Taking a stance and a lead is not only critical, it is empowering and can help mitigate anxiety about the climate crisis, as well as other environmental issues.


WRITING TO THE PRIME MINISTER (AND OTHER POLITICIANS)


These strong, brave young women are inspirational. We discussed how they had taken action, how they had communicated with people in power and how they had collaborated with others to create change. I asked the class what we could do to com-


“ THESE STRONG, BRAVE YOUNG WOMEN ARE INSPI- RATIONAL. WE DISCUSSED HOW THEY HAD TAKEN ACTION, HOW THEY HAD COMMUNICATED WITH PEOPLE IN POWER AND HOW THEY HAD COLLABO- RATED WITH OTHERS TO CREATE CHANGE.”


descent). The book describes the impact of oil and gas pipelines on the land and water and shows how Indigenous Peoples have collaborated to stand up against the fossil fuel industry. The second, Sila and the Land, is a


very special book written by three Indig- enous women; Shelby Angalik is Inuit, Ariana Roundpoint is Wolf Clan of the Kanyen'kehà:ka people and Lindsay DuPré is Métis. The book documents the journey of a young girl named Sila who travels from the north engaging in conversation with various animals and features of the land- scape, discovering along the way that the water has been polluted. Sila learns that her actions have consequences, and what she does impacts others. Listening and discussing these books


met several expectations in Language Arts, as students listened carefully to understand the issues and ideas, and then discussed their thoughts and ideas about the books with each other (Oral and Visual Overall Expecta- tions 1 and 2). We then learned about Autumn Peltier, a


young Anishinaabe woman and water rights activist from Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Discussions about cur- rent issues facing Indigenous Peoples is an essential element of any activist work, and Autumn’s story is inspiring.


30 ETFO VOICE | WINTER 2022 Autumn Peltier was infl uenced by her


great-aunt Josephine Mandamin, known as “Grandmother Water Walker.” Mandamin was an Anishinaabe woman who organized a series of walks around the Great Lakes from 2003 to 2017, raising awareness about water pollution on the Great Lakes and the lack of fresh drinking water on Indigenous reserves. We watched videos of Autumn speak-


ing, including the CBC news report of her meeting and subsequently challenging Jus- tin Trudeau. In 2016, at age 12, Autumn was presenting Trudeau with a gift, but spoke with him about how unhappy she was with the choices he had made and the broken promises to her people. We watched vid- eos of Autumn speaking at the United Na- tions at ages 13 and 15 on World Water Day (available on YouTube). My students were in awe of how articu-


late, knowledgeable and committed Autumn was. We discussed the qualities required to be a strong leader and how Autumn exemplifi ed those by speaking so clearly to Trudeau. As young women activists, Autumn


and Greta have a tremendous infl uence on young people – and girls in particular – and on politicians. As educators, we should be aware that all the learning around climate change can be overwhelming and can lead to anxiety and depression, particularly during a time when some children are already fragile.


municate our concerns about the environ- ment. I proposed that we all write a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of Ontario or the Mayor of Burlington. This culminating assignment was one of the most authentic writing tasks I have ever taught. Because of the in-depth learning we had done about both climate change and the environment, the students were knowledge- able and able to delve into an area or topic they were particularly concerned about. The students also were extremely inspired by the leadership demonstrated by Autumn and Greta and were willing to take similar risks. The letter writing also met many Lan-


guage Arts expectations in the writing strand, addressing all four Overall Expecta- tions. We used the writing process: brain- storming topics, organizing ideas, writing a draft and working together to develop an editing checklist. Students edited their letters together to ensure that conventions such as spelling and punctuation were correct and also revised them to make sure there was a main idea that arguments were connected to. Finally, they printed their letters and mailed them to Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Ford or Mayor Meed Ward.


HONESTY AND ACTIVISM


As educators, we teach children the skills and knowledge they will need as adults. It is ir- responsible not to teach them about climate change as it is going to have a huge impact on their lives – and on a scale we can’t fully un- derstand. Looking to the messages and lead- ership of Autumn Peltier and Greta Thunberg provides the world with hope. Empowering students to take action provides them with confi dence and courage and supports their mental health. Embedding this all in the On- tario curriculum provides the time in a busy schedule for deep learning to occur. n Jennifer Reid is a member of Halton Teacher Local.


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