What does a year as BYTE’s Community Outreach Coordinator look like? Natalie shares her story!
A year in BYTE community Outreach
By Natalie Sands
As the school year is wrapping up, we are starting to wind down for the summer at the BYTE office. I began my role with BYTE in the fall taking over as Community Outreach Coordinator from Tanyss Knowles. The shoes were big to fill but the walk so far has been an adventure! After coordinating 12 community tours, facilitating 35 workshops, and spending 35 days on the road I have learned many lessons yet feel I am still just starting to have a good handle on the intricacies of rural community work in the Yukon.
Community Outreach is comprised of an exciting mix of workshop programming and special projects. For my first day on the job I drove to Dawson City with the BYTE Team to learn how to fill those shoes and deliver said workshop programming. For my third week on the job I coordinated and led my first community tour, officially leaving the nest. During this tour, we focused on our Ending Bullying workshop, which became the most frequently requested workshop of the year. This tour taught me early on the goals and outcomes of BYTE workshop programming.
After this tour, I spoke with the School Principal to ask if she had seen any changes in the students after the workshop. The Principal explained that immediately after the workshops a long tension was broken in the school that had built up as bullying escalated. A few weeks later another incident did occur, but this time the youth involved had the words to express what had happened to them – to identify it as ‘bullying’ and not as their personal problem to go through alone. They were also quick to accept responsibility and apologize where previously these interventions had been met with silence and defiance. Through these workshops, the Principal felt “the participants were able to talk about and learn empathy and a better understanding of each other.†BYTE workshops do not solve social problems, but they can give youth tools navigate them and, in the best cases, rise above them as young leaders.
BYTE workshops do not solve social problems, but they can give youth tools navigate them and, in the best cases, rise above them as young leaders.
One month later I was back in the same community, now as part of a special project: “The Eagles and Condors Community Tour.†Under this project, indigenous musicians from Colombia, “Grupo Putumayo,†travelled to Ross River, Whitehorse and Teslin to deliver traditional instrument-making workshops, musical performances, teachings, and healing. I was invited along to make these workshops youth-friendly and to integrate BYTE programming. After shaking the dust off my Spanish, these Colombian musicians quickly became lifelong friends. I felt very humbled and blown away by the immense welcome and generosity that the Colombians were shown by local community members. My highlights included:
- One of the oldest remaining elders in Ross River gifting the Colombians with the entire back-strap of a moose
- Being included in a small talking circle where a local Kaska Dena medicine man exchanged his own legends, visions and artwork with the Colombians.
- Learning to stick gamble in Teslin and then struggling to translate this game into Spanish.
- Being served a 5 course meal including bannock, dry meat, moose stew, breaded char and salmon, moss berries and low bush cranberries on ice cream by our gracious Teslin Tlingit hosts.
During a musical performance in the Ross River School, students first seemed interested but unsure of how to react to the Colombians. They appeared to be very surprised by the unapologetic pride the Colombians have in their traditional culture, as they are sometimes unsure of their own. One of the students asked how long they had been in Canada. When we told him the Colombian musicians had only been in Canada for three days and had chosen to come to Ross River, the students quickly switched from unsure to exploding with more questions along the lines of “they came here? Really? Can we teach them hockey? Can I cook them bannock?†Seeing this exchange taught me that the most valuable lesson we can leave youth with is pride in their culture and their communities. I have since made it my goal in each workshop to get youth excited about where they are from and the lessons that they can teach us.
Seeing this exchange taught me that the most valuable lesson we can leave youth with is pride in their culture and their communities.
This year in community outreach really made me realise the importance of BYTE’s focus on rural programming. Yukoners living in rural communities are under constant pressure to move to the city in order to receive services and programming. Having grown up in Atlin, BC and moving to Whitehorse to finish high school and take advantage of these opportunities, I understand the pressure first-hand. Had we not met the communities where they were at, and brought Grupo Putumayo and BYTE programming to them, this knowledge exchange would not have happened.
My plans for the future are to bring my own passions and experiences into BYTE’s programming in a very direct way. Outside of BYTE, I have been raft guiding and whitewater kayaking in the Yukon, BC, and abroad for about 5 years. In those years, I have focused on teaching these skills to youth whenever possible, guiding Junior Rangers from Nunavut and NWT down the Tatshenshini River and teaching whitewater kayaking youth nights for the Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club in the summer. This is my main source of pride and empowerment and I want to share these experiences with the youth I have connected with during BYTE’s community outreach.
I am currently looking into developing ‘BYTE River Camp,’ a new program in which rural community youth will participate in raft guide training and leadership initiatives, and hopefully become gnarly whitewater paddlers. This has been my own dream for a while, and I am excited about the possibility of being able to explore it during my time at BYTE. To pilot this idea I am planning to facilitate the river rafting and water safety component of a youth culture camp this summer and will be looking into program development and funding options for next year. When and how these plans will come to fruition is not guaranteed, but it is fun to dream and BYTE is the place to do it.
BYTE’s openness and willingness to support new ideas is part of what allows the organization to evolve and diversify and is one of my leading sources of motivation. I am fortunate to be surrounded by such talented and passionate people who challenge and support me every day. Thanks to everyone on the BYTE team for such an amazing year!