West Coast students are creating artifacts of learning that will culminate into a powerful, educational experience for community members on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
For the fourth consecutive year, Ucluelet Secondary School has teamed up with the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust to host a Legacy of Hope exhibit at the school on Sept. 30.
The students have spent the first few weeks of their school year learning about Canada’s residential school system through research, art and poetry.
The CBT’s program coordinator Jason Sam has been managing the project since its launch four years ago.
Sam told the Westerly News that funding from Heritage Canada helps bring in survivors, knowledge keepers and experts to share with students who then create artifacts of learning to display alongside the Legacy of Hope exhibit.
“I want them to lead the way. If we can create a generation of youth that already have this learning and this understanding, then they can go out and be empathetic and create a better world than we grew up in,” he said. “Hopefully, they can take all these teachings and these learnings with them…They can take this out into the world and they’re going to create these little bubbles of empathy, understanding and moving forward from this. That’s what I hope. That’s the goal.”
He added the program relies on the dedicated passion of teachers: Lucas Anderson who guides students through researching the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action, Shannon McWhinney who helps students design and create Orange Shirts and Heather Hendry who helps them put their thoughts into poetry.
“They’re doing the amazing work and the hard work that it takes to make this all happen,” Sam said.
McWhinney’s Grade 9 art class were learning how to use a silkscreen to print designs onto Orange Shirts on Thursday, Sept. 19 and she told the Westerly she’s been “amazed” at how well thought out their designs have been.
“Everyone in this room has created a strong design. They’re going to be really powerful shirts,” she said. “A part of this unit, which is amazing and it just kind of started happening, was that leadership roles started happening where students are supporting other students in their learning.”
Jovi Osborne’s design incorporated long braided hair with scissors to represent childrens’ hair being cut at residential school.
“The fact that they just took that away from them, I thought was really sad,” Osborne said, adding it’s important for students to keep learning about the atrocities conducted at residential schools. “We don’t want to forget about what happened. Generation after generation should be taught about this.”
“A lot of kids didn’t make it out,” said Matthew Touchie, 14, who designed a teddy bear with the word ‘hope’ above it, representing children not being allowed to bring toys and personal items with them to residential schools. “They died in residential schools, so I think it’s respectful to do this for them. We want to respect them and honour them.”
“It’s showing respect for those who aren’t here anymore and to honour those that are lost,” added Athena Koulelis.
Darnell Brown said wearing orange shirts “shows respect and shows people that we care for each other.”
Each student gets a shirt to keep or give away with another going on display and the rest being sold through the school as well as Tourism Tofino to raise funds for next year’s program.
“By us creating and sharing and the community wearing orange shirts, we’re showing that we’re hearing the truth and we’re responding to it in a respectful and caring way that is, hopefully, helping some people to move forward,” McWhinney said.
She added counselling services are available to support students through the potentially triggering subject matter.
“It’s a super hard unit…It’s so important and it’s so charged,” she said. “It’s a hard topic to teach and really trying to teach it properly and respectfully is important and sometimes challenging.”
She said it’s important to continue teaching the subject each year.
“We’re still, as communities everywhere, working through all the issues. People are learning about it and learning to respect it and people are having hard discussions,” she said. “There’s still a lot of families who are struggling with all sorts of social distresses because there is still so much truth that needs to be heard and healing that needs to be happening.”
Sam said offering education through research, poetry and art offers diverse opportunities for students to be immersed in their learning.
“We try to find ways for everyone to find their own passion into it,” he said. “When we bring it into art and poetry and research, we try to provide the best opportunity for each youth to find out the truth in their own way and then honour the children that attended residential school and those that didn’t survive.”
Students from Grade 9 - 12 participate in the learning process, with a wide range of backgrounds.
“We have the full spectrum. We’ve got youth who have no idea and have never heard about this to youth who have lived this, the intergenerational trauma,” Sam said.
The students’ work will be on display at USS from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 30 and Sam hopes to see a large turnout coming to honour and reflect on the day.
“I have a hard time when I work through this process that it’s a holiday. It shouldn’t be listed as a holiday,” he said. “It’s a day to mourn, to commemorate and to learn. As a Canadian, take the day off, but take at least an hour to learn about our history that still deeply affects the people who we live, work and play with; our aunties, uncles, cousins and friends…Take a little bit of time to educate yourself and to understand.”
Following the school’s Sept. 30 learning experience, the exhibit will then be on display in Tofino thanks to a partnership with Destination Marketing Organization Tourism Tofino, which also helps fundraise for the program by selling the students’ poetry books and orange shirts.
