Students make their first outings on the new field to explore, pray over the space, and give a land acknowledgement.
Nanaimo Christian School's new Holland Road Field across the street opened this month and classes made their first outings to explore, pray a blessing over the space, and give a land acknowledgement. (The field's grand opening celebration and dedication will take place in September with the entire community. Details to come.)
Students love the new space!
When the grade 1 and 2 classes went to explore the new field they brought nature guides to help them identify some of the local plants growing on the property. They were excited to find fiddlehead ferns, blackberry bushes, dandelions, daisies, buttercups, and a beautiful blooming dogwood tree. They also loved the critters they found - spiders, ladybugs, a huge colony of ants, and a big raven.
As they explored there were shouts of "This is awesome!" and "I love this place!" from every corner of the property. They were thrilled to explore and can't wait to go back again.
When they returned to the classroom they discussed the importance of caring for the land and acknowledging who the land originally belonged to. They talked about 4 C's of creating a land acknowledgement statement:
Who CREATED the land?
Who were the original CARETAKERS of the land?
What do we CHERISH about the land?
How do we COMMITÂ to care for the land moving forward?
Teachers will take the ideas students came up with and create a land acknowledgement statement that will be put on a sign at the new field. Our hope is that everyone who uses the land will love it as much as we do and will care for it as well as the Snuneymuxw people did for many many years before us.Â
Thank you to everyone who has made this new space possible for students. Read more about the companies and volunteers who prepped the field and the donors who contributed to the 2022 land purchase.
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