February 15, 2005 for immediate release

The University of Northern British Columbia will bestarting a new program in Terrace this May that is aimed at increasing thenumber of aboriginal school teachers in northern BC. Currently, only about 2%of the school teachers in BC are aboriginal, despite the fact aboriginalstudents make up 7% of the BC student population.

The Aboriginal Teacher Education Bridging program (ATEB) will beoffered at UNBC’s Terrace campus. It’s expected that about 20 students willregister in the program, which will consist of two semesters of courses. Thecourses will include offerings in math and science, English, First NationsStudies, geography, and writing and composition.

“The development of academic skills will be complemented by avariety of field experiences and general exposure to a university environment.This experience will open the door to future enrolment in a teacher educationprogram, such as UNBC’s Bachelor of Education program,” says Judith Lapadat,head of UNBC’s Northwest Campus in Terrace.

The ATEB program will be coordinated by Laura Gosnell (pictured to the left), who will begraduating from UNBC’s Master of Education program this fall. Laura is from Terraceand completed the coursework for her master’s degree in Terrace. Lisa McLeod ofTerrace, who is currently working at the Terrace campus, will be providingstudent support services for the ATEB program. Funding has been provided by theBC First Nations Education Steering Committee.

UNBC’s Bachelor of Education (BEd) program started in 2002 andconsists of two years of coursework and practical experience following thecompletion of a bachelor’s degree in a teachable subject area. The UNBC programcurrently has 107 students in the elementary and secondary streams. UNBC alsohas a teacher education program underway in Hazelton, which is preparingstudents to become Gitksan language teachers. Eleven students graduated withUNBC diplomas last year and are obtaining Developmental Standard TermCertificates for First Nations language teaching. The certificate is fullytransferable to completing a BEd.

Students interested in joining the ATEB program should visit UNBC’sTerrace campus at 4741 Park Avenueor call 615-5578.