On Monday April 15, Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute (VCI) hosted a student lead workshop for all grade nine students about building healthy relationships and also held a presentation for all grade nine and ten students led by a guest speaker from the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity.
The workshop was led by ten VCI students who were trained and certified by the Red Cross in “Building Healthy Relationships”. The grade nine students were placed into five groups of 13, where they would carousel from activity to activity, fostering topics that promoted and supported concepts surrounding Healthy Relationships. Activities included: Think-Pair-Share in which the students discussed the key ingredients to characterize a healthy relationship, Red-light/Green-light where students discussed the importance of boundaries and understanding different perspectives and Allyship where students celebrated their differences.
The presentation, which took place after the workshop, was presented by Daniella Noel, a member of the Canadian Center for Gender and Diversity. The purpose of the presentation was to educate students on topics which included diversity and inclusion. Noel discussed and explained what she considers to be proper terminology, educated students on the concepts of allyship and being an ally to support the queer community.
Noel and other members of the CCGSD are trying to build a Queer museum in 2020 in downtown Ottawa and they are accepting donations to the creation of the museum. To donate, please visit the website at: ccgsd-ccdgs.org.
