Ville Emard high school finds novel way to honour residential school victims
A Ville Emard alternative high school is used to doing things differently, and they kept to that spirit while honouring children whose remains were found on the site of a former residential school in British Columbia.
On Thursday, Options High School held a special memorial for the 215 children. Getting down and dirty in the school yard, they did 215 burpees, together in unison, to symbolize getting up off the ground for those who couldn’t.
The students said they imagined it was a tiny glimpse of the struggle and suffering those young students endured decades ago.
“The burpee requires you get down to the ground and then to rise-up and what we want to today, in honouring these 215 children is we want to rise for those forced down, we want to speak for voices that were stolen and we want to change their history, we want it to live on, instead of being buried," said Jason Gannon, a teacher and the event’s co-organizer. “Somebody tried to erase them from history. They were abused, malnourished, starved and buried.”
Gannon came up with this plan with his student, Casey Bossum, whose family is Cree and hails from the James Bay area. Bossum's paternal grandmother was traumatized at a residential school.
Although Bossum was shy to tell the story to all his classmates, his father, John, did.
“When I heard about these 215 bodies, I cried right away thinking, 'What if it was my son?'" said John Bossum with tears in his eyes.
Though his mother survived the residential school, her trauma bled into her family.
“I've never known love, my mom never loved me, my mother never embraced me, hugged me or kissed me or enouraged me," the elder Bossum told the high school students.
He also talked about his own time at a school in Chibaugamau during the 1970s.
“I remember that principal came to me and she said 'By the time we're done, we're going to make you forget about your language,'" he said.
Fueled by the emotion in the Bossum family story, Options High School students and staff hit the pavement and did the 215 burpees together to the beat of a First Nations drum.
Now, the challenge is to get other schools across Canada to host their own #215Burpee events, to help keep the memory alive and pay tribute to the victims who have yet to be found ..
As John Bossum said between tears, “The truth needs to be told and needs to be heard.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian gov't proposes new foreign influence registry as part of wide-spanning new bill
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is proposing a suite of new measures and law changes aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada, amid extensive scrutiny over past meddling attempts and an ever-evolving threat landscape.
Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed
The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing's new Starliner space capsule was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical issue that launch teams were unable to resolve in time for the planned Monday night lift-off.
Teacher charged in historical sexual assault of Calgary teenage girl
Calgary police have charged a teacher with the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl more than 20 years ago.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Newfoundland and Labrador latest province to tighten rules on Airbnbs
Newfoundland and Labrador is the latest jurisdiction to bring in stricter rules for short-term rentals, with a coming set of regulations that will force operators to register with the provincial government.