REGINA — Cornwall Alternative School Grade 10 student Layla Okeeweehow-Desnomie has aspirations one day to become a teacher, but was unsure if she could ever complete her high school education.
When she first joined the school, no Grade 12 program was available, meaning she’d have to find an alternative for a Grade 12 diploma.
“I feel like I would have a hard time finishing my education in other settings.”
Okeeweehow-Desnomie said learning suits her best when she can go at her own pace.
In other schools, she described feeling rushed and overwhelmed by daily assignments.
Unsure of her future, Okeeweehow-Desnomie and her peers were thrilled when Cornwall Alternative School announced a new Grade 12 class.
"Now they get to be part of something here that can lead to that final graduation. And that inspires their families, it inspires a healing process, and it creates opportunity for everybody to be generally excited,” said Bryan Rice, principal of Cornwall Alternative School.
The school’s Grade 12 class currently has three students, with plans to intake 11 more in the future.
Rice credited student Asia Mills as a big part of starting the dialogue with teachers and staff on the idea for Grade 12.
For a while, Cornwall Alternative School had been offering only Grade 7-10 classes until last year, when they introduced Grade 11.
One struggle many students had after leaving the school to complete their education is adjusting back into mainstream education systems.
“When you're all of a sudden in a classroom where maybe it's the subject that you are weak in and you're shy or you have some trauma that affects your ability to communicate, it's gonna be very hard to have success in those classes,” said Rice.
“[I’m also] still in touch with quite a few students that were here and now they're in their adult education streams or they're trying to get back started.”
Even though the school has managed to expand, Rice said the need for those at-risk in the traditional educational setting continues to rise.
“I think our tag as of this morning is 123 individual family calls to try to have a student come here.”
Currently, the school has 44 students, with limited space available to expand capacity.
“We know the families are emotional, and they care, and they want their child to succeed. And it is hard on my end to be the bearer of bad news,” said Rice.
The school is currently figuring out how it plans to celebrate its first batch of graduates in Grade 12 upon completion.
Meanwhile, Okeeweehow-Desnomie is hoping to start her Grade 12 next fall and plans to study teaching at the First Nations University of Canada.
