Year: 2021 — Province: British Columbia
Certificate of Achievement Recipient
Awasisak Achakos Head Start
Aboriginal Head Start for children ages 3 to 5 years
Kelowna, British Columbia
Quote
“Chantelle Colthorp is a valued educator and early learning partner in Central Okanagan Public Schools. The District is comprised of 23,000 students with 3,000 students identifying as having Indigenous ancestry. In our community, Chantelle has been an accelerant to deep community engagement, creating pathways for Indigenous and non-Indigenous families to engage in reciprocal learning, and sharing their cultures with pride.”
Philosophy of care
Chantelle’s passion for supporting children in their healthy development stands out in all that she does. She fosters children’s sense of identity through optimum early learning experiences immersed in culture. She strives to ensure that the holistic needs of every child are addressed while providing children support through welcoming and culturally relevant programs and environments.
Support of child development
Her practice is about the best interest of each child. This includes elder involvement, health promotion, family and community involvement, connection to community resources, and a connection to nature. It is through the lens of supporting all areas of development that Chantelle thoughtfully implements these foundations into her programming.
The environment is a space that is based on respect and promotion of identity. She creates an environment for children that is culturally safe and inviting – one that reflects Métis culture and teachings and where children feel confident as Indigenous people. She makes this happen with a culturally rich decor, a focussed curriculum and through activities that foster knowledge and pride of Indigenous history and traditions. She invites Elders to provide teachings to families both virtually during the pandemic and on-site in a healthy and safe manner.
Involvement with parents, families and the community
Throughout her career, Chantelle has dedicated herself to working with and for her community. After over 20 years in early childhood education in Fort St. James and serving remote communities, she opened a family child care centre in her home after moving. She worked as a support worker at Métis Community Services in Aboriginal Supported Child Development - a BC program designed to enable children who require extra supports to be included in child care settings, preschool, before/after school and community care settings. Chantelle noticed that there never seemed to be enough support for all the children who required it. She wanted to reach children at an earlier age in order to impact their lives - a place for Métis and all Indigenous children to be immersed in culture and language. After a year of effort to secure the financial structure and through a lot of hard work including proposals, community consultations, school district meetings, permits, stakeholder relations, Awasisak Achakos Head Start came to life. This is a licensed centre providing full-time child care to 25 children. They are fully enrolled, and the waitlist is measured in years. Awasisak Achakos means “Children of the Stars'' in Cree language and is founded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Get in touch!
Awasisak Achakos Head Start
200 Mallach Rd
Kelowna BC V1X 2W5
250-870-5163
Email: headstartmanager@mcsbc.org