Friday, February 28, 2020
SFU, Burnaby, BC

Lindsay Clifton, a member of the Tsimshian First Nation and an SFU undergraduate student, has been awarded the SFU Aboriginal Community Engagement Award.

SFU presents the Aboriginal Community Engagement Award to recognize SFU students who have demonstrated connection to the Aboriginal community and have also demonstrated excellence in one or more of: community service and/or cultural contributions to the University, Aboriginal and/or general community at large.

In his support letter, Dr. Veselin Jungic writes:

During our first meeting, I told Ms. Clifton that the Math Catcher Outreach program aims to promote mathematics and scholarship in general by encouraging elementary and high school students to recognize how math is used in everyday life and how it forms the basis for many of our daily decisions and life-long choices. 

Ms. Clifton left a very strong impression on me from the moment she entered my office. Intelligent, energetic, and well-spoken, she presented her self as the ideal candidate that I was looking for: Someone who would be a fantastic role-model for elemntary and high-school students and someone who would be able to communicate mathematics to Grade K-12 students in various ways.

and

Over the 31 days in May 2019, Ms. Clifton and I visited the following BC communities: Barriere, Bella Bella, Chilliwack, Clearwater, Delta, Heffley Creek, Kamloops, Langford, Maple Ridge, Mission, Prince George, Richmond, Sooke, Sun Peaks, and Surrey.

We hosted 53 workshops in 20 schools to 1160 students, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. In addition, we gave a workshop to a group of teachers from SD 57 Prince George.

Ms. Clifton was a fantastic co-presenter: always very helpful and reliable, as well as an incredible role model for all students and teachers who we met during our travels. For example, during our workshops, Ms. Clifton would always introduce herself in the Tsimshian language and proudly talk about growing up in her community. A moment that I will never forget from our travels occurred during our visit to a public school in Prince George. When we finished with the workshop, two girls approached Ms. Clifton. “We are First Nations too,” I overheard them say. I looked up and saw three proud, bright, young people sharing a moment of love, respect, trust, and mutual understanding.

Congratulations and Thank You from all us of from the Math Catcher Outreach Porogram, Lindsay!