Discussing Diversity Through Seminars

We always encourage students to discuss current events and ongoing social issues. It is essential that students learn how to think critically about these issues, and learn to understand and engage with people whose perspectives, identities, and experiences differ from their own.

We wrote previously about the different ways we are recognizing Black History Month at Greenwood. We ended this month-long discussion with seminars that focused on particular issues and angles in Black history. These seminars allowed students to explore themes in greater depth including film, music, sports, protest, activism, and identity.

Two guest speakers came to give special presentations. Author Peta-Gaye Nash ran a storytelling workshop. She talked about finding different voices, and closely observing the world around you in order to reflect reality in your writing. She gave tips from her own writing process and ran exercises. Actor and musician Ryan Field spoke about art, identity, and self-reinvention. He spoke about his own career in the arts, from his time at TVO Kids to his current studies in media and communications, using his own life experience as a jumping off point to talk about his complex identity, and how he chooses to define himself as both Jamaican and Canadian.

In addition to the Black History Month seminars, the Diversity Committee organized seminars after the recent ruling in the Colton Boushie case. Mr. Henry and Ms. DiFilippo, who supervise the Diversity Committee, provided teachers with an activity so they could open a discussion about the Boushie case and the action that students can take in the Greenwood community and as Canadians. The activity spurred an open discussion, and encouraged students to critically think about social issues.