Athlete Waneek Horn-Miller and Author Joseph Boyden visit Rainbow Schools

Two high profile Aboriginal Canadians will visit Rainbow Schools on Thursday, May 12, 2011 while in Sudbury to take part in the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition Forum. Athlete Waneek Horn-Miller will meet with students at Lansdowne Public School and Author Joseph Boyden will meet with students at Lively District Secondary School. Both presentations will begin at 10 am.

“We are delighted to welcome Waneek Horn-Miller and Joseph Boyden into our schools,” says Norm Blaseg, Director of Education for Rainbow District School Board. “They are exceptional role models for all students.” He added: “We extend our sincere thanks to the Sudbury and District Health Unit for co-ordinating these visits.”


Waneek Horn-Miller

Mohawk, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Co-captain of the 2000 Olympic Women’s Water Polo Team and six time North American Games participant, Waneek Horn-Miller works and travels extensively throughout the Aboriginal world. Through her work as a sports commentator for CBC and APTN, Waneek has become a community advocate for sport, fitness and wellness. She also has travelled extensively throughout North America as a motivational speaker. As one of Canada’s few Aboriginal Olympians, Waneek has used her passion and experiences in sport to influence Aboriginal and non-aboriginal leadership towards making sport and wellness a community building priority. Waneek is currently on maternity leave from her position as coordinator of the First Peoples’ House at McGill University.

Joseph Boyden

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian with Irish, Scottish, and Métis roots. He is the award-winning author of Three Day Road, which won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year Award, and Through Black Spruce, which won the Giller Prize. His latest book is a biography of Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, which is part of the Extraordinary Canadians series. He divides his time between northern Ontario and Louisiana, where he teaches writing at the University of New Orleans.

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Media Contact:
Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.