Indigenous Lodge gives Eastview students ‘representation of self’ within school – Barrie Today

Nov. 21, 2024

‘It’s a space where students are free to express themselves and are free from harm and discrimination,’ says Grade 11 student

The room itself may be only 646 square feet, but the feelings of acceptance, representation and culture it has contained within its four walls over this school year is much bigger.

Staff and students at Eastview Secondary School in Barrie’s northeast end officially welcomed the opening of an Indigenous Lodge late last spring.

And as the awareness of its existence has grown, so has the number of students using the space on a daily basis, said Shyanne Woodcock, an Indigenous graduation coach with the Simcoe County District School Board and a member of Curve Lake First Nation.

“It’s been very much a success,” Woodcock told BarrieToday. “A lot of my students have accessed it daily and multiple times a day … for food, cultural support, one-to-one support, academic support … Whatever they need to on that day.”

Read More: https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/indigenous-lodge-gives-students-representation-of-self-within-school-walls-9826154