Enjoy your holidays & a couple of news items related to Refugees

This news story may be found at:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/syrian-refugee-family-toronto-1.3379374


This form of media offers up a section from the radio show The Current:

The link to listen to the story is here:  http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-december-28-2015-1.3381867/established-refugees-offer-advice-to-arriving-syrians-on-how-to-make-canada-home-1.3381895 

I think it is important for you -- the students -- to know that the many Refugees who arrive in Canada will be happy and thankful for being here.  At the same time, there will be difficult and challenging times.  There will be an adjustment period (which can't be measured) to an entirely new culture and painful memories to work through.  Of course, human beings can be incredibly resilient and it will be up to us, as Canadians, to support our new citizens.  It is quite possible that they may end up at AMG.  What will we all do to help them feel welcome when we are face to face with a new Canadian or Canadians?

As some of your have explored other parts of the world in your projects, here is a short link to a discussion on CBC's Metro Morning about other non-Syrian Refugees who are also in need of support.  Think of this as another portion of a larger story on the settlement issues we have explored:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/other-refugees-1.3381943
This is an 8 minute radio interview. 


For me, as a teacher, I am considering this book:

We have another month of Geography, before we move into the History curriculum.  Perhaps we will use this time to make some connections between some of the challenges, how we can be allies for Canadian newcomers, and some of the Historical concepts we will explore over the balance of the school year.  This book was written by Jan Stewart.  She is a professor at The University of Winnipeg.

Keep enjoying your time off.

image courtesy of image courtesy of: http://zentofitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/relax2.jpg