According to National Chief Shawn Atleo, an aboriginal person is more apt to end up in jail than to graduate from high school. Not a good thing! At the same time, he made encouraging comments about participation in the “new fur trade”, referring to First Nations communities becoming partners in the proposed mining, transmission, and pipeline projects that are being planned for the future. If First Nations youth want to get a shot at the “good jobs” in these projects and not just the ones digging ditches or paddling canoes, they’ll need to reverse the statistics and graduate from high school. The opportunities of a lifetime are on the horizon and now is the time to start preparing.