Stories

More students in remote, rural, and Indigenous communities in Canada will have opportunities to become proficient in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), thanks to the Drax Foundation.

As a young Gitxsan and Cree-Métis girl growing up in Gitanmaax First Nation in northern British Columbia, Janna Wale loved school—Now a policy advisor at the Canadian Climate Institute, Wale talks to Karen Pinchin about her earliest memories and the educators who helped her integrate her scientific career with her Indigeneity.

Animals adapt, physically and behaviourally, as a means of survival, so they can reach their main food sources, fend off predators, and survive seasonal changes in the weather. Whether we realize it or not, we see the results of animal adaptation all the time, like when carnivorous animals rip flesh with their sharp canine teeth or when prey travel in herds because there is strength in numbers. Survival isn’t the only outcome, however; when animals develop new adaptations, they also develop new relationships with their environments. The monarch butterfly is a great example. Its larvae feed on milkweed leaves, which have a strong, distasteful odour and are poisonous. The monarch adapted so that it is able to digest this poisonous plant and because of its smell, predators keep away from the butterfly and its eggs.

In Ontario’s City of Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough, shoppers can find loads of creators to help stock their cupboards, wardrobes, and minds, all the while decreasing their environmental footprint.

Born in Little Buffalo, a remote Alberta community ringed by oil extraction efforts, Melina Laboucan-Massimo knows the feeling of being helpless in the face of a warming planet. Every time her family drove across their traditional Lubicon Cree First Nation homelands, the landscape felt drier, its vegetation less vibrant.

The Tla-o-qui-aht Nation’s territory extends from one of the few remaining ancient temperate rainforests down to the Pacific Ocean. It is a place of thousand-year-old cedars up to 12 metres tall. Elk run through the misty woods, and black bears catch salmon as they migrate upstream, pulled back to rivers and streams by an unstoppable urge to spawn the next generation where they themselves hatched.

Now, Willard is an artist, curator, and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Okanagan. A mixed Secwépemc and settler, Willard’s research is focused in part on providing a view of the art world in small towns, rural centres, and on reserve. As an artist, curator, and educator, Holly Schmidt is trying to put a frame around something that is often taken for granted: the natural world around us.

Clean water is a right for all; the human race, animals, and the water itself. Just as clean water is a right, so is the ability to identify if water is clean.

Art is a great way to get creative, fire up different parts of the brain, and see something in a new way. To make colourful, sustainable inks that don’t come with excess packaging or contain microplastics that end up in nature, just reach for plants from the kitchen, forest, or garden.

Emily joined Pinnguaq as a placement student, and was hired shortly after as a Digital Skills Educator. She graduated from Fleming College with a diploma in Early Childhood Education and an Eco-Mentorship certificate in 2017, from Trent with a Bachelor of Arts Honours in English Literature in 2019, and from Nipissing University with a Bachelor of Education in the Junior and Intermediate stream in 2023.

The award-winning game Osmos has released a new update and with it new strings of Inuktitut, translated by Pinnguaq.

Thanks to the generous funding provided by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), more than 30 Indigenous job seekers and nine Indigenous-owned businesses have grown through Pinnguaq’s SuccessWorks program so far, contributing to a more diverse, inclusive and impactful digitally-skilled workforce.

In a world where equations are the keys to innovation, Pinnguaq embraces creativity as we support the development of STEAM skills across communities and classrooms.

Five years ago, Pinnguaq was selected as a delivery partner for the 2018 Digital Skills for Youth (DS4Y) program, funded by the Government of Canada. DS4Y continues to be a shining example of how gaining digital skills can provide sustainable, local careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM).

Pinnguaq Association is inviting proposals from qualified auditing firms to provide independent auditing services.

Cheers and chants echoed through the Makerspace as attendees of the ODR Hockey Heroes playtest tried their hands at the arcade hockey video game developed by Treewood Studio. Whether they were tipping the puck into the back of the net or dropping gloves in a spirited bout of fisticuffs, there was no shortage of excitement in the space.

Coding can seem abstract, but the 9000 micro:bits recently received by Pinnguaq through a partnership with Digital Moment will be used to bring coding into the real world, and to help learners see and realize their own power and potential. 

Pinnguaq is thrilled to announce our participation as a delivery and education partner in three new projects in partnership with DIGITAL, Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for digital technologies. All three projects focus on strengthening digital skills in rural, remote, Indigenous and other equity-deserving communities.

It’s one thing to read about the changing of the seasons, it’s quite another to feel the crisp air, see the frost and smell the fallen leaves. As informative as books and screens can be, nothing beats learning about the science of the natural world immersed in the natural world.

We’re delighted to announce Pinnguaq’s finalist status in the 2023 CharityVillage Awards in three categories: DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Innovators (20+ Staff), Best Nonprofit Employer for Workplace Mental Health (20+ Staff), and Leaders in Youth Advancement (20+ Staff).

Passersby may notice some activity at the former public works building on Peel Street in Lindsay as construction crews transform the space into a world-class STEAM education, entrepreneurship and community hub operated by Pinnguaq Association. 

Back in 1991, the World Wide Web was new, exciting, and fairly limited in use compared to today. But more than 30 years later, the Web has evolved, guided by the age of the internet and artificial intelligence (AI). Nowadays, there is much more we can do with a wi-fi connection than ever before, but there are also more dangers to watch out for, especially for younger users. Learning to be safe online is just as important as it is offline.

For many students, bullying is and always has been a part of school life. The rise of social media has only made matters worse. According to the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, that year, 71 per cent of kids aged 12 to 17 experienced at least one form of bullying, while 25 per cent reported being cyberbullied. 

Voice Technology for high school students. In teams of two, 12 students competed at the Lindsay Makerspace over two-and-a-half days of intense learning, hacking, and presentation. For this hackathon, the goal was to come up with an idea for a new Alexa skill and code it using the beginner-friendly MIT App Inventor platform. Every participant left with an Alexa to continue their coding initiatives post-hackathon.