Building a bridge between Indigenous youth and STEM
Alacea Yerxa, FEAS’ Indigenous Outreach Lead, leading workshop
With a timber-based exterior and natural materials, one building’s design pays tribute to the earth and recognizes the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Another proposed structure features a foldable roof and glass walls to embrace natural light. The students behind this progressive work aren’t engineers and architects yet – but the hope is one day they will be if they choose to.
Collaborating with the Kapapamahchakwew - Wandering Spirit School, The Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science’s (FEAS) Teaching and Outreach team recently ran a three-day intensive workshop for over 60 students and their teachers. Designed by FEAS’ Indigenous Outreach Lead, Alacea Yerxa, the workshop’s curriculum combined engineering design principles with the knowledge students have learned through Indigenous Ways of Knowing. The students, ranging from grades four to nine, were tasked with designing a new Pow Wow arbour. An arbour is a circular structure that often serves as a symbol for the circle of life, with no beginning or end. During Pow Wow ceremonies and celebrations, this structure incorporates drums and space for dancers and spectators. Yerxa crafted the challenge around a culturally-relevant event that encouraged students to think deeply about their community.
Students working on their arbour concept.
In response to the challenge, the students excelled. Breaking up into teams, with undergraduate FEAS students as mentors, students conceptualized modern structures to support their community’s historic traditions. From featuring grass dance circles to mounted powwow drums, each concept was inspiring for all involved. Each team then presented their work to a panel of judges who are Indigenous leaders within Toronto Metropolitan University’s community. The panel included current research student and Indigenous Peer Support Worker, Sommerly Grimaldi-Ertl, Program Manager of Indigenous Student Services, Brian Norton, and Indigenous Advisor to the Dean of the Faculty of Science and PhD student, Brooke Filsinger.
The TMU judging panel.
TMU judges providing feedback to students on their designs.
Over the three days of learning, designing, and presenting, students became increasingly excited about engineering and architectural science – having a few laughs along the way. Stemming from the Global Changemakers Engineering Competition, funded by the Motorola Solutions Foundation, the workshop’s goal was to make students aware of the possibilities for them in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). While the workshop was an incredible start, the Teaching and Outreach team wants to build on the momentum. For months before the big workshop, Yerxa visited classrooms at Kapapamahchakwew - Wandering Spirit School, sharing her experience and knowledge as an Indigenous undergraduate student in STEM. Yerxa will continue her work with the school, alongside the broader Teaching and Outreach team, which is planning to repeat the initiative next year.
Arbour structure concepts designed by Kapapamahchakwew - Wandering Spirit School student teams.
Photography credit: Colleen Stock
About the workshop: The Global Changemakers Engineering Competition, funded by the Motorola Solutions Foundation
Established to address the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Changemakers Engineering Competition is run annually. As part of this initiative, the FEAS Teaching and Outreach team runs two-day intensive workshops for youth who self-identify as women and for youth who self-identify as Indigenous. These workshops are designed to help students get hands-on with engineering principles early into their education and provide mentorship on their journeys to STEM.
About FEAS Teaching and Outreach
The FEAS Teaching and Outreach team actively partners with schools, along with other youth-oriented organizations, to inspire the next generation of STEM students. The team brings together current students and alumni from across the faculty, to act as teachers, mentors, and collaborators on a wide range of initiatives – from in-classroom workshops to competitions and summer camps. Resources are also developed to equip teachers with the tools they need to promote STEM in their classrooms.
If you would like to discuss a potential partnership opportunity, please contact Minakshi Suri, Engineering Outreach Coordinator at minakshi.suri@torontomu.ca.