School comes together to achieve huge learning goals
In the final week of December, the students at East Selkirk Middle School (ESMS) took action towards Reconciliation. The school put the finishing touches on their ReconciliACTION project, a school-wide endeavour which fostered learning and reflection.
Teacher Rita Procyshyn, who teaches art and social studies at ESMS welcomed students, staff and visitors to the event. She was followed by Human Ecology teacher Sheila Stark, who explained how the project got started.
“Project ReconciliACTIOn 2023 began in September of this year in preparation for Orange Shirt Week. Our Mamàhtawisiwin Committee wanted to create a project that would be meaningful to our staff and students about why we wear orange shirts,” said Stark.
She continued, “We chose to celebrate our project on the winter solstice as this is an important day for Indigenous people across Turtle Island. On this day, the sun is at its lowest point in the sky, travelling across the skyworld above us in the shortest time, resulting in the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Some nations hold special ceremonies at this time, while others have simpler ways of observing these moments. We are here to celebrate our growth, resilience and strength that have come from creating this project.”
The project was titled ‘16 Questions for ReconciliACTION’, and as the name suggests, the various homeroom classes in the school answered questions and completed tasks about Reconciliation and then presented their findings at an assembly on Dec. 21.
Each class also created a unique puzzle piece that reflected on what they learned, and the whole puzzle was assembled in recognition of the event.
The questions and tasks that the students reflected on varied in difficulty depending on their grade, and all deepened their cultural understanding of Indigenous culture and history. They were:
Share how to count to 10 in Cree.
- What are the Seven Grandfather Teachings?
- What does Mamàhtawisiwin mean?
- What is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)?
- What is the significance of Orange Shirt Day?
- What is the Circle of Courage?
- What are some traditional Indigenous medicines that can be found in Manitoba?
- What was the Sixties Scoop?
- What were the living conditions like in a typical residential school?
- Show on a map of Canada where all the residential schools were located.
- How many Indigenous languages were lost since residential schools began?
- Interpret and share your understanding of Call to Action 63 of the TRC.
- What types of medical inequalities took place at residential schools?
- What historical events led to the establishment of the residential school system?
- What is cultural appropriation?
- How many children attended residential schools?
The students did a marvellous job presenting, coming up in twos and threes to share what they learned with the school.
In addition to learning more about the culture and heritage of this region’s first peoples, students were treated to a drum song performed by local singer Marlena Muir.
The event was concluded with closing remarks from ESMS Vice Principal Kristin Fillion.
“I’d like to thank our students and a very special thank you to those of you who showed leadership today by representing your classes and speaking about your puzzle piece,” said Fillion.
She explained that though each class was familiar with their individual topic this bringing together of these building blocks in a shared workspace environment shows the amount of work that has taken place in the last few months.
