Offices of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board May 21 2015 (Photo by Simon Crouch) Offices of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board May 21 2015 (Photo by Simon Crouch)
Chatham

Students Eliminating Stereotypes, Making A Difference

A class project done at St. Michael Catholic School in Ridgetown is receiving worldwide recognition for its focus on immigration and refugees.

Grade 7/8 teacher Andrea DeBruyn recently received a letter informing her that her lesson, What Can We Do to Help Refugees? will be shared with teachers on a global scale. The lesson will be shared through the international Deep Learning Hub - a website showcasing different teaching techniques.

DeBruyn says the project started last year with a history lesson, which eventually grew into a community project.

"The Grade 8 students were studying about how Canada was populated over time by immigrants," she says. "That turned into them looking at refugees today who are present day immigrants."

However, talk about refugees coming to Canada as part of the government's resettlement program sparked a division among the students.

"Some students felt like we needed to help refugees and others felt like they weren't truly victims, that maybe we were letting in terrorists," says DeBruyn.

After doing research, DeBruyn says the students were eventually able to get on the same page.

"Because of the stereotype they (the students) decided they wanted to write a play to educate people," she says.

The play which took place in May 2015, raised about $760 in ticket sales. In addition, the class held fundraisers giving the Refugee Committee over $1,000.

"I am so proud of the students and so proud of the community that they embraced this," says DeBruyn. "It just makes me know that people still care about others and people still want to make a difference."

DeBruyn says the play had been a student driven project and if students in future years would like to do something similar, she's open to supporting them.

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