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Computer monitors and microphones fill a tiny room tucked behind the library at the Dene Tha’ Community School (DTCS) in northwestern Alberta. Inside, teenagers are making radio magic.
The space is home to the school’s very own online radio station where high school students broadcast to the community. It's a place for learning and an outlet to share timely updates to the local population of more than 900.
Chara Metchooyeah, 19, is one of the station’s hosts. The recent graduate and current DTCS radio program director feels the online broadcast can be beneficial to the community.
“One minute I can be adding humour or personality to a segment, and the next I’m sharing important information that people actually rely on,” Metchooyeah said.
Hosts play their favourite songs, present evening shows and share weather updates. Culture is also key in their programming – the station regularly features a Dene Tha “word of the moment” to support the Dene language.
DTCS teacher Sean Hickman has overseen the program since 2024.
DTCS teacher Sean Hickman says the radio station helps students open up, and allows them to expand their learning. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)“Getting local input into things like radio, especially the younger you are, allows the students to take control a little bit of their own destinies,” Hickman said.
Fires and floodingChateh is located about 850 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. It’s one of three communities, along with Bushe River and Meander River, that make up Dene Tha’ First Nation.
In recent years, the community has often been under threat from natural disaster, being evacuated multiple times due to flooding or wildfire.
Residents were put on evacuation order as recently as last summer due to encroaching fires.
“It can get pretty scary at times,” Metchooyeah told CBC News when reflecting on the 2025 fire.
Those situations are where Hickman and Metchooyeah hope the station can contribute to informing locals.
“When it comes to disasters like fires, like flooding…they are able to get information out to people quickly,” Hickman said, adding that many DTCS students were in class when the 2025 fire began to escalate.
DTCS acting principal Christopher Mangaser told CBC News that “the weather is very unpredictable” and flooding is a point of worry when there isn't wildfire concern in Chateh.
“With a lot of snow melts here, our rivers rise up and we kind of have to get on out,” Mangaser said, noting that their school year has been cut short due to evacuation multiple times.
Flooding in Chateh forced evacuations during May 2022. (Lynsay McMullan)He said the station can be valuable to elders and those who don’t rely on social media for updates.
About 200 students currently attend the K-12 school.
Not just a voice at homeStaff said some radio students stepped out of their comfort zone over spring break. Several DTCS contributors took a field trip to Edmonton over spring break to cover a rally against Alberta independence hosted by an array of First Nations in the city.
“We interacted with the chiefs and we just had conversations with them and it was pretty good,” Metchooyeah said.
Some students held signs and participated in the protest while others used their audio gear to gather in-the-field interviews to take home to their station in Chateh.
Metchooyeah and other students in the DTSC radio program learning about broadcasting from CBC video producer during a visit to the school. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)Mangaser said those are “confidence building” experiences that help showcase the value of the radio program.
“[The] radio station gives a big voice for Indigenous youth, and we here at the school, try to invoke that and give them a chance to say what they need to say,” Mangaser said.
Hickman said working in radio has been extremely valuable for Metchooyeah.
“I'm extremely proud of her. She is constantly working. I'll get pages from her at all hours of the evening, just because she actually wants to come up a new concept not only for the radio but for herself,” Hickman said.
WATCH | Dene Tha' Community School students hop on the airwaves:Staff and students at the Dene Tha' Community School in northern Alberta have started a radio station. As Eagle Andersen shows us, it’s about sharing local knowledge, culture and emergency alerts for floods and wildfires in their community of Chateh, Alta.Keeping Chateh safe and informedMetchooyeah said helping her community has been her focus. She already has several years of experience volunteering within emergency management on the reserve, knocking on doors and helping people find transportation when a threat looms.
“I'm usually one of the last few to leave until my boss leaves [during a disaster],” Metchooyeah said.
Chara Metchooyeah plans to stay in Chateh, Alta. this fall to work on her education remotely through a program offered by the Northern Alberta Insitute of Technology. (Adrienne Lamb/CBC)She plans to take that one step further by attending the NAIT’s Disaster and Emergency Management program remotely this fall. One day she dreams of running the emergency management team in Chateh.
Her motivation is simple:
“To make sure the community is more safe and that we have the proper protocols,” Metchooyeah said.