School: Eel Ground School
    Eel Ground N.B., New Brunswick, Canada

16 students, ages from 10 to 12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 15, 2001. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 1998,2001

Classes and Teachers: Mr. Craig Duplessie and Mr. Peter MacDonald

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://firstnationhelp.com/~eelground/

1. Description of Our Community

Eel Ground is a First Nation Community situated on the banks of the Miramichi River in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It has a population of 801 residents. This community is much older than the nation of Canada itself . Its residents are the MI’kmaq Indian people. The main employers in the community are fisheries, forestry , and the Saw Mill. The main centre of the community is the Band Hall where the Chief and Council work out of and where the finance, daily operations of the community, and Social Services have their offices. The Band Hall also has a centre where large gatherings are held, wedding receptions, and bingos, where all the money goes back into helping the community. The community also has a Rehabilitation Centre where people from all over Canada come to get help with problems of addiction. A Catholic Church is in the centre of the community where a community of devoted Christians attend Mass each Sunday and other special functions are held. The community has its own public security that includes the police and Fishery Officers. It also has a Development Centre that creates employment, as well as provides training to assit people of the commnity to obtain employment both within and outside the Eel Ground First Nation community. It hosts the Mi'kmaq District Council which works for various Mi'kmaq communities providing education training for individuals to upgrade their education and providing many other services, such as housing for those various communities. A Day Care Centre is provided to the community. Eel Ground is proud of its Elementary School. The Eel Ground people are very proud of their community and its steps to keep up with the modern world, while, at the same time, keeping sacred the values and traditions of their elders. It is this balance that makes Eel Ground a unique community.

2. Summary of Our Project

Many people have contributed to making it a beautiful community and one that shows a positive outlook as we move into the 21st century. It is some of these people who have made this community a great place to live that, in our project, we would like to honour and show how they have contributed into making Eel Ground the community it is. In doing so, we, as students, will acquire a knowledge of what it takes to make a great community and a deeper respect for those people who have dedicated much of their time and energy towards making the community what it is.

These people come from all different areas of the community and contribute in different ways to the making of this community. From the Chief with his position of power and his dedication to Eel Ground, to the man who has looked after taking care of the church with so much pride for many years. Each, in his own way, has contributed to making this a better community. From the man who started his own computer company, to the traditionalist who heads the drug and alcohol recovery center, the ideals of each reach out to help make us a stronger community. The former chief and International environmentalist, along with the Manager of our local sawmill, is himself involved with forest management and conservation, and has helped Eel Ground to become recognized as a positive community on the national and international scene.

For those in the community who do struggle with life, we have a dedicated Social Worker who works tirelessly to help those in need.

As students, we are proud of our community and of those who have helped make it such a great community in which to live. We hope, in this project, to learn what it takes to make a positive community and, in turn, allow others to see what we have learned.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:less than 20

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:4-6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

We just put a new computer lab in the school with 20 new Imacs networked and airport technology. We have several scanners, a digital camera and a digital camcorder. The airport technology allows us a lot more flexibilty and easy use for the teachers. Our computers are set up in the foyer, with four classrooms surrounding them. It, therefore, acts as an extention to these classrooms. With the airport technology, the kindergarten teacher is able to wheel the computer into the classroom and immediately access Robert Munch live on the Internet with no further hookups. she has done this on many diifferent occasions .

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We have had numerous obstacles to overcome during our project. One was trying to get the interviews set up. The Chief was the hardest as he is so busy and it was difficult for him to get time to give us. Our school was hit with the flu bug and and shut down for a week, which caused a lot of problems with interviews having to be rescheduled and the interviewers being sick and not being able to do them on schedule. Our network shut down and it took a week for us to get a technician in to fix the problem. Yesterday, the second last day, the narrative was completed and submitted and this morning it was gone. Being in a hurry to do it, a backup was not made, so this is the second attempt at completing the narrative.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The project has allowed our students to see the hard work , dedication, and giving of oneself for the betterment of others and it has allowed our community to become more aware of the quality community that we have.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

The project is part of Social Studies and it allowed the students to see how a community functions and how it is much more efficient and effective when committed people give of themselves for the betterment of others.

With this project we got to use the digital camera and the digital camcorder. We also learned how to work with Photoshop and the scanner.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

In our project we were able to use the Imac computers, a digital camera, a digital camcorder, the scanners, tape recorders, the school telephones, fax machines, and the school photocopier to send out notices to the parents about our project. All the these tools we have in our school. We did oral interviews. The digital camera proved to be very useful as we were able to get instant images for our project.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

The community has become very aware and very proud of the work that the kids have done. Many have phoned to ask for our URL. We had it put on a free commmercial site to check it out but will move it for the project when completed. The Atlantic Regional Director General of Indian Affairs came into our school and offered words of praise for the project. The first native Judge in New Brunswick, Grayton Nicholas, offered similar praise and wanted or URL to show others what our school has done. We have shown it to many visitors coming into the school and they are so impressed with the quality of work of the students. It has been a very rewarding experience.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

This project has shown the world the community of Eel Ground and what it has to offer. It has shown the community that they can be proud of their community. It has shown the world that if we give of ourselves and work to help others we can make it a better place for all. It has shown a group of 10 and 11 year olds what they can accomplish when they work hard. They have produced something of which they are very proud. It has also shown them what it takes to make a great community.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

With this project we asked for advice from past winners. In particular, we wanted to know what they thought of our project. We had the support of the chief and council and their deep interest in what we have done. We had several local computer software companies offer advice to us, as well as the New Brunswick Community College. When our network went down for the week it was the community college that loaned us its technicians to get it back up as they knew how important this project was to us, as well as the use of the computers for the school as a whole. We would like to thank Noreen Lobban, the head of the community college, and her technician, Mr. Jim Blanchard, for their support. Also, thanks to Danny Baldwin at Vital Knowledge Software for sharing his expertise with us. We are appreciative of all who have helped us. It has been a super experience!

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

The biggest discovery is that we realize that it takes the kind hearts of people who give of themselves unselfishlessly that truly makes a community a quality place in which to live. To paraphrase the words of John F. Kennedy, "The world would be a much better place if we all thought more of what we can do for others, rather than of what others can do for us."