Local schools take the day to focus on truth and reconciliation

By KENDALL KING on October 1, 2021.

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

kking@medicinehatnews.com

Medicine Hat’s two school boards, the Public School Division and the Catholic Board of Education, observed Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation through a variety of activities aimed at teaching students about Indigenous culture, history and the long-lasting impact of residential schools.

In the Public School Division, students spent time learning about Canada’s Indigenous peoples through a variety of age-appropriate activities. Derrell Willier, the division’s First Nations, Métis & Inuit co-ordinator, as well as Morgan Muir and Shirley Boomer, both FNMI support workers, were also visiting classrooms, speaking with students and answering questions.

“We present on the histories, perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people in Canada,” Muir said. “The students are great; they’re really engaged. Teachers are great, too. They want to access resources and work with us.”

Heather Irvine, religious education co-ordinator for MHCBE, told the News that students and educators within the Catholic Board of Education also dedicated time to learning about Indigenous peoples. “It’s an opportunity to experience, listen, learn and grow in their understanding,” Irvine said.

Later in the day, classes across the MHCBE participated in a digital assembly that included a prayer, land acknowledgement, flag song and address from Raevon Gehring, the board’s First Nations, Métis, and Inuit co-ordinator. They also partook in a ribbon tying ceremony, in which each individual was provided an orange ribbon to tie on the schoolyard fence, beside a plaque commemorating National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. When tying the ribbon students were asked to reflect on what they had learned by taking a moment of silence.

“We associate ribbons with a cause, so that’s where we got the concept of tying the ribbon,” Gehring explained. “The selection of orange, we thought, would be an obvious association with Orange Shirt Day. We will be journeying outside and tying that ribbon as a form of action for reconciliation as well as a reflection on all of the content that we are now aware of and honouring those students that never returned home.”

When asked what she hopes students will take away from yesterday’s events, Gehring said, “I think, overall, when we think of the concept of reconciliation, that it means ‘respect’ in a sense. So, just learning and respecting and being aware of the histories of the Indigenous people of Canada. That’s my hope. That we’re building awareness, we’re building respect and looking forward to the future of our students, who carry on that legacy of respecting and building the reconciliation.”

Irvine added that reconciliation doesn’t start and end on Sept. 30. “Our plan is to continue providing, throughout the year, different experiences for our students.”

Both MHPSD and MHCBE also invited students and educators to wear the colour orange in recognition of Orange Shirt Day.

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