REGINA — Three Saskatchewan Polytechnic students are pursuing an educational path they might not otherwise have discovered, thanks to an internship award that funds students with First Nations, Inuit or Métis heritage participating in applied research and scholarly activities. This year’s successful applicants — Calyssa Painchaud, Haley Popadynec and Dustin Sanderson — are all working as research assistants for faculty undertaking projects in their field.
Painchaud and Popadynec, both set to graduate from the program this spring, are assisting program head and researcher Linda Martin. Martin is studying the efficacy of recreation therapy in school settings — work she has been gathering applied research data on for the past three years. “Recreation therapy is applicable to a variety of situations,” she explains, “but one of the most exciting is in educational settings. Our profession has so much to offer the diverse and growing needs of schools, from early childhood up through secondary education.”
Martin’s research data is building, thanks in part to the work of a series of internships her students have undertaken since 2023. For Calyssa Painchaud, this has meant an eight-month long placement with St. Mary’s Wellness and Education Centre. Part of Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools, the centre is in Saskatoon’s Pleasant Hill neighborhood and serves students from pre-kindergarten to grade eight. “My internship is a lot like a work practicum,” says Painchaud, “with added data gathering and reporting. My work is contributing to a growing body of research that proves the benefit this type of therapy provides to children and youth in a school environment.”
Painchaud has a case load referred by a counsellor who she sees in small groups. “I do an assessment, making note of their goals, interests and needs, and then work with them on interventions to help them in a classroom setting. This might be journaling or body breaks, anger management techniques or self-expression — it really varies.”
St. Mary’s students have a variety of needs. “I see kids with mental health and diverse needs,” says Painchaud. “St. Mary’s has a lot of supports so I have the advantage of working alongside an amazing team of professionals including teachers, counsellors, learning assistance teachers, occupational therapists, educational assistants, speech language therapists and the principal. Recreation therapists aren’t always included on such teams and the work we are doing can help change that.”
Painchaud is herself fifth generation Métis with a long and proud family heritage. “We always knew where we came from,” she says. “My family was involved in everything Métis and how couldn’t we be? My Grandpa was a Dumont, related to Gabriel Dumont!” Born and raised in Candle Lake, Painchaud moved to Saskatoon in grade 10. She values the opportunity to participate in an Applied Research Indigenous Student Internship, particularly one with a connection to the community. “Being able to represent my culture is amazing,” she says. “Particularly where I am right now, at the location I’m at, it’s even more important. My students look up to me and they can see, ‘Maybe one day I could do that.’”
“The experience of doing this internship has been huge,” says Painchaud. “I can say, now, that I am passionate about working in schools and that’s where I see myself in five years.”
Popadynec, who is also in her second year of the program, learned about the Indigenous internships through a previous Sask Polytech intern with whom she did a practicum placement. “It was a nice surprise,” she says. “Awards such as this really help Indigenous students. The work I’m doing is meaningful to my studies.”
Popadynec is Métis on her mother’s side with connections to Batoche and the Saint Isidore-de-Bellevue area. “I didn’t have a strong connection to my culture growing up but as I have gotten older I have grown a stronger connection to my Indigenous roots,” she says. Undertaking a similar internship to Painchaud, Popadynec’s placement is in a high school setting, working as part of a team in the Meitheal program at Bethlehem Catholic High School.
“Implementing recreation therapy interventions at the school has been very fulfilling and it’s been remarkable seeing how much progress we can make with students over a 12-week period,” says Popadynec. “I’ve been implementing interventions that help improve the students’ emotional regulation and coping strategies. I’ve received positive testimonials from students and it is a great feeling. I’m really enjoying working with Indigenous students and making a difference in their lives.”
As research supervisor, Martin oversees the work her interns undertake but isn’t directing their day-to-day activities. “She’s always there when I need her but I’m really learning by doing the work and gaining some independence,” explains Popadynec. “I’m applying everything we learned in our program to a real-world situation, then taking the findings to contribute to research that helps to show what an asset a recreation therapist can be in a school setting.”
“Beyond the research itself, this opportunity is a great way for me to get a foot in the door and increase my experience as I enter the field. Learning how to work inter-professionally as part of a team is a great opportunity to improve my skills and will help me in my future career in the recreation therapy profession,” says Popadynec.
Sanderson’s internship was a natural progression of his earlier program experience with Blaine Chartrand, research chair with Sask Polytech’s BioScience Applied Research Centre (BARC). “I took Dustin on as a practicum student from the program,” he says, explaining that it was delayed due to Sanderson struggling with COVID twice. “He was excellent, a real joy to have in the lab, and I wanted to keep him. He qualified for the Indigenous internship, so I asked if he’d be interested in continuing working with me after his practicum.”
Chartrand’s research focus varies but includes synthetic biology, microbiology and the applications of antimicrobial products, next generation sequencing and cannabis research. Sanderson has worked with him on applied research ranging from methods for micropropagation of medicinal plants to the effects of water quality for growing northern crops such as wild rice.
“I finished my program last summer and my internship followed that,” says Sanderson. “I feel fortunate because Blaine managed to take me from practicum to internship to employment. When my internship ended, he offered me a job as a research technician.”
Sanderson grew up on James Smith Cree Nation and worked at various jobs after high school. “After a few years I decided I was done with grunt work,” he remembers. “I’m one of those people who doesn’t really plan, I decide and then go for it. Growing up, I really liked science. BioScience seemed like a good fit.”
“Blaine is hands off and lets me learn at my own pace. I like that. If I have trouble I ask for help,” says Sanderson. “My program was a lot of work but really rewarding. I’ve had a chance to try so many new things, especially since transitioning to the lab as part of Blaine’s team.”
“I appreciate that the internship makes a spot for an Indigenous person and encourages more Indigenous students to pursue applied research. I had the added benefit of working with someone with common heritage. Blaine is Métis and it was nice to come into an internship where I didn’t have to explain myself. If there’s one thing I want people to know it’s that I’m not always serious. I like a good laugh and seeing the comedy in life. Blaine gets that.”
Funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Mobilize grant, the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Applied Research Indigenous Internship program funds internships ranging from three to 12 months, covering from $12,500 to $50,000 of applied research work per student over the course of a year. Allocation of the Indigenous internships is made through a competitive nomination process by the Office of Applied Research and Innovation Internship (OARII) committee. For more information or to apply, visit .
— Submitted by Sask. Polytech Media Relations
