This year, the Upper Grand District School Board will commemorate National Truth and Reconciliation Week from September 23-30 with the continued focus on learning and action.
Educators and all board staff are invited to learn by participating in activities and live-streams from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, by reading the 94 Calls to Action and in turn, working towards meaningful individual and class commitments to action and change.
The Indigenous Education Team will be hosting two engaging virtual sessions during Truth and Reconciliation Week on September 25 with author and educator Peggy Janicki. Janicki wrote The Secret Pocket about her mother’s experience in residential school that highlights the ingenuity, brilliance, resistance and resilience of survivors. Peggy will speak to students in grades 4-8 in a virtual live-stream, followed by a professional development session for educators in the evening. Lesson plans have been provided to junior and intermediate classes, so classes can explore the text safely and appropriately.
Educators have been provided with an updated slide-deck of vetted digital and in-school resources organized by division. This slidedeck includes live-streams, opportunities for inquiry, exploration, research and action in classrooms, and suggestions for ways educators can continue their own learning.
Staff and students are encouraged to wear orange shirts on the 30th, to purchase shirts from Indigenous creators/businesses if interested and to participate in the activities recommended on the slidedeck. School staff can share their commitments and events through social media and/or directly with the Indigenous Education Department.
For parents, guardians, caregivers and families, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will again be offering free virtual ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions each day of Truth and Reconciliation Week. These 50-minute sessions will cover topics such as the health related impacts of the residential school system, allyship and confronting unconscious bias and a community perspective on the United Nations Declaration Rights of Indigenous Peoples. More information and registration can be accessed here.
If schools choose to fundraise, the Indigenous Education Team kindly requests funds be directed to Woodland Cultural Centre, the former residential school in Brantford or the Survivor’s Secretariat in Six Nations.