Jasmin

Personal support worker student

I decided to study the Personal Support Worker (PSW) program at Iohahi:io because my friend is a personal support worker and I’ve seen a lot of her posts about work and how she enjoys helping. I had a baby and my contract as a social support worker had ended so I thought this would be a good way to work and help out more.

The PSW program is a lot of fun. The teachers are great, the classes are helpful, and the clinical portions in the nursing home and other care centres give us a lot of hands-on experience. As a PSW you are always busy. You get to hang out with your clients and work with a lot of different personalities. It’s different every day. My favourite part is just learning. You learn so much about yourself and then you can take it home and change your lifestyle by taking care of yourself.

Nathan

Energy systems engineering technician student

I attended Iohahi:io in 2007 and 2008 for a carpentry program and I wanted to upgrade my knowledge. I didn’t know too much about the Energy Systems Engineering Technician program other than it was an engineering course. I like working with my hands and building things, so I was hoping it would be similar to that.

So far, we have learned about solar power, renewable energies, some HVAC systems and the mathematics behind it all. We’ve learned a lot about different renewable energy options which I really enjoy because I want to get into that and incorporate it into the carpentry that I do. The other day we went to the Ontario Power Generation Station to tour their whole facility and we learned a lot.

Crystal

Mohawk language teacher

As a Mohawk language teacher, I am part of the Mental Health and Addictions program that is offered at Iohahi:io.

I grew up with Mohawk as my first language. I was raised by my grandmother who couldn’t speak English and she knew the older Mohawk language. I’m very fortunate to have had that because it allows me to share my knowledge with the community. When I started here, I had a couple of students that never spoke the language and it just caught me off guard because I had the assumption that everybody at some point has spoken some Mohawk. To hear them now – for them to be able to stand in front of the class and introduce themselves – it’s amazing to see their confidence. I’ve been told it’s one of the biggest classes we’ve had at Iohahi:io.

At Iohahi:io we try to gear and mould our learning towards community members. We think and learn on a different scale or different pace than other people, and because a lot of the instructors are Gonyakahoga, we can relate and better understand how to approach certain material and deliver that material in way that makes a huge difference.