Lake St. Martin Grade 9 grads told to stay in school

Five students overcome challenges, gear up for high school

Lake St. Martin Grade 9 grads Danis Pelletier, Elizabeth Ross, Bryden Sinclair, Jody Ross, and Kristen Summer throw their graduation caps at the end of their grad ceremony in Winnipeg June 18. 

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News 

It’s unusual for a solemn tone to blanket a graduation ceremony, but for five students from Lake St. Martin First Nation this year’s convocation was like no other.

Donning red and black cap and gowns, the small group of Grade 9 graduates paraded to the front of Lake St. Martin School’s theatre in Winnipeg to receive graduation certificates and listen to the prospects of what’s to come during an hour long ceremony on June 18. 

As they sat down, Danis Pelletier, Bryden Sinclair, Kristen Summer, and Jody and Elizabeth Ross received words of encouragement and were told to keep their heads up high, because a new challenge lies ahead. 

Principal Lillian Ross and 2014 Maples Collegiate grad Emily Pruden encouraged the graduates to stay in school. 

Pruden, 19, told the grads she knows that will be a challenge since it’s one she just overcame last year.

“It will be tough, but if I can do it so can you.”

The number of dropouts from the flooded-out First Nation has soared in recent years. 

Staying in school was something soft-spoken Pruden and others begged students to do.

“I went to school in a trailer, and in the first week of school there was almost 20 (students) and in the end, only five of us had graduated that year,” Pruden said. “Why? Because most of them lost their hope along the way and they stopped coming.” 

Some 100 students from Lake St. Martin have been shuffled around Winnipeg ever since being flooded out of their Northern Interlake community in the spring of 2011. 

The students didn’t finish school that year, and few have gone on to graduate since coming to Winnipeg. 

“There’s a lot of them actually,” said Pruden. “They basically dropped out because they weren’t ready for it.”

The students have had constant interruptions to their learning and have been shuffled around various buildings in the city including the Salvation Army, and their current school in St. James, which was abruptly closed and later re-opened in 2012 due to failed safety standards. 

Valedictorian Kristen Summer said she knows going to a high school in Winnipeg will be different than the small class settings she and her peers have become accustomed to. 

“I heard school isn’t like the way it is here, but I’m willing to try to make the best of it. I know there is still a lot more to learn in life and I’m ready for whatever is thrown at my way,” Summer said. 

“When September comes I’ll walk through this new school with a smile and I’ll stand proud.”

Danis Pelletier takes a selfie before walking into Lake St. Martin School's Grade 9 grad ceremony. 

Elder Betty Traverse congratulated the five students for sticking it out this far. 

“I’m a very proud grandma,” she said. 

There are no high school grads from Lake St. Martin this year, but Ross hopes this year’s group will change that in a few years.

Just last week, the First Nation had a groundbreaking ceremony on new land the band plans to re-build its community on. 

A new high school is to be built on the land, and Ross is optimistic once students return home to their traditional lands they will stay in school. 

“I think I have a lot of hope more than worry,” Ross said. “I’m just hoping these kids keep going.”

Pruden told a reporter it was her favourite comic book character Superman that kept her going. 

“He was my icon,” she said. “He told me to keep going.”

Bryden Sinclair is the only boy to graduate from Grade 9 at Lake St. Martin School this year. 

 -- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition July 2 2015 p.18