Wednesday

Mikisew School ended early today and the afternoon was dedicated to a workshop for staff, starring us. 

We started the PD session in the gym with introductions and the news clip from CTV from our Orange Shirt Day. It was incredibly moving to be standing in the gym with all of these fantastic teachers who give so much to their students and community. It was really very emotional to be here and feeling this weird moment of arrival. We did it. 

They were very moved by the clips from the students of Downsview. One teacher came up to Lisa after and said how thankful she was for their very thoughtful and kind words and actions in making this possible. 

Garth then showed the awesome video that the students at Downsview made saying hello to Cross Lake and talking about how they feel about how badly First Nation, Metis and Inuit people are treated in Canada. This was followed by a video created from three workshops Mikisew students made over the last few days.

Lisa then did a brief presentation about the 3D printer informing staff about what it can do and letting them know that it's available for them to use. Many of the staff have been really exciting about it. Jeff's wood working class was in the lab today building houses in SketchUp. He is very interested in learning the new software and printing prototypes. Given how fast his students picked it up - we don't think he'll have a problem. They can totally get him using it in no time! 

Monica and Judi gave a wonderful introduction to Positive Peer Culture and even had staff participate in a model PPC group. There was a lot of laughter and clearly there is a nice vibe amongst staff members. They enjoyed the role playing and talking as they got the hang of the program quickly. They also showed great interest in exploring the possibility of offering PPC at Mikisew. 

Student key chains continue to be printed and we had a lovely little chat with some staff and students back in Toronto at Downsview!