John McCrae PS celebrates diversity and inclusion through student-led initiative
April 12, 2017
GUELPH, Ontario – Students at John McCrae Public School are working together to promote inclusion and bring together students across all grades.
All this week, students participated in activities and events that celebrate diversity, led by the school’s Rainbow Club.
Monday was Rainbow Day at John McCrae PS. The school invited activist and musician Kate Reid to the school for an interactive workshop for students in grades 6 to 8. During the workshop, “LGBTQ+: What’s with the acronym,” Reid led students through discussions and performed some songs.
They were asked to write down messages they’ve received in their lives about their gender. Students wrote down things such as, “Sometimes people think I am a girl, just because I have long hair” and “I’ve been told that my voice is too low and sounds like a boy’s.”
Those messages were hung in the hallway, as a powerful reminder of the impact our words can have on a person.
Members of the Rainbow Club then presented a workshop to grades 4 and 5 students, which focused on diversity and gender expression. Classes also held discussions on the meaning of different flags and what they represent and students designed flags to represent themselves.
On Wednesday, the school marked the Day of Pink by wearing pink and having members of the Rainbow Club read storybooks to students in Kindergarten to grade 3.
.jpg "John McCrae Day of Pink 2017")
The school recently received a $1,000 SpeakUp Project Grant from the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Voice initiative. SpeakUp Projects encourage students to come up with ideas to take action, speak their minds, and have their voices heard. The grant was used to fund Rainbow Day and purchase new LGBTQ books for the school library.