School Name: BESS

School District: SD#91 Nechako Lakes

Inquiry Team Members: Jesse Kennedy: jkennedyburgoyne, Deborah Koehn, Jeanette Lapre, Margie Alec, Beth Milne

Inquiry Team Contact Email: jkennedyburgoyne@sd91.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Career Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Other: AB ED

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation)

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus is improving student engagement by using local knowledge and traditional activities.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Last year, we were able to interview all of our grade 3-12 students. We used the 4 key questions and learned that our students felt a deep connection to the school and the staff. This was a major win considering a few years back many students did not come to school and struggled to form connections. However, our scan revealed that nobody could describe what they were learning in a meaningful way.

Focus: We decided to focus on engagement because our students showed a considerable lack of interest and awareness into their school work. We decided to start by focusing explicitly on local knowledge and teachings because this is the #1 interest point for most of our students.

Hunch: We had a few hunches including that we were not yet doing a great job of showing students how their classroom learning could impact their lives. We also hypothesized that students were not able to see themselves applying the classroom teachings given a lack of opportunities in our local community, thus contributing to the lack of engagement.

Reflections for Year 1: We have learned that by bringing in local experts and emphasizing traditional teachings in our school, we could help improve engagement among our students and help them to develop their communication, thinking, and personal/social skills. One of the main successes was seeing the development of our drum group and our student leader. At the end of the year he lead us and a group of visiting students through our 2 songs. This was incredible development for this young man.

Plans for Year 2: Our goal for next year is to weave more local Indigenous knowledge and activities into our ‘academic’ activities to help boost engagement in their literacy and numeracy learning.

School Name: École Salish Secondary School

School District: SD#36 Surrey

Inquiry Team Members: haffner_m@surreyschools.ca, scott_lorne@surreyschools.ca, dhillon_jasmink@surreyschools.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: compton_l@surreyschools.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Other: Decolonized learning opportunities

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our inquiry centres on identifying strategies that cultivate a safe and supportive classroom community, emphasizing teacher collaboration, continuous learning growth, and the implementation of decolonized learning opportunities through the LEAP program.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: During our scanning process, we selected a male and female Indigenous student from each grade (8 – 12) who are in the LEAP program. We created a survey of the four key questions and had each student answer the questions. We collected the data and discussed the student responses as a team. From the scanning process we learned that many of the students have felt connected to their teachers, but not to what they are learning about and how they are learning.

These students were given an additional survey directly connected to questions about LEAP – an interdisciplinary learning program focused on the diverse needs of all learners.

Focus: We are focusing on the success rates of students in the LEAP program, with particular attention to the elements that support learners and foster growth. We believe that by incorporating decolonized learning opportunities, we can enhance student engagement and increase overall success.

Hunch: Student engagement in learning is on the decline. With instant access to information at their fingertips, students are becoming less inclined to engage deeply with traditional instructional methods. As a result, teachers face increasing pressure to make lessons more dynamic and relevant. Today’s students are natural multitaskers who thrive when given opportunities for hands-on, experiential learning. These interactive approaches not only pull students away from their devices but also promote deeper involvement with the material and stronger skill development.

Reflections for Year 1: This year, we’ve discovered that students are eager for meaningful and engaging learning experiences. They respond enthusiastically to place-based learning and often welcome the chance to step outside the traditional classroom setting. Many of the hands-on, place-based opportunities offered through LEAP challenge conventional educational models and reflect more decolonized approaches to learning. When students are able to demonstrate growth through these experiences, it reinforces the value of continuing to create and expand such opportunities. We’ve also seen that strong relationships—between students and their peers, as well as with their teachers—are the foundation of a positive and thriving learning environment.

Photo Description: 1) Cultural snowshoe at Grouse Mountain, 2) Visit to Vancouver Aquarium wet lab for Science, and 3) Heppell Potato Farm – students harvested potatoes then took them back to the plant for processing and packaging. Click to enlarge images.

Plans for Year 2: Next year, we will continue to follow the students who remain in the LEAP program, while welcoming two new Grade 8 students to replace the graduating Grade 12s. Our data collection will span a two-year period and include attendance records from both LEAP and other classes, survey results, academic reports, and anecdotal insights gathered from student interviews and conversations. The LEAP team will also continue to offer engaging, place-based learning experiences to explore how these opportunities contribute to increased student success.

School Name: Twain Sullivan Elementary School

School District: SD#54 Bulkley Valley

Inquiry Team Members: Brittany Huson: Brittany.Huson@sd54.bc.ca
Cindy Pottinger: C.Pottinger@sd54.bc.ca
Mary Neto: Mary.Neto@sd54.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: Mary.Neto@sd54.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Mathematics / Numeracy

Focus Addressed: Self-regulation, Other: social emotional; sense of belonging

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Implementing the direct teaching of social skills and the creation of lunchtime social activity groups will build a sense of belonging and diverse social connections in the larger school community.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning:

• Completed personal interviews to have student voice and understand student perspectives.
• When we completed our scanning, we focused on basic needs:
  • Are they hungry? We offer a breakfast, snack and lunch program. Students are able to ask for sandwiches throughout the day.
  • Are they tired? Students used the medical room or Indigenous support room to rest or nap if necessary. What emotions are they feeling? (body language) Students would become angry and slam doors, cry, yell and throw things. Safety plans were necessary for some students.
  • How are they communicating? (verbal and non-verbal communication) Students would often ignore adults or answer a question with a sigh, scream or negative behaviour. Some students would seek out time alone or become above baseline/agitated.
  • Who are they socializing with? The students had a group of peers with similar socio-economic backgrounds. They were unfriendly to other students and kept to themselves. They were not open to having others join them or to join in with others.
  • What adults are they connected with? Limited. Some spent time with the Indigenous Support Worker. Some staff felt intimidated to redirect or interact with these students.
  • Are they regularly attending school? Generally, the students regularly attend.

Focus: To provide structure for social times at school and give the students social skills so that they could expand their social circles and have a sense of belonging at school. We selected this area because we noticed that we could better support students to be connected to a wider group of peers.

Hunch:

• not having high expectations for all students
• noticing that the students played separately from the rest of the student body, but didn’t take action to improve this
• unconscious bias of staff

Reflections for Year 1: We learned that the following are imperative…

• Checking our own unconscious biases and privilege
• Checking with families before providing supports rather than assuming it is needed
• Having high expectations for our learners
• Providing professional learning for all staff (teachers and support staff)
• As trust is developed and students share with us, we honor that trust and act where needed
• Aiming for systemic change, exploring this idea/goal

Through taking the following actions, we learned that students became more connected to adults and peers. We know this because we observed them being more engaged in activities and choosing other peers during recess and lunch. It would have been beneficial to ask the eight students the 4 questions at the end of the school year in-order to compare their responses.

The following actions were taken:

• Personal schedules with adult support during unstructured play time and social emotional supports
• Modeling social skills by adults
• Lunch clubs with peers (drumming, basketball, sewing, music, chess)
• Introduced cultural perspectives (learning through modelling)
• Regular TEK (Traditional Ecological Knowledge) Whole School Days (seasonally)
• Visuals for learning
• Regulation (sensory room, sensory tools)
• Purposeful relationship building
• Connecting families with community supports
• Communication with families (asking permission from parents before providing support, not assuming family’s needs)
• Checking our own biases
• Weekly cultural learning in each classroom by Indigenous Support Worker
• New male Indigenous Support Worker, supporting his learning and growth
• Brain aligned discipline
• Looping students in classes so that they have repeated years with the same teacher

Plans for Year 2:

• Transition plans for students going to high school and coming into Twain as grade fours
• Continuous scanning to update action plans
• Updating data interviews to identify areas that are working and areas needing support and plans
• Involving students in their learning (Personal Responsibility- decision making)
• Including district core values (compassion, honesty, respect, responsibility and fairness) when modeling and teaching social skills more directly to the students we are tracking
• Ask 4 questions at the beginning and end of the school year

School Name: Prince Rupert Middle School

School District: SD#52 Prince Rupert

Inquiry Team Members: Kerri Levelton: kerri.levelton@sd52.bc.ca
Lori Leighton: lori.leighton@sd52.bc.ca

Missy Trimble: missy.trimble@sd52.bc.ca

Salomon Garcia: salomon.garcia@sd52.bc.ca

Leslie Barton: leslie.barton@sd52.bc.ca

Natasha Brown: natasha.brown@sd52.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: kerri.levelton@sd52.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Land, Nature or Place-based learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To build relationships so students LOVE being at school and this will improve their attendance.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We had our learners at the center of our scanning process. We noticed that some students need to gain more confidence in themselves. We noticed that some students don’t want to be at school because they struggle with academics and/or social connections. We noticed that some students were allowed to stay home from school.

We focused on attendance data.

We learned that we needed to develop some small group activities that focused on culture and gave students a space to be themselves outside of their classrooms.

Focus: We focused on attendance by providing small group fun activities to promote this (drumming, girls group, leadership group).

We hoped to change their attendance by supporting rapport and building stronger connections with adults and students in small social settings.

Hunch: Some of our students are allowed to stay home from school. We wanted to give them a reason to be at school by providing them with opportunities to engage in some fun, while providing a safe space with food and activities to support them.

This way they can tell their families that they want to be at school as they might miss out.

This included:

• Drumming at lunch (twice a week)
• Girls Group: making food, crafts, sewing skirts, playing games, etc. (once a week)
• Leadership Group: lead school activities, planned and judged our School Spirit Days, fundraised for school activities, some travelled to Haida Gw’aii, etc.

Reflections for Year 1: Having small groups with different activities has given students an opportunity to find themselves. We have had quiet, non-engaged students join drumming and perform in front of our whole school. We have had students from our leadership group welcome us to the territory in Sm’algyax language. We have had students design ribbon skirts.

Plans for Year 2: Increase the number of students by providing more activities. Use student voice to continue to lead these activities (focus discussions, surveys).

School Name: Southern Okanagan Secondary School

School District: SD#53 Okanagan Similkameen

Inquiry Team Members: Cam Adam cadam@sd53.bc.ca
Brad Burns bburns@sd53.bc.ca
Bev Young byoung@sd53.bc.ca
Naryn Searcy nsearcy@sd53.bc.ca

Tracy Harrington has retired.

Inquiry Team Contact Email: cadam@sd53.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Other: Attendance

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Through the lens of First Peoples Principles of Learning and listening to student voice, would culturally responsive teaching practices improve the attendance of our Indigenous On-Reserve students?

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: District-wide data reveals a noticeable attendance gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Similarly, our success planning meetings highlight attendance as an ongoing concern across the district. Insights from our Empathy Interviews suggest a variety of factors contributing to this issue. To address these concerns, we are actively partnering with our local band to foster collaboration and solutions. Our ongoing scanning process is focused on uncovering the root causes of the attendance gap. This process has prompted us to reflect on our own teaching practices and implicit biases, exploring how they may influence attendance patterns. Additionally, we are prioritizing community engagement as a key area of focus, recognizing its significant impact on attendance and student success.

Focus:

• Implicit Bias and Micro-Aggressions: Addressing tone of voice, communication styles, and subtle biases that may impact student and family relationships.
• White Supremacy and Privilege: Reflecting on institutional structures and practices that may marginalize Indigenous students.
• Family Communication: Building stronger, more respectful, and culturally sensitive communication channels with families.
• Knowing Their Stories: Taking the time to understand the unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives of Indigenous students.
• Creating a Welcoming Environment: Ensuring all students feel seen, valued, and safe in our schools.
• Trauma-Informed Practices: Applying a trauma-informed lens to support students holistically.
• Principles of Learning: Embracing principles such as holistic, reflective learning and recognizing the impact of our actions on students.
• Building Relationships and Trust: Fostering meaningful connections with students and their families to create a foundation of mutual respect and understanding.
• Through this focused effort, we aim to create a more inclusive and supportive learning environment that directly addresses the attendance gap and contributes to the success of our Indigenous students.

Hunch: There are factors within SOSS that are impacting Indigenous student attendance. Our empathy interviews have led us to examine bias, privilege, and cultural sensitivity among our staff. Our empathy interviews indicate that these factors are impacting the feeling of belonging for the Indigenous students at SOSS.

Reflections for Year 1:

• There are many factors that impact attendance of Indigenous students at SOSS.
• Students identified home factors outside of their control that impact their attendance.
• Students identified the bias of teachers as impacting their experience at school. This has caused us to look inwards at how professional learning can help us to create a more welcoming environment for Indigenous students.
• There is a disconnect among staff in the philosophy of Indigenous education and some of the practices happening within the school.
• We have a unique opportunity to build a stronger relationship with OIB. OIB has reached out with similar questions they are exploring around attendance of OIB students. This presents us with a unique opportunity to work together on this project. This is aligning with district work on a new LEA with OIB.

Plans for Year 2:

• Continued focus on staff learning and development around Indigenous ways of knowing, privilege, bias and local cultural protocols. Discussion within staff on how to create a more welcoming environment for Indigenous students.
• Continuing to work with OIB to work on this project collaboratively.
• Continuing to work with OIB and district schools to provide opportunities for students to learn in different learning models (YouLearn, work experience, language classes, etc.)

School Name: Charles Hays Secondary School

School District: SD#52 Prince Rupert

Inquiry Team Members: Karina Anderson: Karina.Anderson@sd52.bc.ca
Vania Ling: Vania.Ling@sd52.bc.ca
Billy Nelson: Billy.Nelson@sd52.bc.ca
Kelly Blow: Kelly.Blow@sd52.bc.ca
Raegan Sawka: Raegan.Sawka@sd52.bc.ca
Kelli Clifton: Kelli.Clifton@sd52.bc.ca
Tina Robinson: Tina.Robinson@sd52.bc.ca
Coretta O’Brien: Coretta.O’Brien@sd52.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: carla.rourke@sd52.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Career Education, Mathematics / Numeracy, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Land, Nature or Place-based learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How are we facilitating student confidence, sense of belonging, leadership, voice, and positive personal identity?

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: We scanned 124 students in grades 10-12 through a combination of questionnaires and a small group interview to gain insight to how they felt about feeling safe, a sense of belonging, and connection in school. We wanted to know their thoughts on opportunities to grow their confidence, leadership, voice, and explore their identity at CHSS.

Focus: Through the scanning process we determined we wanted to focus more broadly in this 3-year IEII study than our previous transitions inquiry. We wanted to explore how we are facilitating student leadership to enhance our school community as a place where students feel welcomed, part of leading school-wide events, and belonging to the cultural fabric of CHSS.

We distilled this down to: “How are we facilitating student confidence, sense of belonging, leadership, voice, and positive personal identity?”

The changes we were hoping for our learners were to move away from the educator-led clubs, events, land-based educational initiatives to a more student-driven model that we could learn alongside and support through facilitation.

Hunch: Our hunch was if we grow strong student leadership towards the goals of belonging, confidence, voice, and strong cultural identity, it would create momentum that could be passed down to future students, thus increasing the sustainability of the model. It would be more powerful coming out of the learners vision for our school community.

Reflections for Year 1: It was more astonishing than we could have anticipated. There was a surge of student-led groups such as the Git Waas Drummers, the ongoing Young Matriarchs group, and this year the annual Welcoming Luulgit (Feast) was almost entirely student-led. Parallel to this were student outdoor groups, leadership clubs, and regular equity-based school-wide learning events. The coalescence of these efforts had a synergistic result. The confidence, leadership, and sense of belonging rippled through the building amongst the student body.

Plans for Year 2: We want to grow and expand along the same lines as this year. We are excited that the student leadership is equal through the grade cohorts so there will be ample opportunity for learner to learner mentorship going forth. Additional educators who facilitated similar themed projects this year are interested in collaborating on IEII next year. We believe there will be a wonderful cross-pollination of inquiry and ideas.

School Name: Lakes District Secondary School

School District: SD#91 Nechako Lakes

Inquiry Team Members: Cheryl Peterson: cpeterson@sd91.bc.ca
Steven Little: slittle@sd91.bc.ca
Amy Dash: adash@sd91.bc.ca
Antheia Gibson: agibson@sd91.bc.ca
Deb Koehn: dkoehn@sd91.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: dkoehn@sd91.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Career Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Land, Nature or Place-based learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Developing student and community voice and agency in ways that allow for Indigenous students and community members to be authentic change makers and change leaders in their school.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Our scanning process was complex as initiators realized that educators would benefit by viewing learning through a different lens, not only through the lens of educator, but also the lens of students and Indigenous community members. The First Peoples Principles of Learning plays an important role in this inquiry as staff weaves together the tapestry of curriculum and the hopes, dreams and expectations of learning from community and students. Educators saw examples throughout the year of students’ leadership and influence and pondered ways to make this strength a key component of moving forward while working to ensure a safe environment where all voices are heard. We are learning that students’ visions of success don’t always align with educators’ and communities’ visions and we are working to find common ground on which we can build success together. As inquirers, we are learning that creating positive change can be very challenging and there is a real need to develop a common purpose amongst all stakeholders. In this complex community, developing the common goals, values and beliefs is crucial to success. After much discussion and consultation with stakeholders, the school is ready to participate in a scanning focus in September. Questions have been developed and the tool is ready to be launched.

Focus: We chose to focus on student voice and agency with a focus of local cultural and traditional knowledge. We acknowledge that there are bursts of brilliance and leadership from the students – whether planning a gala to celebrate Indigenous identity or creating a health fair that included local resources to inform members of the student body of local health services and how to access resources when needed. Students constantly demonstrated their power and ability in a variety of unconnected ways.

We hoped to create strength in our education community through co-creation and co-planning of learning, beginning with cultural learning. LDSS is offering a cultural class in the coming year and we are hoping for students and community voice to help with the co-planning. This has already started, with a round table of the six Indigenous community members discussing and offering support for the upcoming class, infusing cultural similarities and differences into learning opportunities. Students will be involved, co-planning will be part of the learning process. We are hoping that having voice and agency will strengthen students’ feelings of belonging and identity and this will be reflected in increased participation in other areas of the school community. We are truly hoping that the success of this program will encourage all students to be more active in sharing their voice.

Hunch: We are still compensating for the effects of Covid, especially on our Indigenous communities. It has been difficult to maintain rigorous academic expectations when we are faced with the ongoing long absences of students. Communities are regaining their vitality as economic opportunities are being presented. These communities need educated citizens to make well informed decisions.

Another huge contributing factor is the number of educators working on Letters of Permission within this end of the school district. We see the effects of untrained, though well-meaning practice, on the academic growth of our students. Quality education for all students, particularly Indigenous students has been a district focus for a number of years and we need well-trained, inquiry based educators.

We have made inroads in isolated classrooms but need to have a whole school focus and include more student and community consultation. Our Indigenous communities still face racial biases and injustices through daily interactions and we are wondering how we are developing skills strengths and strategies in our students – not just to succeed in the school environment, but in a wider world. We are looking to build compassion, empathy, knowledge and strength for all community members.

Reflections for Year 1: It was an interesting year of learning – with constant change within the school environment. Educators committed to the inquiry found it difficult to commit time and energy when emergent daily crises took precedent, with accompanying trauma for educators, students and communities. A big question arose: How do we move from a community that responds to one that is able to respond and still direct daily, focused attention on valued goals and beliefs? When energy, time and attention is pulled from the inquiry, momentum is lost but this is a small staff that is stretched to create positive experiences. More time and energy needs to be spent on developing a deeper understanding of the Spiral of Inquiry and continuing to promote educator learning.

Plans for Year 2:

• gather a larger team of committed educators, set regular meeting times and arrange for monthly updates to be included in staff meetings
• continue working with team of local Indigenous community members
• call together a group of recent graduates to discuss ways to grow
• ensure students understand the goal of this inquiry and ways that they can contribute
• involve our District Aboriginal Principal
• continue to focus on student/educator/community well-being (it is hard to flourish when you are struggling to find emotional energy needed to support others)
• bring a lot of attention to this inquiry

School Name: Similkameen Elementary Secondary School

School District: SD#53 Okanagan Similkameen

Inquiry Team Members: Sarah Browning: sbrownin@sd53.bc.ca
Katie Anderson: kanderson@sd53.bc.ca
Jessica Stelkia: jstelkia@sd53.bc.ca
Brianna Whitney: bwhitney@sd53.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: ssmith@sd53.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Mathematics / Numeracy, Science

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Self-regulation

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How will effectively implementing culturally responsive pedagogy impact the mental wellness of Indigenous students, ensuring alignment with their cultural identities, traditional knowledge, and community values?

This inquiry seeks to explore strategies that prioritize Indigenous perspectives, foster resilience, and promote a sense of belonging within educational and support systems.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Our initial survey in November asked variations of the 4 key questions. 68%, or 43 out of 64 self-identified Indigenous students, could name two or more specific adults within the building who believed they would be successful. Similarly, those students who were spoken to during empathy interviews were able to name multiple adults who believed they would be a success. Many of those individuals named were members of the IEA team and EA/support staff members. 47.4% of the 232 students surveyed could not see the connection between what they were learning and their future. In an empathy interview when asked, “What would make learning more interesting or relevant to you?” A grade 10 student responded with the following: “Learning new things and more about my culture types.”

Focus: Across the data, both the survey and empathy interviews, several key themes emerged: social emotional, needs for personalization and flexibility, and a general frustration with the school system. Students repeatedly expressed the need for teachers, EAs, and schools to provide encouragement, kindness, and understanding, especially during challenging times. Stress, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion were recurring themes in students’ responses, highlighting a critical need for mental health support and accommodations. They also voiced the need for individualized support, autonomy and space, as well as the need to work at their own pace or handle challenges independently. A desire for engaging interest-driven activities was also important for students.

There was also a general dissatisfaction with the school system. Students feel dissatisfied and frustrated with certain teaching styles, lack of clarity in instructions, or insufficient support from teachers. The institutional nature of school, including rigid routines and a perceived lack of flexibility, contributes to students feeling bored or disengaged. And, many students mention feeling overwhelmed by the workload or the pace of lessons, suggesting a need for balance between academic rigor and well-being.

Hunch: We wonder if some of our current school structures and teaching practices may not be fully supporting the social-emotional and learning needs of our students. We’re noticing that when students feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or unheard, it may be linked to a lack of flexibility, personalization, and emotional support. We have a hunch that by creating more compassionate, responsive, and student-centered learning environments—where students feel safe, understood, and able to work at their own pace—we can foster greater well-being, engagement, and a stronger sense of belonging.

Reflections for Year 1: So far in this inquiry cycle, we have learned that while many students do feel connected to adults in the building, they most often identify support staff—such as EAs, IEAs, and counsellors—as their primary sources of connection and support. It’s clear that students are not only able to articulate what they need to improve their educational experience, but are also highly aware of what supports their mental health and well-being. Although we are a trauma-informed staff that deeply cares about our students, there seems to be a disconnect between this care and our everyday teaching practices. Our pedagogy and classroom structures may not yet fully reflect the understanding and flexibility that students need. Many students are feeling overwhelmed and stressed by school, which suggests that we need to more intentionally align our instructional approaches with the relational and emotional support we strive to provide.

Plans for Year 2: ChatGPT said:
Based on what we’ve learned, our next steps will focus on bridging the gap between our trauma-informed values and our daily teaching practices. We plan to explore ways to embed more flexibility, personalization, and student voice into our pedagogy—ensuring that our classroom environments reflect the same care and responsiveness students experience with support staff. This may include co-creating classroom norms with students, incorporating regular check-ins, providing more opportunities for choice and autonomy, and adjusting workload or pacing to reduce stress. Additionally, we will engage in professional learning that deepens our understanding of how trauma-informed principles can directly shape instructional strategies, so that our students not only feel supported emotionally, but also academically empowered.

School Name: Smithers Secondary School

School District: SD#54 Bulkley Valley

Inquiry Team Members: Julie Krall: jkrall@sd54.bc.ca, Helen Erickson: helen.erickson@sd54.bc.ca, Talia Choy: talia.choy@sd54.bc.ca, Matthew Perry: matthew.perry@sd54.bc.ca, Karlie Lynch: karlie.lynch@sd54.bc.ca, Travis Hebert: travis.hebert@sd54.bc.ca .

Inquiry Team Contact Email: jkrall@sd54.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: Indigenous Education Impact Initiative

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Career Education, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing, Physical & Health Education

Focus Addressed: Indigenous Focus (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Land, Nature or Place-based learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? The focus of this project is restructuring the delivery of the CLE and CLC courses to prioritize a successful bridging to post-graduation life.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Our scanning effort was focused on two student populations; students in grades 10, 11 and 12 attending the Bulkley Valley Learning Centre and Interdisciplinary Studies at Smithers Secondary School. Many are Indigenous students living away from their home communities and disconnected from their cultural support systems. We felt our Indigenous learners would benefit from, or be engaged by, an experiential, holistic graduation transitions program. This would provide opportunities to strengthen their ties to the land, community, and culture. We did a scanning survey with all of the students in January 2025. We were able to ask students about aspects of the pathways so that we had more concrete information for planning.

Focus: We noticed that many of our students who live off reserve in Smithers and Telkwa and are in vulnerable living situations (poverty and homelessness) work hard to graduate, but once they graduate, they do not have an independent plan that they can follow to become productive and connected citizens in their communities. The focus of this project is restructuring the delivery of the CLE and CLC courses to prioritize a successful bridging to post-graduation life.

Hunch: One of the practices at the school and school district are the online CLE and CLC courses. These courses are separated from students’ other studies and are not connected to our community, to the land and are generic in nature. Another practice that may have been contributing to the experience of our learners is a semester course in grade 10 and a semester course in grade 12 vs. a methodically delivered course delivered over 3 years connected to community and place. Also including staff that are familiar with students’ work for 3 years.

Collaboration: Met with team and discussed our hunches to create an initial vision for the three years to come.

In-person experiences: Student voice – To test our hunch, we conducted a student survey, to gather baseline information and provide insight on learners’ knowledge, skills, attitudes and connections (school based, familial, and community wide). Survey questions focused on financial literacy, health habits, extracurricular activities, community connection, career plans, and general life skills. Additionally, student voice was garnered through regular check-ins before and after planned learning activities, such as the Employer Living Library.

Reflections for Year 1:
New professional learning:

• Collaboration of the team with BVLC, SSS and ABED and learning more in depth about our community, our land, and our place so that tasks are meaningful connected to students’ experiences and place. We had to increase our knowledge of our community, services, and instructional practices and to plan and to facilitate events like an employer living library and a health services scavenger hunt.
• Influenced by the goals and rationale in the Career Education rationale.
• Identifying aspects of a graduate – based on the Career Life Education Curriculum.
• 3-year co-current courses – working on capstone projects for 3 years.
• Collaborated with place – designed experiences that are unique to our community and place.

Checking:

• Students are naming and describing their pathways – this is my education pathway, my employment pathway, my independent living pathway…etc.
• Students are advocating and asking for support.
• Students are planning ahead (students in grade 11 reading requirements for scholarships).
• Students in grade 11 putting together their plan for grade 12.
• Students were able to secure employment after the employer living library.
• Increased engagement demonstrated by students.
• Respectful and mature participation in the in-person event.
• Increased level of maturity and respect.
• We applied the seven learning principles from the conclusion of The Nature of Learning in the overall planning of this three-year project. They are all reflected through the 3 main elements of this project: the instructional approach and the curriculum design, the planning and delivery of the experiences, and students’ personal transition plans.
• Transition planning tools – for example – https://findsupportbc.com/timeline/
• Digital portfolios that students use to document their learning journeys and become a tool that they can use after graduation.
• Ways to facilitate place-based learning experience.
• Taking time as teachers and individuals to develop a sense of place.
• Building local knowledge of the historical and current connections between our communities in and beyond the Bulkley Valley.

Photo Description: Employer Living Library Event summary
Date: Wednesday Feb 12th
Time: 11:00 – 1:00pm
Location: Coast Mountain College Campus, Smithers BC

Students Participating: Students in grades 10-12 that are enrolled in Interdisciplinary Studies at Smithers Secondary School or classes at the Bulkley Valley Learning Centre at Coast Mountain Collage.
Event description: Students will have the opportunity to speak to employers and organizations in the Bulkley Valley about employment, education and training, and/or volunteer opportunities. Students will sit with employers in small groups (approx 3-4 students) and representatives will:
· Share information about the business / industry that they are representing as well as their role in their organization.
· Share information about their personal journey (education, training, work experience) so that students can hear about many possible pathways.
· Share information about possible employment, services, and/or volunteer opportunities with their organization and requirements for those opportunities.
· Review students’ resumes and/or cover letters and provide students will some feedback about their employment documentation. They will give each student ‘two stars and a wish’.
Students attending the event will be responsible to:
· Attend 3 table conversations with 3 different employers / representatives.
· Bring a completed resume and cover letter to share with employers / representatives.
· Complete a short response page that they can hand in to be entered in the draw for door prizes.
Employers/representatives that are attending can choose to:
· Be one of our living library employers / representatives and speak with small groups of students throughout the event.
· Have a table that students can visit before or after small table conversations.
· Let us know if there is another way that they would like to participate in this event.
We are asking if employer / representatives can:
· Confirm attendance by Friday Feb 7th
· Provide a little information about their business / organization in advance. This information will be provided for students so they can select their table groups

Plans for Year 2: Year one was a good start, but we have more work to do to develop pathways with more concrete details and options. It took a long time and some students were helped more than others. We needed to work through the process to learn how to make it more possible, efficient and effective. We plan to work on creating a physical portfolio with students’ employment documents, transcripts, records, etc. with a digital storage included.

We planned but did not complete our health services tour and our independent housing tour in the Bulkley Valley. Our students ahead of the grads of last year, and we are curious to see where our current grade 10 students will be. Events will be easier to plan and execute. We have built staff capacity.

Good start, but more work to do to develop pathways with more concrete details, and options. It took a long time and some students were helped more than others. We needed to work through the process to learn how to make it more possible, efficient and effective. We plan to work on creating a physical portfolio with students’ employment documents, transcripts, records, etc. with a digital storage included.