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N.B. First Nations drama club wins national award

Monday, February 25, 2008
CBC News

Drama students at a New Brunswick First Nations school have won a national award for excellence for their stage work.

The Kaiser Foundation, a national charitable organization — dedicated to helping people struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues — gave the 2008 award for Excellence in Aboriginal Programming to the Eel Ground middle school on the Eel Ground First Nations reserve outside Miramichi, N.B.

The honour was awarded to the school drama club, which has long been a favourite of regional drama festivals, for its work in raising awareness about substance abuse issues.
Since 2006, when the drama club first took the stage, they students have won 11 awards for plays about fetal alcohol syndrome and suicide.

Principal Peter MacDonald told CBC the students feel the award is an honour, since helping others cope was the whole point of the two plays.

"I'm sure they've made a heck of a difference in a lot of lives out there, probably we'll never know, but the people they do make a difference with, they will know," MacDonald said.

The Kaiser award comes with a $10,000 prize.

MacDonald says half the money will go toward a local youth centre, and the other half will go back into the drama program at the school.

He says students are already preparing for this year's trip to the provincial drama festival. This time, students will perform a musical about Canada's cultural history as seen through the eyes of First Nations people.