Shannen and the Dream for a School
by Janet Wilson
Description:
Publisher's description (Second Story Press, 2011):
All children have the right to a school. This is the true story of Shannen Koostachin and the people of Attawapiskat, a Cree community in Northern Ontario, who have been fighting for a new school since 1979, when a fuel spill contaminated their original school building.
It is 2008, and thirteen-year-old Shannen and the other students at J.R. Nakogee Elementary are tired of attending class in portables that smell and don’t keep out the freezing cold winter air. They make a YouTube video describing the poor conditions, and their plea for a decent school gains them attention and support from community leaders and children across the country. Inspired, the students decide to turn their grade-eight class trip into a visit to Ottawa, to speak to the Canadian government. Once there, Shannen speaks passionately to the politicians about the need to give Native children the opportunity to succeed. The following summer, Shannen is nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize. Her passion and that of the other students makes politicians stand up and take notice, and becomes a rallying point for the community and for the country.
This book has received the Authentic Indigenous Text label as it is written by Janet Wilson with the participation and support of members of the Attawapiskat community.
Author biography (Second Story Press):
Janet Wilson is an author and fine artist. Her book, Shannen and the Dream for a School, was the winner of the First Nation Communities Read award in 2012, nominated for the Silver Birch Award from the Ontario Library Association 2013 and soon to be a TV movie. Her picture book, Our Earth: How kids are saving the planet, was the winner of the Science in Society Book Award, a finalist for the Silver Birch Express, and named a Smithsonian Notable Book for 2010. Janet lives in Eden Mills, Ontario, a community with a strong environmental focus that includes an initiative to be the first village in North America to go carbon neutral.
Resource format: Non-Fiction
Age recommendation: Grades 4 - 9
Keywords: activism, Shannen Koostachin, education, resilience, reserve, Attawapiskat, Cree, hope, fuel spill, human impact, politics, northern Canada, portables, learning environment, equality, equity, fairness, Ontario, community, Youtube, grass roots, care, Every Child Matters, power, voice, agency
Year of publication: 2011
Publisher information: Second Story Press
Teaching and Learning Ideas
Our team collaborated with new teachers, alumni of the Werklund School of Education’s Bachelor of Education program, to create teaching and learning plans for texts in this website. With audiences ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Post-Secondary, lesson plans across this resource address a wide range of school subject areas, inclusive approaches, and Indigenous education topics, such as the revitalization of Indigenous languages. As this website was designed with Undergraduate Programs in Education instructors, as well as teachers in mind, connections to UPE courses have been flagged on each lesson plan. These lessons are intended as a starting place for educators, to help you envision ways in which you might bring Indigenous literatures, as well as ways of knowing, being, and doing, into your teaching contexts. Please adapt, use, and share these lessons in ways that are generative for your teaching practice. We offer our sincere thanks to the dozens of new teachers who gifted us with these creative ideas!