Hello Maple Run Community,
Last winter, we decided to join the Missisquoi Valley School District, Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union, and Grand Isle Supervisory Union to be in school on Indigenous Peoples Day to celebrate and educate our community about the importance of the Abenaki to our local culture and history. We intend to start small this year and grow it into our curriculum across all of our schools.
At each school, there are different activities to help teach the students about the local influence of the Abenaki on our history. In some of the schools, we have teachers integrating this into individual lessons for the day and others with multi-day learning opportunities and community-based work. For example, at Northwest Career & Technical Center, our Outdoor Technology class is delivering a unit that has essential questions such as:
- What are the indigenous groups of the Northeast and Vermont?
- How was their way of life influenced by the outside world?
- How was Vermont’s culture affected by Indigenous history and the environment?
- How did local Indigenous groups survive the outside world?
These questions are the focus of lessons at other schools as well. We have partnered with Franklin-Grand Isle Indian Education and Jeff Benay to bring into our schools an Abenaki educator to work with teachers at St. Albans Town Educational Center. These are just two examples of many different educational opportunities in each school.
Recognizing and honoring Indigenous Peoples Day is essential to fostering cultural sensitivity, inclusivity, and respect within our educational institution and community. By keeping schools open on this day, we have a valuable opportunity to educate our students about the heritage, struggles, and achievements of Indigenous peoples and the ongoing challenges they face.
Sincerely,
Bill Kimball
Superintendent of Schools