Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

The Personal Development and Employment Program held at and sponsored by Akwesasne Area Management is wrapping up its classroom setting portion of the program and the students are moving to their job placements. The latest class formed a company called Platinum Passage. The group collectively came up with the name and their motto is "Together in Success."

The class started in October and runs until the end of January and the teacher is Linda Lalonde. But as many of her students past and present will tell you, she is more like a mother than a teacher.

The class is run like a business, people split off and form departments like Administration, HR, Marketing, Economic Development, Activities and, a first for Personal Development, Trades. And students do the jobs like out in the real world. For example, Activities brings in presenters, they have had AMPS and SRMT Police come in.

Economic Development researches job openings and attended real Economic Development meetings of the Tribe and MCA. Marketing created their graphics and a program first-ever banner.

Linda Lalonde is the company's President, but she doesn't act like a president. She said, "All the students are engaged. They call contacts, organize and attend meetings and conferences, they learn the protocols. It is a mirror of what they can expect and what will be expected of them in their careers. They are networking and connecting as they function like a real business."

The class helps students with job skills, resume writing, research techniques, but more importantly, it gives them the confidence to use these in the real world where it matters.

The goal of the program is to gain full time permanent employment.

The class also has a cultural events component. They have had Ryan Hill come in for song and dance, they went to the Akwesasne Museum, worked with sweetgrass and learned a little Mohawk.

The class went to Cornwall for a week where they did several things including visiting OPG and getting their CPR certification. The class also went to the Life Conference last week, which they said acted like a nice wrap up of the "classroom" portion of the course.

For some students the class was used to find a direction, for others it was to get back on track. But students all agreed they are totally different people because of the class, they say it is a life changing course and added, "if you're shy when you get here, you're not when you leave." They learned that if you think positive you will project positive.

The students all push each other. One student said, "We came in as strangers and will leave as a family." Another said, "Each person in here individually affected me."

It was the consensus of the class that "Anybody should take this course or a course like this, it's very rewarding."

They praised Linda and said she is the best facilitator. One student said, "Linda helped me knock down a few roadblocks."

Linda said, "Many people don't need to learn a subject or a technical skill. It's about learning about yourself and networking. In order to make it work you have to want it. They are the products of their business Platinum Passage, they are marketing themselves, their services, skills and abilities."

A special thank you to AAMB Employment Officer Dan Garrow. This class would not be possible without him. He fights to make sure it is included in the budget.

Also, a special thank you to Platinum Passage 'employees' for the warm welcome and gift. I wish you the best of luck!