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SAMBAA K'E/TROUT LAKE
Students and community members in Trout Lake will have the opportunity to participate in a youth camp led by a multi-national corporation in October.

IBM will be running an IGN.I.T.E. camp that has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 11 to 16.

Examples of the hands-on learning at the IBM camp include using LEGO robotics kits to have students design, program and control fully-functional models and also using videos and a quiz-show format to introduce students to Watson, the computer that competed in Jeopardy, and the technology behind it.

The camp's name stands for IGNiting Interest in Technology and Engineering.

"It's a real opportunity for the community," said Gregg Drury, the general manager of the Sambaa K'e Development Corporation.

The camps are designed to encourage aboriginal youth to stay in school, to study math and sciences and to pursue careers in technology. The corporation won the camp for the community after staff member Brenda Jumbo answered a survey that the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business was conducting. The camp was one of the prizes in a draw the corporation was entered into and won.

"I'm really excited about it because how often do you get one of the leading companies in the world to fly into a tiny community and put on many workshops," Drury said.

While Trout Lake will be the smallest community IBM has offered an IGN.I.T.E. camp in, it won't be the most remote. The company has offered the camps across Canada including in Inuvik, Resolute Bay and Iqaluit, said Mary Jane Loustel, IBM's national aboriginal program executive.

The camps are part of IBM's larger national aboriginal strategy that's designed to enhance inclusion of aboriginal people in the technology sector, whether through their own business or working in a company like IBM. The main priorities of the camps are to increase awareness of the opportunities technology can bring and to encourage learning and advance education, said Loustel.

IBM contacts the community in an effort to customize each camp to meet the needs and interests of the community in which it is being offered. In Trout Lake, a group of residents is helping to plan the camp and choose the learning modules that will be included in it. Once they arrive, school teachers will also be included in the planning.

The Trout Lake camp will be unique because the IGN.I.T.E. camps are usually designed for grades 5 and 6. This camp will include all of the students in the community as well as youth who have finished school. Drury said the community is also looking into the possibility of inviting a few students from each of the Deh Cho communities to participate in the camp.

The event will also draw on Trout Lake for volunteers. The goal is to build capacity through the camps, said Loustel.

She added that the camp will be a great opportunity for IBM to learn about a community like Trout Lake and for the community to learn about IBM.

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