The sound of the buzzer meant it was time to get down to business for almost 130 First Nations students from across the district at the first-annual “Quest For Knowledge” last Thursday at Couchiching.
Organized into 20 teams of six (five plus an alternate), the students engaged in a battle of the brains to see who knew the most in a potpourri of subjects from First Nations’ community leaders to prehistoric glaciers.
About two weeks ago, the Rainy Lake Ojibway Education Authority sent packages to 11 schools to give participating students a chance to bone up for the competition.
Kirsten Morrisseau, a grade eight student at Crossroads School in Devlin, lauded the benefit of the preparing for the competition, noting what she learned was not be forgotten when the big day rolled around.
“It [gave] you a good background; something to build upon,” she remarked.
And pay off it did as her team took top honours in the grade seven/eight division. Onegaming was close behind second while St. Francis took third.
Lac La Croix was next in fourth place.
In the grade five/six division, St. Francis finished first, with Mine Centre second, a second team from St. Francis third, and Crossroads fourth.
These teams took trophies back to their schools to be kept–and hopefully defended–at future “Quests.”
Students, even those on winning teams, all agreed the questions were difficult. “The Paypalm Treaty [was] a big stumper,” noted St. Francis student Jeremiah Fairbanks.
“The questions [were] really hard–they [made] you think,” echoed Robert Moore student Toni Mainville.
But it was the challenge that seemed to make it appealing to the students. “This would be a good thing to do everyday,” suggested Fairbanks.
“And it gives us a day off school,” interjected Ian Lockman of Robert Moore.
The only problem some complained about was the unexpected numbers of students who participated, causing the competition to go on a little too long.
“I think I actually want to go back to school now,” remarked Mainville.
That aside, Wilf Cyr, director of educational support services for the RLOEA, was very pleased with the turnout–and the competitive nature of the kids.
“We wanted to provide something fun for the students to do and in my mind, this is a fun thing,” he said.
Cyr noted the event could prove to be a landmark in that he was aware of organizers from other communities scouting out “Quest.”
“Some observers from around the district, like Whitefish Bay, are here to see what we’re doing,” he said. “I think it’s in hope they can get something going like this where they are, too.”
What impressed Cyr most was the interest a contest mainly focused on regional and traditional aboriginal knowledge was getting. This was important to him because, as he revealed at the event, it was a glimpse of the greater vision the RLOEA has been working on.
“We eventually want to implement an Anishinaabemowin immersion program in the Rainy Lake area, and this is the first step of that,” he enthused.
The idea, called “Vision 2020,” is a plan to get supplementary educational programming available in the school system, similar to the French immersion system in place at some schools.
Cyr hoped this would be achieved by 2020.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
