Poetry & Eco-literacy Project
The English and Middle School Student Teachers Cohort at University of British Columbia Okanagan support the 43 missing student teachers in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. Our poetry and eco-literacy community project support poems written on the boxes in the Learning Garden. Poems will be published and promoted in booklets, and also sent to the community in Mexico.
Mexican students in the rural education college disappeared on 26 September after being attacked by police in the city of Iguala, a city about 130km south-west of Mexico City. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, enraged by the attacks and the lack of information, have marched in protest across the country. Families of the missing students confronted Mexico's president. We are inspired by shows of support in Mexico and in other student communities, including: University of Texas, MIT, Harvard, and demonstrations in Buenos Aires, London, Paris, and Vienna.
Today, our lesson exemplifies the need for eco-literacy, critical literacy, media-literacy, and POETRY in education. We look at the need to read the news with an eco-literate, poetic eye.
Today we follow on the words of others who have strived for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech:
"We must
teach others to read the word…and the world."
- Paulo Freire
"Day
after day, children are denied the right to be children."
- Eduardo
Galeano
"Teacher,
purest creature
Green young man
with face fixed
Whoever killed
the present for you
Did they
believe they were killing the future?"
- Nicolas
Guillen, Conrado Benitez
"It is
necessary to engage in a campaign of gentleness and knowledge. . ."
José Julián Martí
The student
teachers wrote poems. Everyone participated. For the class poem, each student wrote one line
of poetry. Then the poem was written on the garden boxes in the Learning Garden
with natural, non-toxic, water-based paints.
To the student
teachers in Mexico we dedicate our poems, in support of Freedom and Free Voices
for all.
In
Solidarity.
Do not despair.
Hear the voices
of those who have gone,
no matter the
distance,
together we are
strong.
Radiant
potential snuffed out.But in the darknessa light of light. . .
We had
hope.
Burn on to
ignite the fires of change!Exhume the dead for what has passed is not
gone.
Stand up
for what
you believe in.
(We shared a
hope that the next generation would be better).
On top of the
load you carry. . .
weighs such
stress and duress
we fail to
fathom.
What can I say
to those who have disappeared?
You are
remembered...
You are a
symbol of peace, and strength.
You inspire
more than you realize.
Your voices
live within us now.
Allow us to
carry your voice.
Allow us to
give it purpose.
This is a
battle we must all continue to fight.
The best
educators don't need a classroom in order to teach.
You are the
teachers you aimed to be.
You are us and
we are you.
You have done
something I could not.
Now, what can I
do for you?
Just as we finished writing the poem, it started to rain.
Our water-colours ran back into the soil.
Nature mirrors our tears for you today.
After it
rained, the Canadian winter wheat sprouted.
Veronica
With support from CPLP, The Canadian Poetry and Literacy Project
posted by Veronica @ 6:10 pm
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