How can we co-compose - with our elders-in-residence, Coast Salish elders, students, school staff, district leadership, university researchers, and community members - an embedded, land based Hulquiminum immersion middle school at Mill Bay Nature School ? We had noticed that the older children in our Village were needing space, challenges, and relationships that were different than what we had co-created for the younger children. We also noticed that creating an ecology of learning and growth (valuing growth from the inside out rather than performance) may require more time for children to be ready for a culture of traditional high school settings. As a result of these (and many other observations), we applied for, and were honoured to receive a significant grant from the Vancouver Foundation to explore this question.
Vancouver Foundation Grant – MBNS
Documentation of our Grant work (Spring 2021):
Report: We are Smuqwa – We are Smuqw’a’ – Report – July 2021.pdf
Film: Things Take the Time They Take– https://link.edgepilot.com/s/ba8c4740/2W2g5DKJpUSPJLjaUISZ1g?u=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkB6uR3_dIk