Back to the Future: Former La Loche School Teacher Returns to Promote ICTC Programs
As part of the Information and Communication Technology Council’s (ICTC) outreach to underrepresented populations in rural and remote communities, I travelled to La Loche, Saskatchewan, in March 2023 to introduce the region’s mostly Indigenous communities to ICTC’s various K-12 digital skills training programs that bridge educational gaps in digital technology literacy.
We aimed to forge authentic connections with student groups and advocate for STEM education. We wanted to go beyond the usual Teams and Zoom calls and truly showcase how ICTC’s wide range of programs can make a real difference for students and educators.
The programs I talked about to these schools included Jump-starting Digital Careers (JDC), which helps K-12 students learn digital skills and helps educators understand how technology can integrate into the lesson plans as teaching tools; FIT, which fosters ICT and digital skills development and awareness of ICT careers among highs school students; and MYFIT, which does the same for middle school students.
My aim was also to help the students and educators in these communities improve their cybersecurity knowledge and encourage them to create Indigenous cybersecurity teams that could compete in ICTC’s CyberTitan Competition. This national program determines Canada’s top cybersecurity high school and middle school teams each year.
But for me, this trip north was also a personal journey down memory lane. Before joining ICTC as Education Coordinator and National Indigenous Outreach, I taught elementary school in La Loche from 2010 to 2017. The social connections from those years paved my way back into these northern communities, where trust and friendship are valued so highly.
“Welcome to La Loche” was a refrain I heard repeatedly when I arrived in La Loche and was recognized by the parents of my former students.
My trip itinerary started the next day at Ducharme Elementary School, where I used to teach. Before heading out to my class, my former colleagues and I shared stories of their lives in the staffroom. I was assigned a Grade 5 class to teach a brief course on cybersecurity: how to keep safe online, password protection, security questions, phishing emails, and other issues.
It was just after recess, and the students were distracted, so I said loudly in Dene, “’ Look at me!”
I had their full attention now.
One boy said, “You speak Dene?”
“I lived in La Loche for seven years, so I better have picked up some Dene!” I said. “Now let me tell you why I’m here.”
I told them about my years as a teacher in La Loche, launched into my lesson that day, and talked about ICTC’s JDC program and my hope that some of them would join ICTC’s CyberTitan program and compete in our annual CyberTitan National Competition.
I could see light bulbs going off among the students. What I was saying was really connecting.
The next day, my itinerary took me to Dene High School to present ICTC’s FIT program. I talked to my assigned class about ransomware and what these hacks did to disable computers to make them more vulnerable in the future. I also taught the students how to “harden” their computers against these attacks and touched on forensic analysis.
That day, I saw many students whom I had taught in Grade 4 and Grade 6, which brought back memories of teamwork, laughter, challenges, and successes. When I left La Loche that afternoon, it was with a nostalgic heart and renewed hope for the kids of Northern Saskatchewan.
I reflected on how better digital literacy and cybersecurity in these communities could strengthen their culture and traditions by, for example, allowing them to digitize their native language and protect it for future generations and giving them the tools to engage in the modern labour market fully.
To learn more about ICTC’s programs for underrepresented populations and how we can support your school, please contact our Education Coordinators today!
- Eric Morettin- Education Coordinator, Western Canada. e.morettin@ictc-ctic.ca
- Timothy King- Education Coordinator, Eastern Canada. t.king@ictc-ctic.ca
- Matthew Gallina, Education Coordinator, National Indigenous Outreach. M.gallina@ictc-ctic.ca
