The Northern Lights Public Schools Board of Trustees presented the First Nations Health Consortium with a 2022 Friends of Education Award at the Board’s meeting on Monday, January 23.
The First Nations Health Consortium is a collaboration between four First Nations health organizations from Treaty areas 6, 7, and 8 in Alberta.Consortium staff work closely with our Student Services Coordinators to identify student needs and help compile the information required to submit applications to Jordan’s Principle to access funding to provide much-needed supports and services for First Nations students attending NLPS schools.
With the help of the FNHC staff, NLPS has secured funding to support over 120 students, with additional needs continuing to be identified. This includes purchasing AAC devices to help students communicate, providing educational assistants to work with students, accessing additional Speech Language, Occupational Therapy and physiotherapy sessions for students, transportation assistance, preschool fees, educational assessments, and more. These are services that NLPS would not be able to provide at this more individualized level in order to remove barriers to education without the support from FNHC and Jordan’s Principle.
“This collaboration is helping to address many of the barriers and gaps that affect student achievement and success for First Nations students,” said Board Chair Karen Packard. “Our staff are overjoyed to see the enormous impact these supports and services are already having on student learning in our classrooms and in the lives of students and their families.”
In addition to working with NLPS to address students’ school-related needs, consortium staff also work with parents and guardians to address other needs of the students or family. They help connect families to outside agencies, such as doctor’s offices and assessment clinics, assist with navigating children’s services supports, and help them apply for funds to cover things like child care, sports and recreation opportunities, and technology they can use at home.
“We are grateful for this partnership and the tremendous work FNHC staff are doing to support our schools and students,” said Packard. “We are excited about the opportunities this will provide for our students and the many things they will be able to accomplish as a result.”
The First Nations Health Consortium is one of four recipients of a 2022 Friends of Education Award. Additional awards will be presented at future board meetings. Information about all current and past recipients is available on the NLPS website.
More information about the First Nations Health Consortium is available at abfnhc.com.
More information about Jordan’s Principle is available at the following links: