Students at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School in Gatineau, Quebec recently participated in Project of Heart, which is an intergeneration, artistic endeavour which commemorates the lives lost due to the IRS System. We made this video to document our experiences and our feelings through out the project-but most of all, to recognize, respect and honour the children and families impacted by Indian Residential schools.
Jeannie Hunter, vocal instructor at Hillcrest High School in Ottawa, enthusiastically embraced Project of Heart and so did her students. Here is what she had to say:
“This was the first year for vocals at Hillcrest, and I have always felt that it is important to teach context when teaching music, and that music can be an important tool for social justice. My eureka moment came during Ontario Teachers’ Federations’ Aboriginal Perspectives Institute in July of 2011, when I met the coordinator of Project of Heart as well as Heidi Langille from the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre. While still covering traditional vocal curriculum (the basics of how to sing and how to read music), I wanted to create an underlying theme in our repertoire. Continue reading
Brad Boucher, Native Studies teacher at St. Pius X HS in Ottawa made history when he requested that a Project of Heart kit be sent to his school this year – it was the beginning of a learning experience that would see his school became the first-ever to complete the Project three years running !
St. Pius Students created beautiful works of art while learning about the lasting impacts of the Indian Residential Schools (IRS) on generations of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit people in Canada who attended the Federal Hostel at Eskimo Point/Arviat in Nunavut and
Fort McPherson (Flemming Hall) in the North West Territories. Continue reading
- Photo by Hussein Abdallah
Earlier this month Project of Heart’s Charlene Bearhead (National Manager for National Day of Healing and Reconciliation) teamed up with IRS survivor (and founder of National Day of Healing and Reconciliation) Maggie Hodson, as activists and and facilitators from seven organizations gathered to participate in a compressed version of Project of Heart that the two presented at a one day workshop in Calgary. Continue reading
Port Perry teacher Nancy Hamer-Strahl has completed Project of Heart for a second year running. Once again, Nancy has found a way to connect her classroom to her own community — including her area’s First Nation community — and ultimately to the whole country through her contribution to CBC’s excellent “8th Fire” series.
This year, Hamer-Strahl’s students commemorated the lives lost at St. Michael’s IRS in Alert Bay, British Columbia, as well as Lake St. Marin IRS at Fisher River, Manitoba. They decorated over 600 tiles to honour these children. Former Residential School students related their experiences to her students and Cliff Standingready, author and Oshawa resident, spoke to Nnacy’s class and shared his story. Continue reading
Click on image above to see slideshow of student Jake Robinson’s work
It’s never been done before, but a talented high school student from Ontario has completed the remarkable feat of decorating the commemorative tiles for an entire Indian Residential School all by himself. Most students working on Project of Heart are given a set of 10 tiles to decorate, but, as reported by Port Perry’s High School Newsletter, “Jake Robinson was so inspired by this project that he has taken on the job to commemorate 200 children on his own, during his free time. His artistic talent speaks volumes of his passion for this commemorative project.” Continue reading
Here’s Pam on just how she did it: Continue reading
This past semester students from Ottawa’s Nepean High School once again participated in Project of Heart, marking the second time in two years their school has partnered with POH. Four Grade 9 Geography classes designed a total of 300 tiles in commemoration of the young lives lost at the Ridgemont Home for Children in Whitehorse and Pine Creek Indian Residential School in Manitoba.
Here’s what teacher Leigh Williamson had to say about the experience: Continue reading
In October 2011, Kim Bruton from Sir Robert Borden High School in Ottawa contacted Project of Heart after hearing an interview regarding the Project on the CBC. It took no time for her to involve her Grade 12 “Canada: History, Identity, and Culture” course. Here’s what some of her students had to say after having completed the five-part education module, which commemorated students who died while attending an IRS, including those who lost their lives at St. Paul’s IRS in Cardston, Alberta: Continue reading
Pickering, Ontario teacher Jenny Brown recently worked with her Dunbarton HS students to decorate over 900 tiles to commemorating the children who lost their lives at Cecilia Jeffrey IRS in Kenora, Ontario, Grollier Hall IRS in Inuvik, NWT, and St. Peter’s IRS in Hay River, NWT.
With the students as they learned about Canada’s history during this dark era was Andrew Wesley, and IRS survivor and clergyperson. Brown states, “The visit by Andrew was great. My students were very moved by the experience and will never forget it!”
But Brown’s students didn’t stop there. They learned about Canada’s inaction on the drinking water crisis faced by First Nations people living on reserves and how it is shaming our country internationally. They then signed the water petition (please check out Amnesty International’s easy-to-join campaign to help you take meaningful action about this calamity). Students also signed Amnesty International’s petition called, “No More Stolen Sisters” to address the epidemic of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.
Congratulations Dunbarton High!
Bad Behavior has blocked 142 access attempts in the last 7 days.