“Truth and and Reconciliation- How to talk to children” With Kevin Lamoureux
In 2022, I was lucky enough to take part in this seminar where Kevin Lamoureux spoke to us about navigating the topic of Truth and Reconciliation with children. Kevin is the education lead for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation so he was an excellent resource on this topic. Kevin provided stories from his own life and experiences which were very poignant. He also gave tangible ideas on how to talk about Truth and Reconciliation with our students or children. This is a difficult topic to approach but one that we cannot avoid. This workshop with Kevin was so beneficial as a teacher candidate as I now feel that I have this workshop to refer back to when discussing Canada’s past, present, and future with my students.
Aboriginal DANCEPL3Y with Roxanne Letterlough
In 2021, I had the pleasure of attending an Aboriginal DANCEPL3Y workshop with Roxanne Letterlough. DANCEPL3Y was created as a way to encourage students to move their bodies and promote good mental health. These dances are rooted in traditional Indigenous dance routines. Roxanne introduced us to the philosophy behind DANCEPL3Y and then taught us some choreography that we can use in our classrooms. We were lucky enough as a group to take part in this workshop outside which allowed for a stronger connection to the foundations of DANCEPL3Y. I am grateful for this workshop and I look forward to being able to respectfully include Indigenous content in my practice which has so many benefits for both students and educators.
Check out Aboriginal DANCEPL3Y At Home Live with Roxane Letterlough below!
TRU Philosophy, History and Politics Conference
This is a conference I have been heavily involved in during my time at TRU. In 2018, I presented at the conference for the first time. My paper was focused on discrimination during the second wave of feminism. This was such a rewarding opportunity for me to present my research, hear the research that was done by other undergraduates as well as build relationships with students from all over Canada. The following year, I applied to be a member of the planning committee and I received the position of co-chair. This was a big learning curve for me as this was a lot of responsibility and I learned a lot about organization and leadership. In 2020/2021, I became chair of the conference. This was in the midst of the pandemic and I was determined to make the conference happen. We forged ahead and did an entirely virtual conference. This was beyond challenging and frustrating but I am so proud of the final result. I have taken a lot from my involvement with this conference especially strong communication skills with my peers and my superiors. I gained a lot of experience in public speaking and remaining calm in situations of chaos. My attention was needed in multiple places at once and I am confident that these skills will certainly be of use in the classroom one day.
Left: The 2021 PHP Conference program Right: Myself and some other committee members at CFJC for the Midday news
The 2021 PHP on a typical planning meeting via zoom