February 8, 2005

Peel board students celebrate Black History Month

A wide variety of activities are taking place across the Peel District School Board to celebrate Black History month and commemorate the 400th anniversary of African and Caribbean communities arrival in Canada.

"Honouring Black History Month is a Peel board tradition that our staff and students look forward to each February," says Jim Grieve, director of education. "There are wonderful celebrations taking place across our board to help students deepen their understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. Celebrating the contributions of each of our culture and faith communities throughout the year is a cornerstone to the values of the Peel District School Board"

Students from grade 9 to 12 will gather to hear special guest Akwatu Khenti make a presentation on "African Canadian heritage – a historical perspective." The presentation is designed to foster appreciation and understanding for the tremendous diversity and inter-dependence of human culture and history, science and world civilization. The event will be held in the board room of the HJA Brown Education Centre on February 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The centre is located at 5650 Hurontario St. in Mississauga.

On February 23 students in grades 6-8 will have the opportunity to visit the International African Inventors Museum. The travelling museum is being hosted at Fallingbrook Middle School. The exhibit features inventions dating back to 1880. The museum will be open to Peel students from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Fallingbrook Middle School is located at 5187 Fallingbrook Drive in Mississauga.

Many Peel board schools are holding their own black history celebrations this month.

Mississauga's Credit Valley Public School grade 5 and 6 classes have been studying the development and purpose behind Spirituals in their music class and their connection to the underground railway. On February 7, a one-man play will be presented, based on the life of Alexander Ross, a Belleville doctor who made trips to the southern states in order to secretly give instructions to slaves on how to access the underground railway. As an in-class project, students will enact the part of escaping slaves, using their mapping skills to create escape routes, committing the directions to freedom in song, as was done hundreds of years ago.

Brampton's Bramalea Secondary School will be learning and celebrating through a variety of events throughout the month of February. The variety of events include a presentation of the history of hip-hop, an art exhibit, a guest speaking visit from Dwight Drummond, CITY-TV and a dance exhibit celebrating black culture. The month of celebrations will end with an assembly where students will sing, dance, read poetry and drum as they tell the story of slavery. Students will also hear from keynote speaker Dr. Wesley Crichlow of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

Great Lakes Public School in Brampton will be celebrating black history month with a gallery of black history. Each grade, as part of the schools' curriculum, will develop a display that will be shared with the entire school. Classes will answer trivia questions while touring the displays to help reiterate the learnings from these valuable presentations.

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Media contacts: Cheryl Muir, principal, Credit Valley Public School, 905-607-0770
John Chasty, principal, Bramalea Secondary School, 905-793-2400
Terry Griffiths, principal, Great Lakes Public School, 905-793-8532
Varsha Naik, Community Liaison Coordinator, PDSB, 905-890-1010 x 2573

Reference: Laura Patel, Communications Officer, 905-890-1010, ext. 2652