My name is Bronwyn Currey, and I'm visiting from Alberni District Secondary School.
I'm Ariel Koening, and I'm from Smithers Secondary School
I'm Kayla, and I'm from Smithers Secondary School.
This May, eighty six high school students attended the Verna J Kirkness Program
at the Universities of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. 30 of these students were
30 of these students were here at UBC.
They're from Campbell River, Port Alberni, Merrit, Smithers, Goodfish Lake, McLennon, Slave lake.
This is such a big place--it kind of seems like its own little city!
The Verna J Kirkness program is run by a number of
volunteers whose goal is to increase the number of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis
students graduating from science and engineering programs in Canada.
Dr. Ron Woznow: What if we gave young people from First Nations communities across Canada
the opportunity to learn about Kinesiology, Nutrition, Engineering
Verna: You are budding indigenous scientists--probably the most natural scientists in existence.
Dr. Ron Woznow: then hopefully our program will show them that they can make that dream come true.
Students attending the Vernon J Kirkness program get to spend a week at a
Canadian university working with scientists and engineers in their labs
and learning about their research.
Verna: You have this wonderful opportunity to learn from actual scientists from actually doing things
Sheryl: We had the students come in and build a computer model of a house,
and then do some analysis on that house
Browyn: I was with Sheryl and a couple of grad students at the stairs building and we
built houses and then we analyzed how cost effective they were.
Kayla: I was in the Michael Smith lab, we did a mix between Chemistry and Bio.
Arielle: I was in architecture with Jon Bass. We learned about architecture
and how it's not just about building buildings but that it's so much more than that
Linc: Students' early encounters with people from higher education can be really important
so programs that work with Indigenous students and connect them with people on
campus are really important.
Sheryl: What stood out is just how how fast they were able
to kind of work on this project that we designed for them.
They have put together really innovative solutions, hands-on experience is really
important to shaping their ideas about what's possible for them.
Kayla: I was more surprised that we actually got to do hands on things, I thought it was
like lectures and everything.
Students attending the program get to live in
University residence for a week. They get a bit of a sense of what it's like to be
a university student and they also get to explore some of the attractions
surrounding the university that they're visiting. we got out and explored the
Arielle: We got out and explored campus, which was kind of nice.
because then it gives you like an actual feel of how campus life is.
Bridgette: One thing I really enjoyed was, on the first day, we got to go to Science World.
Verna: If you liked it here, as I've heard many people say, two years from now it could all happen for you, eh?
Arielle: I actually want to become a doctor of nutrition,
so UBC is actually the school that I've been planning on going to.
This year, the students who attended the program at UBC were honoured with a feast
Verna: The purpose of this evening is to honour the students; this is a feast for you!
I hope this week has made you think about your future, whether it's in science or not.
Bronwyn: It was challenging but it was really rewarding at the end
Arielle: I like it here! It's so beautiful with all the trees and the plants and everything.
Sheryl: I absolutely plan to keep doing it--it's really fun; really gratifying.
Linc: We're especially happy to have the Verna Kirkness Program here on campus.
Arielle: It was overall a pretty good week!
Kayla: It was a pretty good week!
Bronwyn: It was a good week!
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