For Cat Lake students, graduation is a small miracle
Chief Russell Wesley. Photo by Matteo Cimellaro / Canada's National Observer
By Matteo Cimellaro
Jackson Wesley is passionate about basketball. He plays for his high school team in Sioux Lookout, 180 kilometres from home. But it’s March break, and he’s back in Cat Lake First Nation for the week. His mom, Sylvia Wesley, is a kindergarten teacher at Lawrence Wesley Education Centre, so Jackson has a pair of keys to the gym if he wants to steal some practice time. He picked up the sport in 2019 after quitting hockey, and since then, he’s been working on his game whenever he has time, scoring a career high of 36 points this season.
But even basketball is taking a back seat as Jackson deliberates his future. Will he stay in Cat Lake? Will he work with heavy machinery, his favoured career choice? The questions arise, but for the moment, he’s focused on finishing Grade 11 and, next year, obtaining his diploma.
He’s a success story for a community that faces many struggles giving kids a leg up and the resilience they need to get a high school education. Approximately one in five working-age adults over 24 in Cat Lake has a high school diploma, according to Statistics Canada’s 2021 census.