Newly appointed local youth council representatives. From left, Elizabeth Pala, St. Louis Public School and Sandra Leblanc, École Valois (submitted/Sask. Ministry of Education)

By Alison Sandstrom

Young provincial advisors

P.A. area students join first-ever provincial youth council

Oct 15, 2019 | 4:00 PM

Two young women from the P.A. area have been named to the first ever provincial youth council.

The council, composed of 12 senior high school students from different Saskatchewan school divisions, will advise the Minister of Education on issues important to them and their peers.

“We have inspirational students across our province who are leaders in their own schools and communities,” Minister of Education Gordon Wyant said in a media release. “By engaging students on a provincial level, we can provide supports that better reflect what they need to prepare them for their futures.”

Sandra Leblanc, a grade 12 student from École Valois has been selected from Conseil des écoles fransaskoises. St. Louis grade 12 student, Elizabeth Pala will represent Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division.

Pala told paNOW she was “really excited” when she found out she had been selected for the position. She wants to use it to advocate for more resources for rural schools like hers, and better access to mental health services.

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“General awareness, how to cope, how to talk to someone, that’s something that really isn’t being talked about,” she said.

Leblanc, the representative for the province’s francophone school board, wants to see more diversity represented in learning materials.

“Exposing youth to various cultures and languages is vital for creating thoughtful people, and for students who are not anglophone in their heritage this is also vital to cultivating their identities and sense of belonging,” she told paNOW.

She said while she welcomed the minister’s commitment to offering more classes in Indigenous languages this year, more work remains to be done.

The youth council will meet with the minister for the first time on Saturday in Warman.

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom