Hugh Boyd students use video and hallway displays to show reconciliation’s ripple effect

Students at Hugh Boyd Secondary in Richmond created a video and hallway displays in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The project was inspired by Leona Prince’s picture book, “Be a Good Ancestor.” Social justice teacher Michael Taylor said the book centres on cause and effect, or the “ripple effect of our actions.” Students and teachers read the book aloud in the video. Former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould and Prince also took part by recording clips of themselves reading excerpts.

“This year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation activities at Boyd emphasize the ripple effect that one small act of reconciliation can have on ourselves, our school community, our Richmond community and the broader world,” Taylor said in an email to Richmond News. One student-made hallway display focused on the Fraser River and its importance to the Musqueam Nation. Every Hugh Boyd student wrote one reconciliation commitment on a raindrop cutout and added it to the river display and school windows to demonstrate the “ripple effect” their action could have on others.

A second hallway display was made with help from Grade 6 and 7 students at Diefenbaker Elementary. It reads “Every Child Matters” and includes student-made pastel illustrations of the Fraser River basin and delta. Handprint cutouts of each student who took part were placed on the display. Taylor said the goal was to help students feel more confident about the actions they take on this topic in the future and teach them about the ripple effect of their actions.