Creating a Sense of Inclusion and Diversity at School

Posted On Thursday May 23, 2019
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Motivational speaker and human rights strategist Chris D’souza encourages Applecroft PS students to sing along with him at the first ever Applecroft PS Diversity Day.

Applecroft Public School hosts its first ever Diversity Day

“The most important thing we want is for our students to feel safe and included at school,” says Janet Robinson, Vice-Principal of Applecroft Public School in Ajax.

Robinson led the charge in organizing the school’s first ever Diversity Day with the help of Principal Ryan Pittman, staff, and students.

Hosted at the school on May 1st, the day began with a performance and inspiring chat with motivational speaker and human rights strategist Chris D’souza. He covered topics such as respecting another person’s cultural food, Indigenous rights, and how important it is for everyone to learn about all the different people in the world. “Nobody is exactly like you. Your identity comes from you, not from what other people think you are,” says D’souza.

Students sang along to an original song by D’souza entitled I Want You To Be Nice To Me and jammed along with Dr. Roberta Bondar PS Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Shanna Kelly as she played the steelpan drum.

Each class took on a cultural or religious background and decorated the room with flags, artifacts, and activities that correspond to that background. The diverse classrooms were chosen based on a poll indicating the backgrounds of students at Applecroft PS.

Cultural Exploration

The cultural or religious classrooms included: Scotland, Pakistan, Muslim, Hindu, Indigenous, African-Caribbean, and more. Additional rooms that covered diversity outside of culture and religion included Global STEM (with information on STEM professionals from around the world), LGBTQ, and Autism.

In the afternoon, students in kindergarten to Grade 8 from Applecroft PS, Terry Fox PS, and Dr. Roberta Bondar PS rotated through the classrooms, discovering and learning about people different from themselves. 

The activity in the Scotland room had students create a tartan design based on their own individual heritage. In the Hindu room, students viewed Hindu artifacts and pictures of various Hindu gods and goddesses with an explanation of each.

There was also a classroom where students could try their hand at playing the djembe drum, a traditional West African instrument.

Students even created a “Diversity Tree” along the wall at the front entrance of the school. The tree is made up of 320 little coloured circles (which represent the 320 students at Applecroft PS), and each circle has a student name on it. Pittman and Robinson say the tree exemplifies the great diversity that makes up their school.

Pittman adds that Applecroft PS chose to host a Diversity Day because, “It sets the stage for honouring and understanding those that they [students] will encounter throughout their lives.”