Northern and southern ideas merge
Sir John Franklin teens talk global citizenship with students in Edmonton and Toronto
Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, March 20, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Sir John Franklin School students had the opportunity to sound off on ideas about international human rights with students in Edmonton and Toronto last week.
Josh Lee, 17, of Sir John Franklin School, talks with students in Alberta and Ontario about what it means to be a global citizen during a virtual townhall debate, held last week. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo |
Landon Kowalzik's Grade 12 social studies class spent the whole day Wednesday discussing human rights with four Canadian schools in a "virtual townhall." Organizers will collect ideas the students share into a single document and this document will be presented to The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization during a conference in Paris this summer, as well as to each school's local government.
"Each different school will present either to their town council, or to the legislative assembly, or at least that's the idea," said Kowalzik.
He said organizer Terry Goldwaldt, who works for Edmonton Public Schools, arranged three virtual conversations between students from across the country but wanted to have a Northern school partake in the third and final session themed on Canada's role from a global perspective.
Nicole Enge, 17, said she found the southern students had good things to add to the conversation since they come from such large urban centres which have more diversity than is found in the North.
Students were broken up into groups, where they discussed their feelings on freedom of speech, right to education, right to inclusion and freedom of the press. When they'd boiled their ideas down to a single coherent thought, they posted to a chat board so the students down south could view them and discuss.
Seventeen-year-old student Josh Lee said Yellowknifers have unique ideas to add to a discussion about global citizenship. He said a combination of being isolated from the rest of the world while being exposed to distinctly Northern cultures helped he and his fellow students to broaden the conversation.
"In Yellowknife ... there are many religions or different races," he said. "It's a very open-minded town."
Lee went on to describe the project's goal - to encourage global leaders to make decisions that would break down barriers to equality. "Right now, we're trying to create a world more fair to everyone," he said. "To think of issues that face not just our local community but in other places as well."
