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Program Coordinator for the Aboriginal Head Start program Joleen Bateman is presented with the Minister's Award of Excellence in Child Development at Government House on Monday (Photo: Joleen Bateman)
By Shaun Penner
Grande Prairie Friendship Centre

GPFC’s Aboriginal Head Start program earns provincial recognition

Dec 10, 2019 | 1:04 PM

The Grande Prairie Friendship Centre’s Aboriginal Head Start program has received provincial honours for their work.

The program was named a recipient of one of the Minister’s Awards of Excellence in Child Development at a ceremony yesterday in Edmonton. The awards are presented by the provincial government annually to child development professionals and organizations, who improve the lives of children and families in Alberta.

The program’s coordinator, Joleen Bateman, says she and her team were very excited to find out they had won the award, especially after the year they have had.

“This has been a very different year for us. We’ve implemented a lot of new programming, we’ve done a lot of renovations due to a flood,” said Bateman. “Lots of things have happened this year, and we are super excited about our programs and what we do. So, it was a real honour to get that phone call.”

The challenging part though was that they were informed nearly four weeks ago they had won, but they weren’t allowed to announce it publicly until after the luncheon was held at Government House on Monday. That meant the full celebration had to be delayed.

“We were all excited here, quietly. We could tell our friends or family, but we couldn’t publicly announce it. It was suggested that we don’t tell our parents because they didn’t want it to trickle out. So, we had to be kind of hush-hush about it.”

“Now that it’s done, we’re all excited.”

The program has been in operation since 1995 and is offered to Indigenous youth aged three to five, to help them learn and develop while simultaneously helping support their parents and guardians as their primary teachers.

The program focusses on the various keys to the child’s development, including education, culture, nutrition and parent/family involvement.

Bateman notes of the growth and evolution she has seen in the program since it’s inception. At the end of the day, she attributes much of the success they’ve had to her team for helping bring it this far.

“It is the team of people that I get to work with everyday, who love their job. They’re passionate, they love what they do. They come in every day, ready to implement all these great opportunities for the children.”

“So, it’s really about the team.”

A full list of winners from across Alberta can be found on the government’s website.

by Shaun Penner