Here is a summary of what we did at St. Thomas Aquinas:
Isaac Murdoch, a storyteller from Serpent River First Nation visited many classes and retold Fisher Story, which has a powerful message about the environment, over several days during week 1. In total reaching over 100 students.
Christi Belcourt, the artist we engaged, had heard the story & prepared canvases & ordered necessary supplies.
Opening day event: Elders, students, faculty, Ministry of Education, community members participated in an Indigenous led ceremonial opening that included students drum group.
Week 2: The four panel mural (painted in acrylic on canvas) was completed over 4 days with students participating from different classes each period of the day.
Students were able to obtain community service hours for staying after school to continue to work on the mural and assist in cleaning up.
Students also worked on individual canvases on the theme in addition to the mural and over 40 smaller canvases were painted.
Students also made a pledge on how they would “Help Mother Earth” and drew out signs for a photo campaign.
Closing day event: Elders, students, faculty, special guests, community members were invited to participate in the unveiling. Students themselves re-told the story. Additional student projects were highlighted such as the project that students did for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women awareness.
Additional initiatives at our school continued to relay the message. For example, we had an event called Thinkfast the following week where students had to fast for 24 hours and participate in activities to raise awareness on genetically modified seeds and the impact that has on small farmers across the globe.
For more information, check out the STA Mural Project page.
Isaac Murdoch, a storyteller from Serpent River First Nation visited many classes and retold Fisher Story, which has a powerful message about the environment, over several days during week 1. In total reaching over 100 students.
Christi Belcourt, the artist we engaged, had heard the story & prepared canvases & ordered necessary supplies.
Opening day event: Elders, students, faculty, Ministry of Education, community members participated in an Indigenous led ceremonial opening that included students drum group.
Week 2: The four panel mural (painted in acrylic on canvas) was completed over 4 days with students participating from different classes each period of the day.
Students were able to obtain community service hours for staying after school to continue to work on the mural and assist in cleaning up.
Students also worked on individual canvases on the theme in addition to the mural and over 40 smaller canvases were painted.
Students also made a pledge on how they would “Help Mother Earth” and drew out signs for a photo campaign.
Closing day event: Elders, students, faculty, special guests, community members were invited to participate in the unveiling. Students themselves re-told the story. Additional student projects were highlighted such as the project that students did for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women awareness.
Additional initiatives at our school continued to relay the message. For example, we had an event called Thinkfast the following week where students had to fast for 24 hours and participate in activities to raise awareness on genetically modified seeds and the impact that has on small farmers across the globe.
For more information, check out the STA Mural Project page.
