Our Winter 2025 event at Fort McKay school marked the first time Futures in Focus brought a full, school-based program to the community, combining in-class health screenings with hands-on STEAM workshops for students.
Before arriving, our medical student volunteers completed Indigenous cultural safety training and attended a resident-led vision screening workshop. This preparation was foundational: every interaction needed to be not just clinically sound, but culturally grounded.
We partnered directly with the Fort McKay Wellness Centre and licensed eye-care clinicians to ensure that all personal health information remained within the community. Referrals stayed local. Follow-up was coordinated through existing community infrastructure, not handed off and forgotten.
STEAM workshops ran alongside the health screenings, giving students hands-on experiences that connected science, health, land, and culture. The energy in those classrooms reminded us why this work matters.
The lesson from our pilot event held: real impact demands clear referral pathways, cultural safety, and genuine partnership. Not a screen-and-leave approach. Fort McKay is showing us what that looks like in practice.
