In addition to filmmaking activities, I am an Aboriginal Education Enhancement Worker for the Vancouver School Board. My role is to address the multifaceted hurdles to success in education faced by inner city Aboriginal children.

This requires that I am part tutor, counselor, crisis manager, mentor, cultural interpreter and advocate. Working with students from Grade 1 to Grade 7, I have incorporated culture and creative expression to nurture the artist in each child through visual, multimedia and storytelling projects.

Photo 1: The picture above is an example of collage making. A young student created this collage and presented it to the class. He shared pictures of water, trees, animals, totem poles and other aspects important to his culture and values.

“Awakening Dreams By Language” is the title of a monthly live co-op radio program on CFRO 100.5 FM that I created which engages children to dialogue on local, national and international topics. Children have interviewed WW2 veterans, politicians, experts on the ecology, musicians, Elders and many others.

Through their participation in the radio show, I hope to awaken the dream of every child when they contemplate their future, to allow them to think about what their lives could be. I was taught as a young child to think ahead, to dream ahead, and now I want to speak life into the children of their future. Through this mentorship, we are educating the youth.

Photo 2: During the co-op radio program, a Grade 7 student interviewed an Aboriginal musician who plays the flute.

Photography using disposable cameras, digital cameras and video cameras has been very helpful for some students over the years. If a student is shy or normally not willing to talk, I usually pass along the camera, and ask them what they would like to photograph. I suggest “Let’s go outside and take pictures”, and pretty soon the shyness is gone.

Taking pictures is a fun and hands-on way of immediately engaging children and youth, and can be a type of art therapy.

Photo 3: This picture shows a little boy in the middle using a drum and other children dancing around him. We were learning how to do Round Dance which Dene and Cree people do during cultural celebrations.

I have created and produced several videos related to the general theme “Inspiring Children”. Topics of the videos include: Staying in school; Envisioning your future; ‘A year of school life’ montage; and Aboriginal business leaders interviewed by students at a resource development conference.

• “Awakening Dreams by Languages,” an introduction to Aboriginal story telling.
• “Rebuilding the Foundation,” which explores aboriginal struggles and triumphs in the education system, the cultural strengths preserved and reclaimed by the elders and the present challenge to optimize the educational experience for today's aboriginal youth.
• “Elders and Artist Interviews” in which students interviewed artist and Elders and learned about history and art.

• Naturally Responsible - Social Responsibility From A First Nation Perspective
• Produced by Suzi Bekkattla
• Edited by Ja-son Flower
• Release Date: 2006
• Running Time: 67 min.

This video was produced in part by the Vancouver School Board along with The Big Picture Film Company, featuring the First Nations students of Strathcona Elementary School in Vancouver, as well as Suzi Bekkattla and Donna Lokorst. Inner city school-aged children interviewed artists, business owners and teachers about the theme of Social Responsibility from a First Nations’ perspective and the ties that bind Social Responsibility with the connection to culture itself.

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