Community Service Award is sponsored by SaskEnergy
Presented by Minister Cheveldayoff, Minster of Crown Corporations and
His Honour the Honourable Dr. Gordon L. Barnhart (Lieutenant Governor)

The 2008 award recipient for Community Service is Sakewew – Substance Awareness and Empowerment for the Youth (SSAEY). This group is made up of 15 First Nation youth members from grades 9 to 12 ( 50 per cent Urban and 50 per cent from local First Nations) and they all attend Sakewew High School in North Battleford. This group developed from a need to create awareness around substances in the school – their message is that substances and culture do not mix. Over the past year this group did a survey amongst all their other peers and will be visiting classrooms based on the survey results and learning facilitation skills from Youth Launch. As well they utilize their dance group to participate in presentations with a play they created to share their stories to the community. Also these students from this group do speaking presentations a various conferences and schools in their home community and other city/rural centers. They are planning for Spirit Week for this fall to kick off with a Leadership Rally to carry their message of empowerment for youth in surrounding First Nations schools in dealing with the real issues youth face such as substances and peer pressure.

The Sakewew Substance Awareness Empowerment for Youth have been described as doing a great job in representing themselves, their school and community in creating hope for Aboriginal youth in today’s world.

Congratulations Sakewew – Substance Awareness and Empowerment for Youth!

Group Members: Emery Buglar, Laron Oxebin, Alanna Wuttunee, Chassitty Wahobin, Sam Littlewolf, Curtis Albert, Nicole Laplante, Misty Blackstar, Benden Whitecap, Jessie Waskehat, Mykayla Night, Celeste Gopher, Kelly Stick, Alphonse Moccasin