Erin Bosenberg
Life Reporter

A group of Aboriginal children will attend a pilot program this spring at North Campus as part of Camp Choice.

The program is funded through the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and connects kids with Humber’s educational opportunities and on-campus residence life. This year, Aboriginal children will get the opportunity to experience this on their level.

“We’re building on their own culture as well as introducing and integrating other topics at the same time,” said Pat Tait, manager of camps and events, and developer of the new initiative for First Nation’s children from Grades 7 and 8. “So that transition for them will be seamless and they won’t feel alone or isolated and that’s often the case because when they come from their environment into a post-secondary or an urban school environment, they have to check all their culture at the door.”

Shelley Charles is the Aboriginal elder on campus and has designed the curriculum for the camp. She will lead a tree-planting workshop and welcoming session.

 “I’ve done many camps with kids before,” Charles said. “They already had the Camp Choice going but they needed to have direction on the aboriginal camp.”

Charles emphasized the importance of integrating Aboriginal culture with Humber’s community environment.

“As native people one of the big differences in our perceptions and way of thinking, the philosophy of Aboriginal people is a visualization process and it might have a lot to do with where we’ve been raised. So if they can visualize being at college then they will be. So that’s why I personally think it really fits for Aboriginal students.”

Tait said it’s important to introduce children to the college so they understand what opportunities are there for them.

“We need to demystify what post-secondary education is. The whole goal for everyone is to educate people about post-secondary education, especially colleges.”

The camp runs May 25 to May 27.