” she said.

Many have taken refuge in the Deerfoot Sportsplex, while others are staying in Strathmore or in the city. A select few are even putting up tents and teepees on the hillsides in front of their drowning homes. It will be weeks, Peterson said, before all the water is pumped out.

“I thought that the grad would be postponed, I fully did, because people are so occupied with the tragedy and just trying to find the necessities of life right now – that’s the priority,” she said. “To see them come together like this and help each other…they are unbelievably good to each other. That’s been inspiring, amazingly inspiring to me to see that.”

Peterson and the Sequoia Outreach School have been touched by people’s donations and generosity – including Strathmore’s.

“This Strathmore community as well has reached out and brought all kinds of things to the school. Most of our students are young parents, so the Strathmore community has brought a lot of stuff to us. That’s absolutely amazing,” she said.

H.D. Cartwright School in Calgary is a partnered school of Sequoia Outreach, where Siksika students educate about Blackfoot culture, artifacts and dance. Though Cartwright School is closed, they provided trailers of goods for the Outreach students.

The Sequoia Outreach School’s purpose is to offer individualized programs to students who for whatever reason could not attend mainstream schools. Students are given a safety net of wraparound services to focus on getting an education and eliminating barriers. The elders believed residential schools had ripped kids away from their parents, and thus these children were not parented properly, and would pass that down to their kids. At Sequoia Outreach, students bring their kids to school with them, and therefore parent within the community.

The Sequoia program began 10 years ago and will blend with Siksika Outreach this fall. Out of this year’s 22 graduates, 16 have been accepted to post secondary.