Tuesday 17 December 2013

Remy Bernier



Remy Bernier at the age of 29, in the prime of his life, suffered a severe aneurism. After weeks of being in a coma and in the Foothills Hospital ICU, he emerged a changed man. Half of his body was paralyzed; the other half severely disabled.

Project NOWE spent an afternoon with Remy and took him for a short hike around Camp Cheif Hector's beautiful trail system. It was a great day for both Remy and the students.

 

Friday 13 December 2013

Mary Tidlund

Without the leadership and generous support of the Mary Tidlund Foundation, Project NOWE would simply not exist.


The Mary A. Tidlund Charitable Foundation is a charitable organization that designs and funds sustainable development projects around the world. Established as a Canadian public foundation, it began operating on October 14, 1998. Through the generosity of our friends and supporters, we fund, operate and participate in a wide range of projects and offer the same opportunities to our donors and volunteers.

Many of our program ideas originate with individuals in Canada who wish to make a difference in the lives of people around the world. The goal of all of our projects is to promote leadership, self-confidence and self-esteem through the alleviation of poverty and the promotion of health and education focusing on women and children.

After completing a science degree in Geography, Mary began a 15 year career in the oil industry, later becoming President and CEO of a publicly traded oil exploration and service company. Her activities expanded to include drilling and trucking companies, a clothing store, an art gallery, and a restaurant based in Arcola. Mary's commitment to her community was recognized nationally in 1993, where she was a finalist in the Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. In addition, Mary received an In Award for having the most impact on the local community. In October of 2000, she received the Black Achievement Award for Humanitarianism in Alberta and Global TV Woman of Vision in May 2010. Mary's long-term goal is to create self sustaining programs for the Foundation and to assist in the transformation of individuals, families, and communities. Mary currently serves on the Board and Executive Committee for Women Moving Millions.

Teachers


Amy Sagan has been working at Morley Community School for five years and helped start Project NOWE in 2012. Her work in teaching over the past eight years has brought her all around the world, including New Zealand (where she completed her teaching degree and taught for two years), Japan and Sri Lanka. Amy is well loved by her students and colleagues because of her infectious spirit, enthusiasm and compassion, and despite her iron rule when it comes to student discipline and classroom management. Amy is passionate about the role the outdoors plays in education and is well rounded with her skills in climbing, canoeing, skiing, snowboarding and hiking. Her love for the mountains crosses over into her personal life: her partner Jason Billing is finishing his apprenticeship as a Mountain Guide and her dog Nahla is a Bernese Mountain Dog.



Tom Wolfe has been teaching at Morley Community School since 2003 shortly after completing his teaching degree at the University of Calgary. Tom splits his schedule between working with Project NOWE and working as a mountain guide in the ski touring, heli-ski, and alpine/rock/ice climbing guiding industries. Certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) at the highest international standard for mountain guiding, Tom is a member of both the ACMG and the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA). Tom's participation in Project NOWE this year has connected the program with the highest standards in the outdoor industry, a first in Canadian Outdoor Education school programs. Tom lives with his wife Deborah Lantz (a public health nurse on the Morley reserve) and kids Rohan and Ruthie in Canmore, Alberta.


Gen Soler has been working at Morley Community School since 2000. She's a Jill of All Trades, with her main function at MCS being that of Guidance Counsellor. However she is also actively involved with support for many school programs and extra-curricular activities. In fact, it was through conversations between her, Mary Tidlund and Outward Bound that Project NOWE was first conceived! Her role in Project NOWE these days is as the co-ordinator for the Outward Bound and Leadership Lab activities. Gen lives with her husband Jeff Horvath (teacher and first nations liaison at Canmore's high school) and two children Nashki and Zaagaate in Canmore, Alberta.

Ski-Fit North Alberta



Project NOWE is fortunate to be working with Ski Fit North Alberta (SFNA). SFNA is a unique community development program focusing on the sport of cross-country skiing. In partnership with Cross Country Canada, Cross Country Alberta, and sponsored by Statoil, the SFNA program has successfully completed its 5th year of operations in Northern Alberta.

The Primary goal and focus of the program is to promote healthy lifestyles for all residents of northern Alberta through the lifelong sport of cross country skiing.  The main focus of the program has been grass roots development and exposure to the sport.






SPECIFIC PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Promote healthy lifestyles and build community relationships through the delivery of ski events and fitness programs in northern schools and communities.
To motivate students to stay in school by enhancing the school program through the delivery of ski events and programs in northern schools and communities.
Teach basic techniques and ensure students, teachers and other participants have a fun and positive experience on skis.
Provide resources and support for development of permanent community infrastructure (ski clubs and ski trail development).
Provide development programs and resources for community coaches, officials and leaders.
Help individuals interested in competing in the sport to be competitive and provide information and resources to do so.
Provide grant funding information and support to schools and communities in interest of accessing funds to purchase ski equipment or development trails.
Two-time Olympic medallist, Beckie Scott travels throughout northern Alberta, along with Andrew Urton, Ski Fit North Alberta Coordinator to inspire Canadian youth to take their first strides in the sport of cross-country skiing. SFNA has made nearly 50 community visits to date, and has worked with 18 separate communities across the North.  From those community visits there were over 4,100 participants in the program.  The majority of schools were visited twice throughout the ski season.  Core communities (communities near Statoil’s business areas and communities in which the sport is developing at a rapid rate) took part in the program on 4-8 separate occasions. The core communities form the foundation of the program as they are now developing into self-sufficient programs.

Tom Crane Bear


As part of Project NOWE's Leadership Labs we have been fortunate to be students of Elder Tom Crane Bear on several occasions. Mr. Crane Bear is frequently referred to as a “walking library,” as one of the few elders in Blackfoot country who is knowledgeable in all areas of his tradition. He provided spiritual services in Alberta and Ontario prisons and worked for Aboriginal counselling services, applying his experience and spiritual knowledge to the benefit of Aboriginal youth.

In the 1990’s, Mr. Crane Bear served as an elder advisor for the Siksika Land Claims, Siksika Justice and Aboriginal Justice Learning Networks in Ottawa. As a spiritual elder for the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal programs, Mr. Crane Bear worked with a small group of elders to transfer a painted Blackfoot tipi as a ceremonial place of significance on Buffalo Mountain, as a teaching place for all nations. In 1993, Mr. Crane Bear was inducted into the Indigenous Elder’s Circle at the People’s Conference in New Zealand and given the title “Honourable Elder”. In 1982, he took training as a Life Skill’s Coach and taught for two years in human behaviour in Edmonton. The pipe was transferred to Mr. Crane Bear in a ceremony conducted by the Peigan elders, led by the late Joe Crowshoe.



Thursday 12 December 2013

Guest Instructors and Sponsors


Project NOWE has been fortunate to have a variety of skilled an diverse guest instructors this year. Here are some photos and brief bios of some of them.




Doug Saul is the Program Director at the YMCA's Camp Cheif Hector. Doug has been active in camping for over 20 years, and has been going to camp since he was six years old. He and his wife Jill and their two children, Magnolia and Jedadiah, live at the Rocky Mountain YMCA. Doug has worked at YMCA Camp Chief Hector for 16 summers. He is also a teacher and a youth-worker. He enjoys meeting and being active with the campers, families and staff of YMCA Camp Chief Hector. Doug is a member of the Alberta Camping Association and is active in the hiking, horseback riding and canoeing organizations that provide leadership for these activities in Canada.


Mitch Suliak started with Aquabatics as a 14 year old in our Junior Development Kayak Team. Since then he has been around Aquabatics every summer, working, paddling and paddling some more. Mitch is equally at home teaching an Intro to Kayaking course as he is talking about bow flair and rocker on canoes or discussing paddle materials. At the ripe old age of 22 shows a maturity far beyond his years both on and off the water.





Simon Coward, owner of Aquabatics (Project NOWE's kayaking contractor). Up until 2004 Simon had been following summers for about 7 years teaching kayaking and raft guiding. Over the years he has led several successful expeditions to Africa and South America where the teams ran multiple class IV/V first descents in remote regions of Kenya and Bolivia. Now a full time Calgary resident, he leads snowboarding and surfing trips in the Winter time and runs the ever expanding Aquabatics kayak school during the summer




Chris Neve, Canadian Youth National Team Coach and coordinator of The Banff Centre Climbing Gym. Chris has trained the highly successful Youth National Team for years now, taking them all over the world to compete at the highest levels.

















Colin Funk is a seasoned facilitator and program designer in the area of creativity and leadership development. He has spent the last 20 years working as a facilitator, director, and theatre producer throughout western Canada. He is a graduate of the BC Institute of Technology – broadcast communications (1981), and a graduate of the Vancouver Playhouse – theatre arts and dramaturgy (1985).

Funk is currently the artistic director of Precipice Theatre. Since 1989, he has led the creation of unique leadership development initiatives that bring together the arts, ecology, and business through the medium of theatre. He has also held a number of positions at The Banff Centre, as arts administrator, program coordinator, and creative program director of The Banff Centre’s Leadership Learning Lab.






Albi Sole has been guiding since 1979 and has spent the last fourteen of those years working at the Outdoor Centre at the University of Calgary programming avalanche awareness, ski touring and climbing courses. Albi has an extensive resume including: writing the World's first waterfall ice climbing guide, first climbing ascents in Europe, North and South America, and the Himalaya. Albi worked as a heli-ski guide for 13 years, has guided groups to Aconcagua, Huascaran, and Denali, led two expeditions to Himalaya, and was a participant in lightweight sieges of the West Ridge of Makalu and the first ascent of the West Ridge of Everest from Tibet. In 2008 Albi completed an MSc. researching risk taking in avalanche terrain. Since then Albi has lead the foundation and growth of the Outdoor Council of Canada. Through Albi's support Project NOWE students have been able to learn rock climbing skills on the one-of-a-kind concrete and stone climbing gym structure at the University of Calgary. In January Project NOWE students will take their skills to the world of vertical ice on the Outdoor Centre's ice wall structure at Fortress Mountain Resort.




Joni Cooper, Director, Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. In 2010 Joni returned to her roots in the Canadian Rockies to take up the post of programming director for the Banff Mountain Festival at The Banff Centre. Joni made it possible for 10 project NOWE students to take in two days of amazing presentations by mountain book authors including "John Clarke – Explorer of the Coast Mountains" by Lisa Baile, "Alone on the Ice" by David Roberts and "George Lowe and The Conquest of Everest" by Huw Lewis Jones.








When we started Project NOWE we had two sponsors and an extremely limited budget. Then one of our sponsors dropped out in early September unexpectedly. This left us with a problem: how to run a half funded outdoor education semester. The biggest initial hurdle was clothing and equipment. Tom Wolfe sent an email out to industry professionals, members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, asking for donations of used clothing and equipment.

Within weeks our shelves and clothing racks were filled. Now our students can participate in activities like snowboarding, cross country skiing, and ice climbing in comfort and properly equipped.




Tom: "Skating would be a fun thing to do. But we don't have skates. And we don't have money." Amy: "Let me give Mike a call..." A big thanks to GearUp for their incredibly generous support of our program with incredible rental discounts. Mike Meilike you rock!










Camp Chief Hector Canoeing

One of the big highlights of the semester at Project NOWE was spending five days on the river with Doug Saul from Camp Cheif Hector.


Checking out the whitewater of the Kananaskis River's kayak race course.


Day One: learning to paddle on the CCH ponds




 Stepping it up: moving water on the Bow River right at the school's doorstep!









 The Bow River by Dead Man's Flats

Our culminating trip down the Bow River from Exshaw to Seebe Dam!


 Cooking the bannock dogs to perfection.

 






High Ropes with the Banff Center

The Banff Center has one of the country's most impressive leadership development programs. It's certainly located in the country's most impressive location, at the base of Tunnel Mountain, aka "Sleeping Buffalo".

Project NOWE students have made a bunch of trips to the Banff Center this semester. Climbing at the Sally Borden Gym, taking in lectures by outdoor travel writers at the Banff Mountain Book Festival, and several "Leadership Labs" with Colin Funk have been on the agenda.

Colin holds a position on the Leadership Faculty at the Banff Center. An engaging facilitator with a background in acting, Colin is passionate and patient and eager to work with our First Nations students. We've done a variety of interesting projects:

taking in a lecture from Parks Canada on the archeological significance of Sleeping Buffalo
Architect - Communicator  - Builder: a fascinating role playing game that looks at the importance of communication
Energy Transfer: silencing the inner critic and putting yourself OUT THERE!
High Ropes: It's scary, but we all have what it takes to jump off the top of a telphone pole!

Here are a couple of photos of the High Ropes course facilitated by the Banff Center and Rob Turner from the Pacific Center for Leadership:

 Safety first -- equipping students with industrial grade safety equipment.

 Working up the nerve. The goal here was to touch (or even headbutt) the pink foam dangling about 10 feet away. One - Two - Three - JUMP!!

Route Setting and the Competition!

Most people these days know what it's like to climb at a gym: grabbing those colourful little holds on steep overhanging walls.

This fall, the students from Project NOWE have been doing a ton of indoor climbing at the local gyms: Canmore's Elevation Place, Banff Center's Sally Borden Gym, and the University of Calgary.

The Banff Center's Sally Borden Gym has given our students an amazing 6-week program that included some excited activities. Highlights for the students included:
  • a day where the students actually got to set their own routes!
  • Morley Rocks Competition -- 20 routes of increasing difficulty were tracked on individual score sheets. Winners were: Japheth Kaquitts (Most Points), Mistie Rider (Most Attentive Belayer) and Sammy Wildman (Most Routes Attempted).

Mark explains to the students the correct techniques for mounting the plastic holds without damaging the wall structure or T-nuts. Students were careful to follow his instructions and did a great job of designing new bouldering problems, which were tagged and became problems for the public to try!

Here Japheth attempts the Competition's hardest route, Route 20, which was worth up to 200 points. Unfortunately nobody -- even Mr. Wolfe -- was able to make it to the top holds without a fall.

Japheth, struggling at the crux of Route 20
William creating a bouldering masterpiece.

Learning to Ski at Nakiska

Winter's here to stay, and early season conditions at Nakiska were perfect for ski lessons on December 11th.

Going into this day, none of the students wanted to ski -- they wanted to snowboard instead. So we made a deal: take a 90-minute lesson and spend the rest of the day on skis, and for the remaining four days you can choose whatever you want -- snowboard all four days if you like.

Well, much to everyone's surprise skiing was a great hit. According to William, the instructors 

"Taught me how to turn. He taught me how to glide. He taught me how to do a backflip... I'm just kidding. The instructors were nice. I learned a bunch of stuff. I'm glad I didn't change the skis for a snowboard because I got the hang of it!"


Friday 6 December 2013

The Ghost

Students began the Project NOWE semester with a 7-day hike in the Ghost River and Waiparous River areas, including an ascent of Blackrock Mountain. This was a very challenging trip for all of the students, and unfortunately four out of 13 dropped out early. However, the ones who survived have a tale to tell.