Estimadas familias,

November 6, 2024 – Día de la Conmemoración / Remembrance Day

I would like to extend my gratitude to our phenomenal grade 4 community of learners and teachers for leading this year’s Remembrance Day Service. When leading these events, the work for students is not only around practicing the performative aspects of the presentation, but rather, the connection to learning in the classroom. In this case, teachers also ensure that students were able to share personal connections about family members, both past and present, who have been involved with the Canadian military.

November 8, 2024 – Professional Learning Day for teachers

Each year, all schools across the Calgary Board of Education engage in collaborative learning that focuses on Indigenous Education, and in particular, improving outcomes for indigenous students. The theme for our learning is “Maatoomsii’ Pookaiks- Children First.

This year, teachers at Escuela Eugene Coste took time to plan for deepening our understanding of how to incorporate indigenous pedagogy into our teaching and well- being practices with students. Our teachers are taking up identifying how to connect curricular outcomes (what we are required to teach) to practices such as circle (collaborative decision making/ oral dialogue), sit spots and land-based learning.

Through engaging in these practices, we are learning how to experience the world and learning from both a “western/colonial” perspective and from an indigenous perspective. As a Spanish-bilingual school, it is of particular interest to also identify how we weave Spanish language learning through these practices. Traditionally, indigenous teachings are passed on orally, which directly connects to our language- focused approach as a Spanish Bilingual program. The entry point for most of our language learning starts with speaking and listening.

By connecting curriculum to relevant indigenous practices, we can create rich opportunities for all students to engage in learning in a variety of ways, beyond the four-walls of our classroom and through the lens of every students’ spirit, heart, body and mind. This can help all learners to see themselves in the experience of school and also builds important intercultural understanding. This helps us to move forward from reconciliation to ReconciliACTION.