Spirit of reconciliation behind push to rename new Seven Oaks school

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Seven Oaks students and educators want the namesake for an immersion school slated to open in Old Kildonan in September to pay tribute to their commitment to reconciliation.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/01/2020 (2085 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven Oaks students and educators want the namesake for an immersion school slated to open in Old Kildonan in September to pay tribute to their commitment to reconciliation.

A delegation of more than a dozen community members asked division trustees Monday night to swap École Templeton’s name for one that celebrates Indigenous people, rather than a street name.

Located on Templeton Avenue between Pipeline Road and McPhillips Street, Seven Oaks School Division’s newest addition is currently under construction. It is expected to open to 450 kindergarten to Grade 5 French immersion students in the fall, and alleviate crowding at surrounding schools.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
A delegation of more than a dozen community members asked division trustees Monday night to swap École Templeton’s name for one that celebrates Indigenous people.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A delegation of more than a dozen community members asked division trustees Monday night to swap École Templeton’s name for one that celebrates Indigenous people.

“It’s not just the languages in schools, it’s also the language on schools that speaks to that sense of inclusion that we really value here as a division,” Michelle Jean-Paul, principal of the new school, told trustees during a meeting at division headquarters.

Jean-Paul spoke about the importance of being “accomplices” in reconciliation and lifting others’ voices — ideas echoed by students from James Nisbet Community School in a video played for the trustees.

The principal also delivered to trustees letters in support of changing the name from community members, as well as a synopsis of a recent University of Manitoba masters of education graduate’s thesis on the subject.

In a 2017 thesis paper, Katya Adamov Ferguson calls on school divisions to review their policies on naming and renaming schools and consider Indigenous place names and languages for titles.

“As new schools are built, efforts should be made to acknowledge Indigenous land. (For example, what is the original name in Ojibwa for the land on which the school is to be built?)” Ferguson wrote.

None of the names of Seven Oaks schools currently recognize the history, culture or contributions of Indigenous peoples.

Superintendent Brian O’Leary said, typically, schools have been named after geographic neighbourhoods or streets.

Although, O’Leary noted Seven Oaks’ land-based learning centre’s name — Ozhaawashkwaa Animikii-Bineshi Aki Onji Kinimaagae’ Inun, or Blue Thunderbird Land-based Teachings Learning Centre — and that language programs in the division are referred to by the languages taught during them.

“When settlers came, (Indigenous people) all just wanted one thing, and that was to be authenticated and validated as viable cultures,” said Mary Courchene, a long-time educator and the division’s elder-in-residence.

Courchene, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation, said naming a new school in the spirit of reconciliation would do just that. She added school names should reflect both the division’s values — education beyond high school, community, sustainability and inclusion — and its population.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The new school on Templeton Avenue in Winnipeg Tuesday,.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The new school on Templeton Avenue in Winnipeg Tuesday,.

About 18 per cent of the people who live in the federal riding of Winnipeg North, where the division is situated, identify as Indigenous.

“I just ask you to think about what are our risks as a division versus our benefits as a division, and what outweighs the other in doing this,” said Sherri Denysuik, Seven Oaks’ Indigenous education lead.

An Indigenous name, Denysuik said, would further cement Seven Oaks as a leader in Indigenous education in Winnipeg. She noted the division’s work on implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s calls to action, and it being the first in the city to play host to a graduation powwow more than a decade ago.

Seven Oaks trustees will consider the school’s name at a meeting next week, when two trustees who were absent Monday are able to provide input.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

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