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: 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 District: SD#53 Okanagan Similkameen

Inquiry Team Members: Rachelle Goncalves rgoncalv@sd53.bc.ca
Tracy Harrington tharrington@sd53.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Transitions (focus on Indigenous learner transitions)

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Other: School Community, School Culture, Indigenous Understandings, Reconciliation

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, Transitions

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Ultimately our focus emerged as determining the needs of Priority Students, developing a plan for addressing these student needs, and ensuring that our team had a systematic plan to help all of our students by attempting to reduce and eliminate barriers and provide more culturally inclusive events.

Scanning: What needs are considered critical for these students? How can we, as the school community, support these Priority Students to ensure physical and emotional wellness? (additional Indigenous counselling; working closely with the Band to provide additional supports – Sonya coming on Fridays for academic and SEL support)

What barriers are in place? How do we identify and minimize the barriers that are in place due to cultural and family considerations? (lack of technology/ WiFi, food disparity, intergenerational trauma affecting families who have not started the healing process yet)

How can we determine a student’s individual sense of academic success, and then help guide and support them in reaching this goal? (recognize success is different for everyone; allow different ways to show success; allowing more time; never giving up on them as we know that sometimes we don’t see the change until much later…. sometimes years later)

• Success might be getting the counselling they need so that eventually they will be able to focus on school.
• Success might be elbow bumping kids for doing something awesome or phoning parents when a Priority student passes all their classes when there was some concern that they weren’t going to.
• We are tracking 5 & 6 year completion rates of our learners; paying more attention to this is having a positive impact on our learners.
• Now there is more focus on grade 7 to 8 transitions as well – more 1:1 time and multiple meetings to connect with the community and parents.
• Make all kids feel like they belong – more cultural activities including the whole school (i.e. Red Dress Day, Orange Shirt Day, June Indigenous Month) and doing language every day.
• More understanding for staff and students around Truth and Reconciliation – through Professional Development (i.e. guest speakers, Knowledge Keepers – Helen speaking at Staff Meeting, and Anona Kampe speaking to S.S. classes.

Focus: Our focus has emerged as we have a lot of Priority Students who are not being successful at school. By focusing on the specific needs of these priority students, we were hoping that these students would find success at school and gain the feeling that school is important and that they belong.

Hunch:

1. Need to look at each student individually – What are their needs? Strengths? Challenges?
2. Need to recognize the impact caused by intergenerational trauma – What does it present like in school (i.e. showing up but not going to class; refusing to do work; Difficulty building relationships with others; etc.)?
3. We have a number of our young students (Gr. 8 & 9) who are using drugs & alcohol daily – extremely worrisome. There are extremely high levels of anxiety for some. The trauma and violence that some kids have seen is incredible.

New Professional Learning:

• Trauma informed practice, Indigenous focus for Pro D; learning on the land
• Learning more about the Calls to Action
• Staff meetings to discuss – will build it in moving forward

Taking Action:

• Indigenous Advocates made activities more inclusive (whole school) – Orange Shirt Day – and gave more background information… same with Red Dress Day and National Indigenous Day….
• Gratitude Circle as final exam in EFP – letter from parent- not all success is shown on a report card
• Notes of appreciation, kindness
• Multiple days on the land – learning outside

Checking:

• Very difficult – seems like not many “wins” this year
• We did have a student go into treatment after 2 years of challenges
• Additional academic supports – math boost
• Getting to know our learners better – what do they need to be successful

Reflections/Advice: We have reaffirmed the fact that understanding each student — where they are coming from and how we can help — through focusing on understanding Intergenerational Trauma and it’s impact on families and what healing could look like, along with understanding Truth & Reconciliation as a school community (teachers and students), can help our students be successful. We will continue to focus on grad rates, but more importantly listen to student voice; what do the students value and how does our school community support their learning and their lives as they move towards healing and experiencing success.

School District: SD#53 Okanagan Similkameen

Inquiry Team Members:Rachelle Goncalves: rgoncalv@sd53.bc.ca, Tracy Harrington: tharrington@sd53.bc.ca, Ryan Baptiste: rybaptiste@sd53.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: AESN Transitions (focus on Indigenous learner transitions)

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing, Physical & Health Education

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

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Connecting aboriginal understandings and core competencies through experiential, land-based learning.

Scanning: In our third year of the program, and with a new focus on First Peoples English, the focus for this year was based around storytelling and the connections that are so critical to Indigenous culture. What connections do our students have within the program, the school, and the community? How do these connections impact their learning? Through their journey in EPIC how do these connections change?
Relationships, year after year, emerge as the key component to the EPIC program. Focusing on the role of storytelling in the program this year provided insight for students and our team to make connections to the impact of stories, past and present, to create meaning. The OECD Principles of Learning are the foundation of our work as the students are the center of our work as they build community around social and emotional aspects of learning, while stretching all students and supporting individual differences.

Focus: The focus of storytelling was selected for this year to explore the nature of community building and sharing. With previous years the trend has been that a community is developed with the cohort of students. This year a documentary project was selected to help students discover the power of community, tradition, and storytelling to share experiences. Connecting to the oral history, chap’tik of the local Silyx people, the hope was to engage students in storytelling in documentary work to learn about traditional ways and digital storytelling.

Hunch: The learning culture at our school is evolving and the infusion of Indigenous culture is becoming more common practice. We recognize that this is critical for all learners, not only the learners in EPIC. Our Indigenous Education Advocate has been working in many areas of the school to share this same traditional knowledge in areas such as storytelling in English classes, food sources in Foods and Nutrition classes, traditional clothing in Family Studies where they made baby moccasins to gift to the local people, drum making in English First Peoples as they learning the Okanagan Song to share at school assemblies, and she continues to gift us with her knowledge. It is truly exciting to have so much happening in our classes.

New Professional Learning: With the focus on storytelling and traditional ways the professional learning came in the form of documentaries. As a team we explored the technical side of video production, critical stages of story-boarding, value of quality over quantity when it comes to video footage and the value of an authentic audience. The students created documentaries on traditional food sources of the Silyx people and shared the final products at our year end student learning showcase.

Taking Action: This year we took action by participating in a SETBC project and REEL Canada Classroom. In each project we engaged in activities and professional dialogue with colleagues across BC and Canada. By building community and capacity in the areas of educational technology and Indigenous films the students and our team have learned from others and shared our own learning.

Checking: We are thrilled with the level of engagement with storytelling and knowledge building around Indigenous culture in our school community. EPIC was the starting point for sharing knowledge and we are fortunate that our Indigenous Education Advocate has shared with so many classes beyond this program. Staff and students are all embracing the knowledge being shared and it feels as though there is momentum moving towards a more informed and respectful community.

Reflections/Advice: This inquiry has spiraled into so much more than we anticipated. At the onset of this inquiry the goal was to help engage our struggling learners with a hands on, land-based program with an Indigenous focus. Now the learning has gone beyond that reach and our entire school community, students and staff, are learning about the Silyx people, their culture and their knowledge. Our inquiry has exceeded our expectations.

As our next steps forward we are going to engage in an inquiry around connections and building school culture. The initial inquiry was around a Jr. Academy model, however we have already spiraled in a new direction and implementing a whole school homeroom model branded CORE. The goal of this inquiry is to build community using multi-graded, two-teacher teams across the school to connect relationships, belonging, core competencies and school culture. A new adventure that we are excited to start spiraling on!

Advice is to just start. Sometimes where you start/finish isn’t where you expect but it is all worthwhile work.