Life at Gadzoosdaa: How students from Yukon communities go to high school

No matter where you are, there's no shortage of variety when observing hungry teenagers on a high school lunch break. Some kids are showing each other videos on their phones over chicken burgers and fries. Others go find a quiet spot for a few minutes before heading back to class.

It's lunch time at the Gadzoosdaa Student Residence in Whitehorse. It'shome to about 30high school students from across theYukon and Atlin, B.C.

Many Yukon schools don't offer classes past grade nine. If students want theclassroom experience rather than completing high school through online courses, they can move into thedorm relocating from their home communityin grade 10.

The closest community students come from is Carcross, located just over 70 kilometres away. The furthest is Old Crow, almost 800 kilometres from Whitehorse.

It is still a big step for people to leave their home community to go to school.-BenitaParkkari,Gadzoosdaahousemaster

Cousins Tamika and Cassie Johnston are originally from Teslin. This is their second year staying at Gadzoosdaa. To them, coming to Whitehorse for high school was a no-brainer.

Tamika saidshe was nervous when she first moved into Gadzoosdaa, but now in grade 11, day-to-day life at the dorm is pretty routine.

There are perks to being in grade 11. Last year, Tamika and Cassie had good attendance, so they got to choose therooms they live in this year.

Cassie took CBCon atour of hersingle roomin the girls' wing. It's sparsely decorated because even though she is in Whitehorse for school during the week, on weekends she and Tamika head home to Teslin.

The room is tidy. The bed is made. Clothes are put away. Even her slippers are lined up neatly by her desk.

Housemaster Benita Parkkari is impressed and saidCassie might get a Starbucks card for her efforts.Parkkari saidshe's trying to introduce more incentives for students to keep their rooms tidy along withother things around the residence.

Gadzoosdaa

Gadzoosdaa is a bright and open ranch-style building. As you walk through the front doors, there's a sunny TV room, the walls covered in photo collages of previous classes.

The building breaks off into two wings the boys on one side and the girls on the other.The only common areas forcoedmingling are the TVand dining rooms.

Gadzoosdaa opened in1990, replacing two separate boys and girls dormitories.

The residence is named after Virginia Smarch, who was known as "Gadzoosdaa."She was a respectedElder of the Teslin Tlingit Council (Eagle Clan) andtaught Tlingit at the Teslin school.

Parkkari saidone of the biggest challenges for students new to Whitehorseis culture shock.

"One of my young lads comes from a school of maybe 10 kids, and then he goes to a school with 700 at F.H. Collins," she said.

"Just having to go away from your community, it is still a big step for people to leave their home community to go to school."

Parkkari saidstudents like thefreedom and independence of living at the dorm, butthey also miss having their family and friends around.

'Not a residential school'

Many students who stayat Gadzoosdaa are Indigenous. It's hard to talk about Indigenous students going to school away from home without thinking of residential school.

"It's not a residential school. Kids can go home," said Parkkari.

She said some students are descendents of residential school survivors.

"There's no separation from families. As much as families want to be here, they're here. It's kinda like a private school."

Parkkari saidparents are welcome to visit and stay for dinner if they are in town.

Almost every student has a cellphone, she added, and parents keepin touch with their children frequently thanks to texting.

"We're really encouraging that, keep your language, keep in contact with your parents," she said.

Parkkarialso saidthey try to keep Indigenous culture in the building as much as possible.

A welcome sign in the building's foyer says 'welcome' or 'it's nice to see you' in all of the Yukon's Indigenous languages.

"We had carving last spring, we have drum materials, we've had elders in the building," she said.

Parkkari saidshe also relies on the education support workers at the high schools, some of whomare from thesame First Nations as the students.

There is also a First Nations wing at F.H. Collins, where many students living atGadzoosdaa attend. Parkkari said the wing offers traditional activities and lunches.

Cassie and Tamika patiently answered questions about life at Gadzoosdaa, although they seemed doubtful if their high school experience is interesting.

Leaving Teslin to go to high school seems pretty routine to the cousins.Right now, they just want to get to class.