Hello! Weyt-k.
My name is Sahara Lafferty and I am from Behchoko, Northwest Territories. My father is the Tlicho Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty and my mother is Dianne Lafferty. In the Dene culture as well as most Indigenous cultures it is important to introduce yourself and your parents to make connections.
I grew up in a big busy family of 5 kids and my two parents. My family is Tlicho and my parents took the words of Elizabeth Mackenzie, “Strong like two people” very seriously. The expectations on us were that we would complete a post-secondary education, strive for excellence in sports as well as having an appreciation of our traditional culture spending time on the land and with family in the community. I am thankful for the strong support of family and community.
After high school, I graduated from the two-year Outdoor Adventure diploma program at Algonquin College, in Pembroke, Ontario. During these amazing two years, I learned a variety of leadership skills, how to test my comfort zone and most importantly a love for the outdoors. I obtained a variety of certifications and qualifications throughout this program including my canoe instructor, white-water kayak instructor, level 1 ski and snowboard instructor, etc. I also participated in the organization of a ton of multi day trips including a 10-day sea kayak trip on the Georgian Bay.
As a member of the Tlicho First Nation, I also participate regularly in traditional on the land activities with my family and community. I also enjoy working with children and teaching others. In 2019 and 2020, I spent my summers working in the North for MACA Sport Recreation and Youth, teaching summer sport camps around the North. Our goal was to incorporate important fundamental movement skills into fun sports for the youth and to provide a healthy and safe environment. During these 2 summers, I also volunteered at the Youth Treatment Center and as an Emergency Respite Worker for the Foster Care System. I’ve also had the pleasure of coaching multiple youth sport teams at local elementary schools and volunteered with the Special Olympics Rhythmic Gymnastics team. Throughout my studies these last 5 years, I spent my free time as a substitute teacher at Chief Jimmy Bruno School in Behchoko, NT. Each one of these opportunities that I’ve had working with youth of all different abilities has challenged me as a person and as a leader. These amazing opportunities are the reason I love working with youth and I hope to one day go back to the North and bring forward all of my accomplishments and skills I learned in my education and continue to be a positive role model, mentor and support system to help the youth succeed.
As mentioned above, eventually I would like to return home to the Northwest Territories and teach at an elementary school in any community. One of the biggest struggles in the North is the lack of students that return after post-secondary school to work in the North. So many students stay down south to pursue jobs after post-secondary. I think it is so important to have a teacher that is not only from the North but also an Indigenous teacher that the Indigenous youth in the communities can relate to. My ultimate goal is to teach elementary school while, also coaching local sport teams for a couple of years. I would then like to pursue a master’s program in Behavior and Trauma Therapy and really focus my education on working one on one with the youth at risk within the school system. I’ve always had a big spot in my heart for the youth at risk and would love to somehow build a program through the schools in the North to work with these youth and to provide a healthy, safe and nurturing environment that allows them to be their true authentic self.
I am excited to see where this new Teaching Adventure takes me next! 🙂
Masi Cho!
-Sahara Sadeh Lafferty
