By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Youth Council member talks WE Day, accessibility for rural students

Oct 20, 2018 | 2:13 PM

A grade 12 student at Hunting Hills High School is relishing in his first experience as a member of the Education Minister’s Youth Council.

Cameron Litowski spent all of last weekend in Edmonton with many other youth from across Alberta discussing how they can make positive changes to the education system.

“We have students with such a diverse background, but all have a common motivator of helping other students have a better high school, middle school, and elementary experience,” Litowski says. “Just to see the collective passion within a single room was astounding. The genuineness of each individual spoke volumes of everyone’s character and why there were really there.”

During the meetings, which happen three times over the school year, the group was joined by three First Nations elders who conducted a blanket exercise.

“The exercise taught us about when settlers first came here and First Nations were forced off where they live, how treaties were made, their land was minimized, deaths occurred and the abuse and cultural genocide,” he recounts. “It was really interesting to not only learn about their experience, but to more fully understand the First Nations perspective on Canada as a whole.”

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Between now and February when Litowski meets his fellow youth council members again, he’ll be working on a project which revolves around ensuring students in rural areas have equal opportunity to those in larger urban centres. That includes access to advanced placement and IB courses, among other things.

On Friday (Oct. 12), Litowski shared in another unique experience, being on stage with the rest of the youth council, as well as Premier Rachel Notley, during WE Day at Rogers Place.

“It was quite overwhelming. WE Day is really famous for that positive and energetic atmosphere and how these young leaders really want to make a change in the world — and how some of them already have,” he says. “Today, there’s a lot of negativity. It’s not only because people like to complain, but it’s also because there are serious problems.

“WE Day really reminds me that these problems don’t have to stay problems. It’s up to individuals to look at things differently and to make changes to not only solve that problem, but to make a positive step in the right direction.”