Dealing with Canada’s residential school history is challenging enough for the best of us, but two local Catholic school students are being recognized nationally for their clear vision of a “reconciled Canada.”
Saint Pius X students, Maksimas Viskotas, and Olivia Wall were chosen as the sole winners from B.C. of the Imagine a Canada contest, put on by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to promote young leadership in the Peace and Reconciliation movement.
Viskontas wrote an essay he hoped would bring awareness to Canada’s residential school past in order to help people understand how Canadians are currently dealing with the Peace and Reconciliation.
“Defining Truth and Reconciliation is not something simple, but rather a complicated process; one which requires both prudent attention and perseverance,” he wrote.
Viskontas perceptively connects our understanding of the past with a hopeful view of the future. He writes, “the history of this nation is filled with dark moments… there is only a single thing we can protect: our future.”
Wall took a very different approach with her submission by writing and recording a song called Hand in Hand, about her experience learning about the history of residential schools in Canada.
She wanted the song to sound like a fall day in September, and the music conjures images of a student setting out to learn at the beginning of a new school year.
The song is hopeful, even as it challenges the listener to reconsider their place in the Peace and Reconciliation process.
Both students exemplify the introspection Canada needs to move forward, and Grade 5 teacher Marielle Lung says her students’ submissions have deeply impacted how she will teach these issues going forward.
“As [Catholic educators] it’s our duty and responsibility to engage our students, and the future generations, in difficult but necessary conversations,” she said.
“This is the first time I’ve done a project like this,” she said. “I was absolutely amazed by our students’ level of thought, reflection, and understanding. It’s truly changed my approach to teaching these difficult and sensitive topics.”
Winners will be invited to participate in a virtual leadership conference on Friday, June 10, where they will hear from First Nations “Elders, Survivors, and Knowledge Keepers as well as special guests about how to engage and lead difficult conversations and be a “Reconciliation leader.” The event can be viewed at https://bit.ly/ImagineACanadaevent.
The winning submission will be published in a digital booklet created by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
To listen to Hand in Hand visit bit.ly/rcavhandinhand.
Hand In Hand
By Olivia Wall
On my way to school
Following the rules
Trying to be cool
Feeling overruled
What I learned today
Things have got to change
This is not the way
We’ve got to be more brave
We stand on guard for those in pain
We need justice from those who were in reign
Let’s build our home, a native land
Together we will walk, hand in hand
All this learning can do
Just from my school
Let us not be fooled
Seek and find the truth
We stand on guard for those in pain
We need justice from those who were in reign
Let’s build our home, a native land
Together we will walk, hand in hand
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