N.B. First Nations drama club wins national award
Last Updated: Monday, February 25, 2008 | 4:40 PM AT
CBC News
Drama students at a New Brunswick First Nations school have won a national award for excellence for their stage work.
The Kaiser Foundation, a national charitable organization — dedicated to helping people struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues — gave the 2008 award for Excellence in Aboriginal Programming to the Eel Ground middle school on the Eel Ground First Nations reserve outside Miramichi, N.B.
The honour was awarded to the school drama club, which has long been a favourite of regional drama festivals, for its work in raising awareness about substance abuse issues.
Since 2006, when the drama club first took the stage, they students have won 11 awards for plays about fetal alcohol syndrome and suicide.
Principal Peter MacDonald told CBC the students feel the award is an honour, since helping others cope was the whole point of the two plays.
"I'm sure they've made a heck of a difference in a lot of lives out there, probably we'll never know, but the people they do make a difference with, they will know," MacDonald said.
The Kaiser award comes with a $10,000 prize.
MacDonald says half the money will go toward a local youth centre, and the other half will go back into the drama program at the school.
He says students are already preparing for this year's trip to the provincial drama festival. This time, students will perform a musical about Canada's cultural history as seen through the eyes of First Nations people.
Share Tools
Latest New Brunswick News Headlines
- SWN may get frosty reception, says mayor
- Southwestern Resources Canada may not be well received when it begins seismic testing for shale gas in Kent County this spring, says one area mayor. more »
- Bodyguard hired for bully victim in Fredericton
- A Fredericton girl was bullied so badly at school that her mother hired a bodyguard to protect her. more »
- New potato targets diabetics, dieters
- Potato breeders in New Brunswick are creating a tuber to help diabetics and dieters. more »
- Fredericton Police warn of bank scam
- Fredericton residents are being warned of a new scam where a man is posing as a local bank investigator. more »
Top News Headlines
- Canadian housing market cools in January
- The housing resale market retreated in January following a strong December finish to 2011, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. more »
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests
- Most Canadians feel immigrants are just as likely to be good Canadian citizens as people who were born here and don't object to them keeping their original citizenship, according to a recent Environics survey. more »
- Whitney Houston medical records sought
- The Los Angeles County coroner's office is seeking Whitney Houston's medical and pharmacy records as its continues the investigation into her death. more »
- NDP MPs urged to scrap gun registry in final vote
- Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is urging opposition MPs to break party ranks and side with the government during tonight's vote on scrapping the long-gun registry. more »
- Suspicious death at Saint John hospital
- Fredericton Police warn of bank scam
- Special needs cats hold Valentine's Day Skype date
- Police ID body found on Kingston Peninsula
- Saint John mulls cutting pension guarantees
- Parking shortage at Moncton Hospital
- CUPE questions Horizon's use of parking funds
- Eastern communities question census results
- Bodyguard hired for bully victim in Fredericton
