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Poised to develop skills 

By Karen Herland

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Since January, a handful of members of the Garnet Key Society have made a weekly trek out to a Kahnawake school engaging students (along with their parents and teachers) in a multi-faceted after-school program that runs the gamut from arts and crafts to technology and, soon, circus performance.

This year, 52nd Key decided to take their mandate to organize a community project over the course of their tenure seriously. The society’s members, chosen from across the university, are best known as welcoming faces in garnet jackets at university events throughout their year-long term of office. Members usually raise money for a charitable group as their community project.

“We didn’t just want to organize a fundraiser, we wanted to create something that was sustainable, and would continue,” says Micaela Hardy-Moffat, a studio arts student.

The ball really got rolling when some members of the society met former Prime Minister Paul Martin at an event and learned about his ongoing work with First Nations communities. “There was concern about the community’s low enrolment in post-secondary education.” said Hardy-Moffat.

After some discussion a plan emerged for an after-school program at Kateri Tekakwitha School that would create a link between Kahnawake and the university while building on the students’ strengths and interests.

“This was something that some of the Garnet Keys already had experience with. We felt that as a group of individuals in a diverse range of programs, we could offer a variety of different skills,” said Key president Mandy Langlois, who is studying early childhood and elementary education.

“I used to do gymnastics and then I started coaching. I realized that I loved teaching,” says Langlois. Although she moved here from Alberta to go to circus school, she ended up in the education program. She often uses circus skills in the classroom in unexpected ways.

“Currently, I teach full-time for eight weeks at Children’s World Academy in LaSalle. I use performance to illustrate non-verbal communication and in science class it can help explain balance or perception.”

When Langlois is finished her internship, she’ll start her part of the program at Kateri Tekakwitha. For now, the first phase is well underway, with almost a quarter of all the school’s students registered in one of the three sessions currently offered.

Garnet Key VP and finance student Kyle Seaman has been offering the technology program. Although only one student was interested in the stop-motion animation project Seaman first presented, the others are eagerly taking on the PowerPoint and html skills they are learning.

Seaman, who has coached basketball in after-school programs, is excited by the challenges posed by this project. “I’m so lucky to be working with this team,” he says.

The group is already planning for the future and how to extend the project past their Key mandates. Another Key, Victor Bourdeau, has expanded MSR International, a coalition he founded, of university students involved in development projects to develop an education project that could support the Kateri Tekakwitha program long-term. “They have had some support from Paul Martin’s staff,” said Seaman.