Almost every Wednesday morning throughout the year, The Mustard Seed in Edmonton hosts a different grade 6 class from schools throughout the city. These classes come as part of the City Hall school program- a week-long, hands-on learning experience held at Edmonton’s City Hall where students gain an understanding of municipal government with a focus on citizenship, the environment and social responsibility.
At the end of each day at City Hall school, students spend time creating R.O.W.S- a way to Reflect, Observe, Wonder and Sketch what they participated in that particular day. The City Hall teacher then passes on the R.O.W.S to me and the other group facilitator so we can read these reflections about the students’ time at The Mustard Seed.
I always love reading through the R.O.W.S the following week, and yesterday I received a piece of writing that I wanted to share, from a grade 6 student at Bisset Elementary.
“[Today] I realized that not all homeless people are bad… Anyone could be homeless. I could be homeless, my best friends could be homeless, the bus driver could be homeless. Homelessness means that you are stronger than others, that you are skilled, you are independent, that every day you wake up cold and hungry yet you still have hope and you still are fighting. Every day you hear people call you names and laugh at you but you keep going. You still struggle to get food on your plate and a blanket wrapped around you, but you don’t give up and that’s what makes you strong. You know that one day you will be free and all your suffering will be worth it if you keep on going. You will be stronger when this time of poverty has passed you.”
There are probably some ideas in here that I would challenge, but overall it’s a pretty astute reflection. I certainly know a lot of people in The Mustard Seed community who match this description of strength and perseverance!
Experts say that kids form stereotypes by the time they’re 9 years old, so part of what I love about City Hall school is that we get to engage the kids about their stereotypes and misperceptions- we hope they leave understanding that everyone has a name, a face, and a story!
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