Greetings Everyone,
My name is Gloria Juvonen, and I am the principal at WWS in the beautiful East
Beaches area of Manitoba and proud to be part of the Lord Selkirk School
Division.
Chief Perry Bellegarde, the Assembly of First Nations National Chief in 2019 stated
that “Children are our most sacred gifts from the Creator”. In the many years I
have worked in education and alongside Indigenous elders and leaders, I have
come to understand that this is one of the most profound guiding principals of
Indigenous Peoples. I have also learned that our children are born to instinctively
seek connections with the adults in their world and are hardwired to expect the
adults to protect them.
As adults, the creator in turn, has entrusted us with this most sacred
responsibility, of protecting our children and keeping them safe. This is the great
work of our Grandmothers who each year organize the annual Grandmother’s
Walk to honour the safety of our children and grandchildren. It reminds us that it
is our collective responsibility within our circle of adults, caregivers and educators
to teach our children about the risk of sexual exploitation in our community. The
students in our school have been privileged for the past three years to have
presenters from the ISEE program visit our school to discuss this critically
important topic.
On behalf of the staff and students at WWS, I extend genuine gratitude and
appreciation to our Grandmothers and organizers of other programs in response
to Tricia’s Trust, and the work they do for the safety of all our children in our LSSD
community.
Thank you/Megwetch
Gloria Juvonen
Principal WWS
My name is Gloria Juvonen, and I am the principal at WWS in the beautiful East
Beaches area of Manitoba and proud to be part of the Lord Selkirk School
Division.
Chief Perry Bellegarde, the Assembly of First Nations National Chief in 2019 stated
that “Children are our most sacred gifts from the Creator”. In the many years I
have worked in education and alongside Indigenous elders and leaders, I have
come to understand that this is one of the most profound guiding principals of
Indigenous Peoples. I have also learned that our children are born to instinctively
seek connections with the adults in their world and are hardwired to expect the
adults to protect them.
As adults, the creator in turn, has entrusted us with this most sacred
responsibility, of protecting our children and keeping them safe. This is the great
work of our Grandmothers who each year organize the annual Grandmother’s
Walk to honour the safety of our children and grandchildren. It reminds us that it
is our collective responsibility within our circle of adults, caregivers and educators
to teach our children about the risk of sexual exploitation in our community. The
students in our school have been privileged for the past three years to have
presenters from the ISEE program visit our school to discuss this critically
important topic.
On behalf of the staff and students at WWS, I extend genuine gratitude and
appreciation to our Grandmothers and organizers of other programs in response
to Tricia’s Trust, and the work they do for the safety of all our children in our LSSD
community.
Thank you/Megwetch
Gloria Juvonen
Principal WWS