Record number of First Nations grads

Among the 193 Fort Frances High School graduates at Wednesday night’s ceremony were a large number of First Nations students—about double the number who graduated last year.
“We’re very pleased,” said principal Ian Simpson. “We are hoping it will be a trend.”
Seventeen First Nations graduated Wednesday night, compared to eight or nine last year, Simpson noted. That’s about nine percent of the grads.
“On average, about 15 percent of the school population are First Nations students,” he said. “We want the percentage of grads to be the same as the percentage of the school population.
“We’re starting to move towards that goal.”
Simpson said a number of initiatives—at both the school and board level—have contributed to that improvement.
The Rainy River District School Board has put an increased focus on literacy, for example, in both its elementary and secondary divisions.
“You can see that with the results from the EQAO tests in the elementary system, and that’s helping kids coming into high school,” Simpson remarked.
He also noted the close working relationship between the public school board and Seven Generations Education Institute.
Through that partnership, the high school has a third vice-principal, Brent Tookenay, who is responsible for aboriginal students. Tookenay shares his time between the high school and Seven Generations.
“That’s helped a lot in communicating with kids and the community,” Simpson said.
In addition, Fort High has made the success of First Nations students one of its goals.
“It’s one of the things we’ve outlined in our school improvement plan. It’s been a major priority at the board level and at the school level,” Simpson said.
He noted the school started collecting data on attendance and achievement patterns among students to see where problems occur, and then address them.
The principal also said the students themselves have been rising to the challenge.
“We have to give some credit to the kids themselves,” Simpson remarked. “They’re working hard and achieving.
“Teachers deserve a lot of credit for this, too. They’ve made adaptations through their teaching, and this has had an impact.”