February 24, 2023 – What started as a Black History Month initiative in the St. Lawrence Secondary School (SLSS) Model UN club, has evolved into a collaborative real-world learning project between two Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) schools.
With the SLSS Model UN members as the designers and clients, and North Dundas District High School (NDDHS) Grade 8 students as the printing company, SLSS students will soon be able to purchase and wear their own UCDSB Diversity T-shirts.
“Seeing that our school was receiving an increasing number of students from multiple nations, we noticed a need for more diversity education,” says SLSS Vice-Principal and Model UN mentor Natasha Mentore.
That’s when the Model UN, consisting of Grade 8-12 SLSS students, called for T-Shirts to be made and began creating and voting on a design.
In January, Mentore, in collaboration with UCDSB Principal of Equity and Inclusion Dan McRae, approached NDDHS to see if the school was interested in printing T-shirts, knowing they have the equipment for it. Ashley Middleton’s Grade 8 class decided to take on the project.
The final shirt design features the word “diversity” and the dictionary definition on the front with the hashtags #MulticulturalEducation, #MoreThanAMonth, #Diversity/24/7/365, #BlackHistory, #StopRacism and #SLSS on the sleeve. “The idea behind the shirt is to not only wear the shirt during Black History Month, but any day of the year,” says SLSS student Rodiat Abass.
Once the design was finalized, the files were sent to the NDDHS class. Each student has a part to play in the project, from learning the design system, to working with the Cricut and weeding the design, to using the shirt press and even creating infographics.
“What the class has learned is that something that looks so simple, can actually be much more complicated,” says Middleton.
On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Mentore and six members of Model UN travelled to NDDHS to approve the shirt prototype and see the creation in action. With slight changes to the design, the shirt was approved and the SLSS students were able to get hands-on with some of the production tasks.
“We don’t have many close neighbouring schools at North Dundas, so it was pretty cool that the students travelled all the way from Cornwall to work with us,” explains NDDHS student Hannah Sadler about collaboration. “It was interesting to see how the printing works and everything that goes into it,” says SLSS student Samara Joshva. “This project is very different and I’m excited to see students wearing the shirt.”
NDDHS expects to print about 100 shirts and are planning to use class time next week to complete the printing. Once this order is complete, each student will be able to design and print their own shirt.
The SLSS Model UN plans to promote and sell the shirt at the school and have a spirit day and competition to wear the shirt to school.
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