Holy Cross High School’s Truth and Reconciliation Club was recognized for their efforts with the City of Saskatoon’s Living in Harmony award.
A ceremony was held at the Broadway Theatre on March 21—the International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination—to announce the 2023 Living in Harmony award recipients.
The awards recognize outstanding achievements in contributing to the elimination of racial discrimination in our community.
Holy Cross’s student club received the School Recognition award for its work in the area of reconciliation awareness and action.
The Truth and Reconciliation Committee at Holy Cross consists of students and staff who work together to promote diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and cultural and relational pedagogy. Teacher and student-club liaison Elizabeth Breese explained in the nomination submission, “This group was originally established to plan our Treaty Medal Installation Ceremony and has now become an established group that educates the student body about racism, anti-racism, and truth and reconciliation.”
Awareness activities initiated by the club include a display case; devotions over the intercom that align with occasions such as Black History Month, International Day of Indigenous Languages, etc.; incorporating cultural days; cooking and selling cookie hearts for Have a Heart Day; and sales of orange shirts designed by Payton Ellis, an Indigenous student at Holy Cross.
The shirts are available for students, staff and families to purchase at a reduced cost thanks to financial support from the Restorative Action Program (RAP). The school plans on having an Indigenous student design an orange shirt each school year going forward, as well as having Orange Shirt Days on the last Friday of each month.
Breese wrote, “We are very proud of the students in our group who have demonstrated commitment to anti-racism and the work of truth and reconciliation. We are excited that this group has been formed and look forward to seeing how it evolves and continues to improve the culture of our school.”
At the event, the City of Saskatoon also acknowledged recipients from 2020 – 2022, since there were no award ceremonies held for those years. St. Frances Cree Bilingual School, École St. Matthew School and St. Marguerite School were among those recognized.
First published on https://www.gscs.ca/_ci/p/15243
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