Statement on behalf of the Grand Erie District School Board

Christina Speers, Trustee for Brant County and Norfolk County (Wards 3 & 7) has tendered her resignation, effective immediately. The Grand Erie District School Board acknowledges her resignation without hesitation. Ms. Speers’s resignation follows her Facebook post on Wednesday (September 30) minimizing the significance of Orange Shirt Day.

As Trustees of the Board, we want to be very clear: we denounce the views expressed by Ms. Speers as they do not align with Grand Erie’s commitment to Equity as seen through our Multi-Year Plan and our focus on promoting practices that “help students, families and staff feel safe, welcomed and included.”

In the strongest possible terms, we want to reaffirm our commitment to the Calls to Action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report as well as the important relationships we have with our Indigenous communities.

Grand Erie whole-heartedly honours Orange Shirt Day. Our educators and staff share a wide range of grade-appropriate resources with students so they can understand the impact of Canada’s residential school system. These resources, many of which were developed locally by our Indigenous Education staff along with the assistance of the Woodland Cultural Centre, Six Nations of the Grand River, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, help us all to understand the traumatic and inter-generational impact residential schools have on our Indigenous students and their families. This critical and important learning doesn’t begin and end on Orange Shirt Day, it is ongoing for all Grand Erie students, staff and trustees.

As a Board, we’re committed to listening and learning, to having necessary conversations, and to building relationships built on mutual respect, openness and understanding so that we can be allies for our Indigenous students as well as all racialized students in our Board.

• Greg Anderson – City of Brantford
• Rita Collver – Brant County & Norfolk County (Wards 3 & 7)
• David Dean – City of Brantford
• Eva Dixon – Norfolk County
• Brian Doyle – Haldimand County
• Susan Gibson – City of Brantford
• James Richardson – Haldimand County
• Carol Ann Sloat – City of Brantford
• Claudine VanEvery-Albert – Represents interests of Six Nations students
• Don Werden – Norfolk County

Good Food Adds Up to Good Learning at Courtland Pubic School

Evidence suggests that breakfast and snack programs in schools:

• Improves children’s school performance, memory and test grades
• Enhances students’ physical, emotional, social and intellectual development
• Increases attendance rates, particularly for nutritionally at risk children
• Provides additional time for children to eat and drink nutritious breakfasts and snacks
• Provides energy for students to be more physically
• Enhances nutritional status of students by replacing the consumption of foods with low nutritional value with more nutritious choices, such as more vegetables and fruit
• Promotes a sense of community by bringing people together to ensure all children are well-nourished
• Leads to better dietary habits by increasing the frequency of eating breakfast
• Reduces the prevalence of vitamin and mineral deficiencies

With the generous support of the Child Nutrition Network and the Grand Erie District School Board, the school was able to renovate a room in the school into a nutrition program kitchen. Funds provided by the Child Nutrition Network and school fundraising monies purchase the good food and materials needed to run the program.

Every morning at 8 a.m., parent volunteers and their children arrive to prepare and distribute the food for the day. This program would not happen without their enthusiastic support.

Each serving of food includes a dairy product (i.e. yogurt, cheese string), a grain product (i.e. crackers, mixed cereal, muffin, whole wheat bun) and a fruit product (i.e. apple, banana, clementine orange, grapes, juice) or a vegetable product (i.e. cucumber slices, raw carrots). A container filled with food is delivered to each classroom and as children get settled for a day of learning, staff and students are encouraged to help themselves to a delicious and nutritious start to the day.

“Nutrition programs, such as the one at Courtland Public School, are happening in many schools within the Grand Erie District School Board. It’s a huge effort supported by the Board, volunteers and community agencies. Working together, it’s amazing what can be done. We feel most grateful to have this opportunity for our Courtland school community”, says principal Deb Opersko.

Roots of Empathy

Courtland Public School offers the Roots of Empathy program in our Kindergarten A classroom. Our Early Childhood Educator, Mrs. L. Wildman is a trained Roots of Empathy instructor. Our Roots of Empathy baby and her mom are welcome visitors to the classroom.

An explanation of program, from the Roots of Empathy website is included below:

Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based classroom program that has shown significant effect in reducing levels of aggression among schoolchildren by raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy. The program reaches elementary schoolchildren from Kindergarten to Grade 8. In Canada, the program is delivered in English and French and reaches rural, urban, and remote communities including Aboriginal communities. Roots of Empathy is also delivered in New Zealand, the United States, Isle of Man, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Emotional Literacy

At the heart of the program are a neighbourhood infant and parent who visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. A trained Roots of Empathy Instructor coaches students to observe the baby's development and to label the baby's feelings. In this experiential learning, the baby is the "Teacher" and a lever, which the instructor uses to help children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others. This "emotional literacy" taught in the program lays the foundation for more safe and caring classrooms, where children are the "Changers". They are more competent in understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others (empathy) and are therefore less likely to physically, psychologically and emotionally hurt each other through bullying and other cruelties. In the

Roots of Empathy program children learn how to challenge cruelty and injustice. Messages of social inclusion and activities that are consensus building contribute to a culture of caring that changes the tone of the classroom. The Instructor also visits before and after each family visit to prepare and reinforce teachings using a specialized lesson plan for each visit. Research results from national and international evaluations of Roots of Empathy indicate significant reductions in aggression and increases in pro-social behaviour.