Happy Thanksgiving! We’re stuffing our newsletter with thanks for you! We hope you had a delicious and restful long weekend.
It’s been a busy first month of the school year and we would love to share what’s been going on at Be the Change this past month. Let’s Fall into it!
Truth and Reconciliation
Last month we honoured the lives and survivors of residential schools on Truth and Reconciliation day. Truth and Reconciliation day is an important day to educate ourselves and others and stand in solidarity with Indigenous people’s but this education, solidarity and action must continue throughout the year.
One way you can do this is by enrolling in an Indigenous Learning course. The Outdoor Learning Store offers a 4 Seasons of Indigenous Learning Course to support deepening your understanding of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives, encouraging more respectful and reciprocal relationships, and strengthening connections with the Land. Our staff participated in the course last year and are continuing with our learning this year, please join us! The course includes monthly virtual gatherings with 12 incredible Indigenous Presenters across Turtle Island. Registration is open until October 31st and you can use our discount code: CERT20 for 20% off!
Reconciliation is also a crucial subject to include in your curriculums. There are several resources available for K-12 educators, from educator-focused events, lesson plans, learning modules, and other resource guides which can be found here.
Plastic Pollution
Did you know that there are microscopic plastic pieces in the food we eat, water we drink, and air we breathe?
Microplastics typically are a result of the breakdown of plastics often made from chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS). These chemicals can mimic human hormones controlling processes like reproduction, growth and metabolism increasing risks to infertility, fetal development, and even cancer.
Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics is a landmark feature that chronicles humanity’s fraught relationship with plastic and one woman’s mission to expose shocking new revelations about the impact of microplastics on human health. The documentary was screened for delegates at the United Nations Plastic Treaty negotiations in Ottawa earlier this year after having its world premiere at SXSW film festival. Variety’s film critic Owen Gleiberman described Plastic People as “one of those essential state-of-our-world documentaries.” You can see the trailer here.
Together with curriculum writer and former science educator, Suzanne Methot, the Plastic People team has developed an interdisciplinary curriculum guide tailored for classes 7-12 that complements their documentary. The guide also contains a post-secondary piece for university and college educators. We believe that it would be a valuable addition to your educational programs.
Fill out this form if you are interested in reviewing the film as well as the curriculum guide and consider incorporating it into your 2024/25 program.
To supplement this wonderful film check out BTCEA’s Plastics Action Pack! It is a great resource for teaching students about how plastics impact our health and environment and diving deeper into the topic. The Action Pack explores sources of microplastics, harms to humans and actionable items to address issues.
If you have any questions about this topic or any of our other programs and/or resources feel free to reach out! Thank you for taking the time to read along, and we look forward to sharing more of our exciting programming throughout the rest of the school year!
Warmly,
Anna Tokunaga (she/her)
Executive Director
