Partnerships

When education comes home, hope comes home

Community-led partnership allows Pimicikamak youth to study close to home.

Two students standing in front of a “Learning Hub” sign.
Estimated Read Time:
4 minutes
From left: Brody Muswagon and Kacey Wood-Ross, Grade 12 students at Mikisew High School in Pimicikamak First Nation (Cross Lake), Manitoba.
From left: Brody Muswagon and Kacey Wood-Ross, Grade 12 students at Mikisew High School in Pimicikamak First Nation (Cross Lake), Manitoba.
Estimated Read Time:
4 minutes
By

Sue Wang

For many young people from Pimicikamak First Nation (Cross Lake), pursuing post-secondary education means leaving home for Winnipeg or Brandon — a move that often brings financial strain, emotional stress and the challenge of navigating an unfamiliar city far from family and community.

Modern classroom with long tables, gray chairs, and a wall-mounted screen.
Instructor teaching in a multimedia classroom while adult students follow along on laptops.
Indigenous medicine wheel mural and sports banners on a wall at Mikisew School.
In Cross Lake, students are completing their final semester of their B.Ed. in the new learning hub — the first cohort to finish the entire degree in their home community.

“I’ve never been away from my family for a long while… two weeks, yeah, only two weeks,” said Grade 12 student Brody Muswagon.

“It would be harder over there because our school education here is behind… like three or four years,” added fellow student Kacey Wood-ross.

Their words reflect the reality faced by many Pimicikamak youth: learning gaps, limited access to academic resources and the pressures of being away from home make leaving the community a difficult—and not always realistic—option.

Now, that reality is beginning to shift.

A new community-led Learning Hub — developed through a partnership between Pimicikamak, the University of Manitoba (UM) and the Mastercard Foundation’s EleV Program — is opening new pathways for youth to pursue post-secondary education closer to home. The community guides how the space is used and how programs are delivered.

With the official opening of the Cross Lake Learning Hub, young people can now continue their education in a place where they feel grounded, supported and connected.

As Angie Bruce, UM’s Vice-President (Indigenous), explains:

“When education happens in community, it strengthens not only individual learners, but families and relationships as well.“

It allows people to learn in ways that are grounded in who they are, and where they come from. This is what meaningful change can look like — when communities lead and institutions walk alongside.

Angie Bruce, UM’s Vice President (Indigenous)

Learning in community matters

The Learning Hub reflects long-standing priorities identified by the community — creating opportunities for young people to learn, grow and build their futures without having to leave home.

For students like Muswagon—who hopes to pursue mechanics after rebuilding a truck with a friend this summer—staying in Cross Lake means continuing to develop his skills without uprooting his life.

His classmate, Wood-Ross, who is interested in frontline and health-related work, shared:

“I know how to answer phone calls now. Maybe someday I can learn how to do ultrasound too — it makes me feel like I could really work in that field one day.”

Instead of leaving behind their families, Elders and support systems, students can begin building their futures within the community that continues to support them.

As Emily Erickson, UM’s Learning Hubs Supervisor, explains:

“Indigenous youth helped shape our partnership with the Foundation’s EleV Program to find ways to change systems in their communities. The Learning Hubs support this change by bringing education to the places Indigenous young people call home and removing many of the barriers they face when trying to access post-secondary education and training.”

Indigenous youth helped shape our partnership with the Foundation’s EleV Program to find ways to change systems in their communities.

Emily Erickson, UM’s Learning Hubs Supervisor

Emily Erickson's headshot.
Connie McIvor's headshot.
Greg Halcrow's headshot.
From left to right: Emily Erickson, UM’s Learning Hubs Supervisor; Connie McIvor, Cross Lake Learning Hub Coordinator; and Greg Halcrow, Education Director for the Cross Lake Education Authority (CLEA).
Grounded in two knowledge systems

For Cross Lake, the Learning Hub represents more than a new educational space—it marks an important step toward educational equity and community self-determination.

Reflecting on the pandemic — when many students lacked access to reliable internet, devices and digital learning tools — Greg Halcrow, Education Director for the Cross Lake Education Authority (CLEA), shared:

“When others were using technology to learn, our students couldn’t keep up because they lacked the tools. If someone wants to change their life but doesn’t have the resources, they can’t dream. Today, we finally see the beginning of change.”

When others were using technology to learn, our students couldn’t keep up because they lacked the tools. Today, we finally see the beginning of change.

Greg Halcrow, Education Director for the CLEA

He notes that the Learning Hub brings together both Nehetho oral knowledge and Western written knowledge, creating a space where students can move confidently between both worlds.

“Our people have always had the wisdom to solve problems. The difference is simply this: one knowledge system is written, and the other is oral.”

A new beginning: celebrating community leadership

Erickson describes Connie McIvor, the Learning Hub Coordinator, as a true community champion—someone whose dedication has helped bring the Learning Hub from vision to reality.

That commitment is reflected in the programs now taking shape at the Learning Hub.

Currently, the Learning Hub hosts a First Nations Bachelor of Education cohort through Yellowquill College—one of the first of its kind for the community. Students from the cohort will graduate this June.

To meet broader community education needs, the community is also pursuing partnerships with Manitoba post-secondary institutions to offer programs such as:

•  Educational assistant training

•  Health care aide training

•  University preparatory courses

In addition, the Learning Hub will introduce workplace professional development and skills training workshops, as well as culturally appropriate learning supports.

These programs allow students to pursue education at their own pace while remaining close to family, Elders and community.

Audience seated in a school hall listening to a speaker beneath a medicine wheel mural.
Two people embracing warmly in a school hallway while others stand nearby.
Audience members seated and listening, including a woman in a red hat and beaded earrings.
Moments from the Learning Hub opening ceremony. Canadian Senator Mary Jane McCallum (pictured in the red hat) attended the celebration; she is herself from a northern Manitoba First Nation.
“More than a building—it’s a source of strength”

Canadian Senator Mary Jane McCallum—herself from a northern Manitoba First Nation—offered words that captured the spirit of the Hub’s opening:

“This is a celebration of your strength… your determination to bring education back to Pimicikamak… your tenacity — you refused to be smaller.”

For Pimicikamak, the Learning Hub represents more than classrooms and programs.
It reflects courage, resilience and the community’s commitment to imagining a different future for its young people.

It is a place where aspirations can grow without requiring youth to leave their community—a place where cultural identity and academic goals can strengthen one another.

As several community members shared :
“When education comes home, hope comes home too.”

The Cross Lake Learning Hub is part of a broader, community-driven approach to Indigenous education. Through the Mastercard Foundation EleV Program, the University of Manitoba is co-creating pathways to post-secondary, leadership and Mino Bimaadiziwin — the good life.
 

Learn more about the EleV Partnership and its impact.

Boilerplate: reconciliation

At UM, we are working together to advance reconciliation for transformative change, which is among the commitments you’ll find in MomentUM: Leading change together, the University of Manitoba’s 2024–2029 strategic plan.