Shalen Fox is a role model for young Indigenous students at JPII Collegiate, the same school he attended as a student himself, not so long ago. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Building up the next generation

JPII’s Shalen Fox making positive impact for Indigenous students

Jun 21, 2021 | 10:24 AM

Leading up to National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21 battlefordsNOW is featuring Indigenous professionals, storytellers, entertainers, artists and others. Stay tuned for more throughout the week.

For the last seven years, Shalen Fox has been working at John Paul II Collegiate (JPII), serving as the local high school’s graduation coach.

Originally from Sweetgrass First Nation, Fox attended JPII as a student himself though his high school years, during which time he developed an interest in teaching through his desire to coach athletics, something he has remained very involved with to this day with a variety of the Crusaders school teams.

“I always wanted to do something with coaching sports, and teaching was sort of one of the highlights that really came about as a product of that,” Fox said, reflecting back on his early years in education.

However, what this year’s Lumen Christie Award winner may not have known back then was just how big an impact he would go on to have for so many young indigenous youth in the community who would come to be positively affected by Fox’s career in education.

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In addition to coaching all of basketball, volleyball and soccer for the school teams not long after starting at JPII, Fox also helped establish the school’s annual Christmas Dinner event.

Part of the school’s larger ‘Braided Journey program’ which works with First Nations and Metis students specifically, the Christmas Dinner allows students a chance to bring in their family and friends for a special potluck-style meal ahead of the Christmas break. Each student participating can then volunteer what they want to make/bring for the occasion, which allows families and teachers a chance to connect beyond the traditional parent-teacher meetings.

“It’s a great way for our staff to meet the families of our kids in a bit of a different setting, rather than always just talking about grades and academics,” Fox said. “It’s just a great social environment so we can put faces to the phone calls and help build a better relationship with students and their families throughout their time in high school.”

In addition to the Christmas Dinner, Fox has also been involved in starting a number of other, similar initiatives with the intention of building up the next generation of Indigenous leaders in the community. Another of those programs is the ‘Indigenous Role Model Graduation Wall’ featuring the pictures and bios of recent Indigenous graduates from the school, currently making a positive impact in the region.

Whether starting a new program celebrating recent Indigenous graduates (left), coaching school sports teams (top right), or helping raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women (bottom right), Shalen Fox is very active in the JPII school community. (File photos/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The bio pieces, which include examples of various obstacles and challenges they have faced, also shares the different ways they have overcome the challenges in front of them as a way to help inspire Indigenous students to believe it’s possible to do the same in their own lives.

“Things like [the graduation wall] are important because students can see the successes of others and know they too can also overcome their own barriers and obstacles to see themselves in these working positions,” Fox said. “It’s not just trauma, trauma trauma [with these events], but we’re trying to spin it so we’re sharing our successes as well, to help inspire while also still raising that awareness, and finding that balance.”

Perhaps best encapsulating Fox’s passion for his job is his pure joy in showing up each day to work.

“I just really enjoy the community involvement, whether it’s coaching or anything with our school. And once you find something that you love, it’s a lot easier to wake up and go to work each day; it’s not even really work, it’s just life every day,” Fox said.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1