Cultural inclusion
Students celebrate cultural uniqueness
Two Island students are ready for action after a cross-Canada cultural workshop made a recent stop in Summerside. Liz Gallant and Ivory Jansen, both Grade 9 students at Summerside Intermediate School, said the session meshed well with the school’s five-week Diversity Festival.
SUMMERSIDE – Two Island students are ready for action after a cross-Canada cultural workshop made a recent stop in Summerside.
Liz Gallant and Ivory Jansen, both Grade 9 students at Summerside Intermediate School, said the session meshed well with the school’s five-week Diversity Festival.
The middle school held events throughout January and February to explore and celebrate international newcomers, Indigenous culture, LGBTQ lifestyle and la Francophonie.
The workshop at Credit Union Place coincided perfectly, they said.
“We were just learning about what culture is, what defines us and things that are kind of overlooked but still important,” said Liz. “Like, you know, minority culture and minorities in general.”
The morning session included Mi’kmaq storytelling and an iceberg exercise to practice looking beneath the surface to better understand others.
The two friends were having lunch together and looked forward to the afternoon action planning session.
“That would be really helpful,” said Ivory. “We can plan for things ahead to make the world change.”
A hundred students from SIS took part in the special programming at the CUP on Feb. 20.
Focussed on meaningful talk about diversity and inclusion, staff with the Harmony Movement took students through various activities to look deep into Canadian culture. The Harmony Movement was formed in 1994 as a not-for-profit organization to combat inter-racial intolerance.
Youth are confident they’re the leaders of tomorrow, but they’re also the leaders of today, said program facilitator Ryan Singh.
“We speak to help them recognize that they have skills and experiences that are important.”
Now in its 25th year, the Harmony Movement saw certain types of discrimination just weren’t going away, so it launched the travelling workshops. Their aim is to visit every Canadian province and territory.
In addition to a keynote talk on Tuesday and the workshop sessions, Harmony Movement is accepting stories from youth for publication on the website in early summer.
Another product of the yearlong tour will be teaching aids for classrooms. “Students will be able to hear from other Canadian students, so it’s not just this intangible concept. Actual Canadian youth are telling their own stories,” said Erin Campeau fundraiser and communications coordinator. “They’re the ones that are really creating the content.”
“The value is in knowing what their peers are going through,” said Singh. “When you’re experiencing it in the moment, it makes more sense to talk to someone who’s your age.”
Mi’kmaq Legends’ Richard and Julie Lush made an impression on senior program manager Rima Dib.
“They made it so incredibly accessible and easy for students to participate in,” said Dib.
“They weaved all of the themes of the conference into the stories they chose.”
Singh loves working with the unique energy of middle school students.
“They know the experiences. Sometimes they don’t have the language necessarily for what has been happening, but they understand what’s going on,” said Singh.
“People would have no worries about our future if they heard those youth speak,” said Singh.