(Chinook's Edge School Division)

By Chinook's Edge School Division

Moving forward together

Olds High School shines light on Black History Month

Feb 22, 2021 | 3:04 PM

Chinook’s Edge students have opportunities for lessons in kindness, understanding, and character education each day. This may involve the guidance of the division’s Indigenous Education Coordinator, or the extensive collection of school libraries’ books and resources on diversity and tolerance, or through leadership initiatives driven by students themselves.

February is Black History Month, and Olds High School is shining a light on the great influence Black people had – and continue to have – on Canadian heritage. As part of their high school flexibility project, the schedule for Grade 9 students involves a daily Focus time – homework, discussion and collaboration on projects. This month, the daily topic is Black Canadian History.

“One of the activities we did was take a map of the world and simply turn it upside down,” said Bev Toews, the school’s UNESCO Associated Schools Network Coordinator. “Our way is just one way of seeing the world. The world map has Canada and North America at the top left – a position of importance and superiority. It’s surprisingly powerful to turn that theory on its head.”

The classroom space has a poster of Africa, highlighting the 54 sovereign countries and some common stereotypes we have of Africa. The students discuss the diversity of Africa, which has over 1500 languages, along with other locations that Black Canadians arrived from – the Caribbean, Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti – and how early in Canada’s history they arrived.

“Indigenous people were here already, of course. Most of our history is written from the perspective of White people – when the Irish, British and Western European people arrived. But the first Black person arrived in 1608 as an explorer, interpreter and translator. Black people were here before Canada was an official country,” said Bev.

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“Many had been enslaved people in the States and came here as free people. They cleared land as pioneers and overcame many challenges to help create the country we know today. John Ware, for instance, was widely admired as the best cowboy in the West and one of the first ranchers in Alberta. He was involved in bringing the first cattle to Alberta and was known for his strength and horsemanship. He had a huge impact on this province.”

Students discuss the long line of Black influencers – scientists,inventors, entrepreneurs, doctors, athletes, musicians – but they also talk about why it’s important to know this information.

“Celebrating Black History Month helps us learn about parts of Canadian History that have been neglected. It’s part of our shared history and it’s important for our students to know about and celebrate the talented Black people who contributed to this country from its very beginning. It is important to our students of Black descent to see themselves reflected in the curriculum in a positive way, and it provides incredible role models who contributed in every walk of life.

“As our school and province get more diverse, it is good for people of different cultures to learn about and celebrate each other. It starts to create bonds between people. The more we know, the less we discriminate – we can move forward together with understanding and respect. We really do have more in common than we do differences.”

(Sandy Bexon)