Teacher wins Indigenous education award

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This article was published 04/01/2023 (1244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Grade 1 and 2 teacher at Niji Mahkwa School on Flora Avenue has been recognized for her tireless work in Indigenous education.

Marika Schalla was awarded the 2022 Guiding the Journey: Educator Award for Innovative Practice, which is given out by Indspire, a Canada-wide organization dedicated to investing in Indigenous achievement through education.

“I’m really honoured. I feel very humbled. A little bit of impostor syndrome, you know – ‘Me? It can’t be me?’ There’s so many older people who are great educators,” said Schalla, who was the year’s oungest recipient at 27.

Schalla earned the distinction for her work Indigenizing the curriculum nationally, provincially and within her school. She helped adapt musician Pharell Williams’ U.S. program, Your Voice is Power, which was aimed at exploring Black voices and social justice issues through song. Schalla helped to modify the program to have an Indigenous focus.

“I helped to consult on the program. I created a few of the units, as well,” she said.

Schalla said the recognition at such an early stage in her career — she’s been teaching for four years, all the while at Niji Mahkwa — was a major confidence boost.

“To win this amazing, huge achievement when I’m still a youth myself and still early on in my career makes me feel like there’s still so much more that I’m going to do, that this is just the beginning,” Schalla said.

While Schalla may have only been teaching for four years, they’ve been a productive four years.

Aside from her now award-winning program adaptation, Schalla helped to lead the Winnipeg hackathon, which combined coding with music and social justice issues, alongside fellow teacher Christine M’Lot.

“One of our students that came to our hackathon in May was actually the national winner, Schalla added proudly. “We taught him, and he used what we taught to create such a great song.”

Schalla has also written a teacher’s guide with M’Lot and illustrator Ruby Bruce called Fireside Chats, which includes a series of lesson plans designed to help students explore the career journeys of inspiring Indigenous leaders. Schalla is teaming up with Bruce again as she works on her first children’s novel.

She also created a land-based learning course for young students that she’s running this year.

“I worked really hard over the summer with different elders, different knowledge keepers to create this early-years land-based course grounded in the six seasons and grounded in the 13 moons,” she said.

She also helped create the Truth and Reconciliation planning guides for the Winnipeg School Division, spearheading the grades K to 4 and 5 to 8 programs.

With two little ones of her own at home, including a baby, Schalla said all her projects on top of teaching and everything else can get a bit exhausting. To keep up her energy, Schalla falls back on the wisdom she teaches.

“I always reflect back to the medicine wheel, those four aspects of being — the emotional, the mental, the spiritual and our physical selves — and I make sure to take care of myself in each way,” she said.