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10TuesdayFebruary122013EducationAuroraCollegeWeekCELEBRATINGAURORACOLLEGEWEEKFEB.11-152013EmpoweryourFuturethroughEducation.EmpoweringCommunitiesAnNTHydroCompanyBeadsmergewithbusinessinAklavikTraditionalartscerticateprogramreturnstoAuroraCollegeByRENEFRANCOEURFouryearsagoAuroraCollegesliceditstraditionalartsprogramontheInuvikcampus.Nowthankstothedemandofonesmallcom-munityitsreturned.Theformerone-yearcerti-cateprogramiscurrentlyoper-atingoutofanAuroraCollegeCommunityLearningCentreinAklavik.Itmarksthersttimetheprogramhasbeenofferedinoneofthecollegescentres.Wereasmallercommu-nitytakingonabigprogramandthatsachallengebutthatsalsowhatssoheart-warmingandinvigoratingaboutitKatieMacRaeAuroraCollegescommunityadulteducatorinAklaviktoldTheJournal.Theprogramintroducesstu-dentstohands-ontraditionalartformsandthecorrespondingtechnicalskillssuchasbead-workembroideryandcraftingfootwear.Theyalsolearnhowtokickstartandmarkettheirownsmallbusinesses.AccordingtoMacRaetheprogramishighlytechnicalandwillproduceskilledwell-roundedgraduates.Theressomanyembeddedskillsintraditionalartsblendedwithtraditionalknowledgesothereshistoryandmathandsci-encewiththemeasurementspattern-makingdrafting.Thelearningisonmanylevels.Eightstudentsrangingfromages16to70areenrolledintheAklavikprogram.Somehaveexperiencewithtradi-tionalartssomehaveneverevenpickedupaneedle.MacRaealongwithfellowinstructorJoannaHartleyandMarjaVanNieuwenhuyzenprogramheadofthecollegesBeaufortDeltaregionandoneoftheoriginaldevelopersofthetraditionalartsprogramwereallkeyplayersinbringingtheprogramtoAklavik.ItsbeenawhirlwindtogetitoffthegroundespeciallywhenitcametogettingthefundingandthenshippingsewingmachinesandcuttingtoolsoverherefromInuvikMacRaesaid.WehavetopeckawayattheprogramsotospeakofferingitcoursebycourseaswehavethefundsVanNieuwenhuyzenamixed-mediaartistsaid.Thismeanstheone-yearpro-gramcomprisedofatotalof19differentcourseswillactuallytaketheAklavikstudentsmul-tipleyearstocomplete.Somecoursessuchastheoneonfootwearrequireover90hoursofwork.TheprogramstartedlastFeb-ruarywiththerstbeadworkcoursesrunningfor10weeks.Thenextsetofcourseswereof-feredthisfallandsawstudentscompletetheirownmoccasinsandmukluks.Thistermtheywillbelearningmooseandcaribouhairtuftingshscaleartandquillwork.MacRaeexpectsstudentstoreceivetheircerticateswithinthenextcoupleofyears.Itsreallyimportanttopro-videstudentsanywherewithanopportunitytoeitherlearnorrelearnorenhancetraditionalskillsandindoingsosafeguardthatVanNieuwenhuyzensaid.Theresveryfewofthesepro-gramsinCanada.FindingemploymentinsmalltownslikeAklavikcanalsobechallengingandtraditionalartscanbeavenueofself-employ-mentsheadded.Bringingtraditionalknowl-edgeintothelearningcentrealsofurtherintegratesthecol-legewiththecommunityandbroadensthescopeofwhatweteachacademicallyMac-Raesaid.OpeninguptheclassroomfortraditionalartsrightinAklavikmakesitaccessibletothosewhodontwanttorelocatetoalargertownorcitytotaketheprogramMacRaesaid.Therehadbeennumerouscommunityrequestsforsome-thinglikethisshenoted.Nottomentionthehamletisfulloftalentedindividualsandmanyartistsalreadysellingtheirownwork.Itsagoodtshesaid.Theressomanyembeddedskillsintradi-tionalarts...historyandmathandscience.KatieMacRaeAuroraCollegePhotoKerryLynnFortSmithmaninspiredtEducationAuroraCollegeWeekByRENEFRANCOEURSincestartingschoolthisfallatAuroraCollegeinYel-lowknifeLeslieMariehasntmissedasingleclass.Itellmytwosonsallthetimeabouthowtomakegooddecisionsandoneofthethingsthatcomesupisyouhavetogotoschooleverydayifyouwantaneduca-tionyouhavetoshowupforitMarie41said.IdontplanonmissingasingledayofschoolitsformyboysPhoenixandQuinton.Itsaboutmeholdingupmyendofthedealtoo.MariemovedfromFortSmithtoYellowknifetopursuehisdreamsandishalfwaythroughhisstud-iesintheSocialWorkAc-cessprograma10-monthupgradingprogramthatpreparesstudentsforcol-legecourses.NextyearhehopestobeacceptedintoAurorastwo-yearSocialWorkdiplomaprogramandfromthereeventuallysecurehisbach-elorsdegreefromtheUni-versityofRegina.IdliketokeepgoingandgetmyMasterstoohesaid.Mariespent10yearswork-ingintheminesandacouplemoreasastay-at-home-dadwhilehisgirlfriendwentbacktoschool.Itwasin2009whenasocialworkerinhishometownofFortSmithinspiredhimtothinkaboutsocialworkasaprofessionhecouldonedaycallhisown.StudentsinAklavikstraditionalartsprogramshowofftheirnishedproducts.LefttorightCindyGordonJoannaHartleyArleneKogiakBernadetteWhitbreadKatieMacRaeinstruc-torMildredEdwardsandAndrenaNoland.InfrontJaninaSempleleftandJeannetteElanik.LeslieMarieisastudentintheSocialWorkAccessprogramwhohopeshisfocusoneducationwillbealessontohissons.