Volunteers, guests and student leaders before the start of the Post-Secondary Leadership Workshop for Prince Albert & North. (Derek Craddock/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

SASKATCHEWAN'S NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS

Student leaders from P.A. and beyond hear stories from Canadian icons

Jan 18, 2023 | 5:00 PM

The next generation of leaders came to Prince Albert to hear from those who were once in their shoes and learn how they persevered and triumphed.

The fourth edition of the Post-Secondary Leadership Workshop for Prince Albert and North took place Wednesday afternoon at the EA Rawlinson Centre for the Arts.

Over 500 students were expected to fill the seats at the centre to hear from four high-profile leaders in various industries. They included Chief Cadmus Delorme from Cowesses First Nation, JUNO winning artists Susan Aglukark, healthcare leader Brett Enns and Canadian Poet-Laureate Louise Bernice Halfe-Sky Dancer.

Nicole Gutka is a fourth-year student at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) and also stood on the student committee that organized the event.

When speaking to paNOW, she said she was thrilled the workshops were finally underway.

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“This event is really a gift to the post-secondary students of Prince Albert and the high school students of the surrounding communities as a thank you that we are the next generation of leaders,” she said.

Students from FNUniv, SaskPolytech, the U of S, Gabriel Dumont Institute and SIIT either participated or volunteered their time to organize the event.

Another one of those students is Raj Shandra from SaskPolytech, who is also the vice president of the students’ association at the school.

He said he was very confident that the seats would fill up for the workshops.

He also talked about the importance of having the guest speakers in person to share their experiences both positive and negative with the students.

“The backstory behind the high-profile name and all the success is truly similar to what an average student or a young person would face: the struggles, the challenges, the odds that we fight,” he said. “The perspective that these high-profile speakers have had, the approach they’ve had to these problems is the difference, is the defining line that sets them on the stage today.”

Among the topics that would be discussed during the sessions were taking care of your personal mental health, re-birth and resiliency and understanding what students have inherited and what to do next.

Gutka hopes that the students leave the workshops with a desire to combat major issues in the world like racism, prejudice, and sexism and paint their own legacy moving forward.

“We hope that when everyone leaves from here, everyone has a heightened awareness that racism and mental health issues do not discriminate. We also hope that as a community, we can come together and stand united,” she said.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock