Involving+Elders+in+the+School



During the months of November and December, I had a total of eleven elders in my grade two classroom taking part in storytelling sessions. It was a facinating journey as I watched my students become confident in having conversations and raising important questions during the elders visits. It was a tranformation that I was not expecting. In the beginning the elders did the talking and after we had about three elders, the students were comfortable to ask questions about things they were curious about. The students heard stories about survival, housing, what education was like before technology was introduced and more importantly about our traditional values. It is my hope to eventually have enough time so that I can create a booklet about the elders stories that we could share with the community, students and elders. In February our school hosted a "Honoring our Elders" school assembly. We invited over fifty elders to come to the school and be recognized. Many of the elders came to receive gift that were presented by the students. We had three different square dance performances, some jigging and a wonderful supper. The elders had a great day and it was the talk of the town for several days. My hope is that by inviting elders to be in our school we can create connections between the students and their culture and we hope that students will begin to respect elders in our community.