THUNDER BAY – Lakehead Public School’s Sherri-Lynne Pharand received high praise from the local Indigenous community at a blanket ceremony held on Thursday at the board office.
Pharand, the superintendent of education, was recognized for her ongoing work to improve school life for the board’s Aboriginal students, to include their cultural teachings in the curriculum and ensure their heritage is reflected in the classroom.
It was an emotional morning, Pharand said.
“It’s an honour that I have received this morning and it is really overwhelming,” she said. “It has been a journey of learning we’ve been on together with the elders on the Aboriginal Advisory Committee as we work to ensure that all children have what they need in order to be successful in school.
“To receive this blanket today in recognition of the work that we’ve done together is a really good gift.”
Pharand said when she took on the role, she was fully aware of how difficult an experience Indigenous people had with the school system, thanks largely the legacy left behind by the residential school era.
“There is a lot of distrust, and continues to be a lot of mistrust to this day, with schools. And yet an education is so important and elders and the community wanted to work together with us to ensure that every child feels value and that their experience is represented,” she said.
Elder Delores Wawia, proudly known as the Frog Lady, said things started getting better when Pharand came along.
“I’ve always felt that we’ve got to meet the needs of Native children, and they learn differently,” Wawia said. “They learn by watching and listening ... you don’t just sit in class and take lecture notes. You go watch somebody. So that’s what we did.”
Wawia added Pharand’s best trait was the ability to listen.
“She took our advice,” she said. “She worked and she expanded and she got people in and got more money. She is very supportive and she listens to our advice.”
Blankets play an integral role in Indigenous life. Many Aboriginal people are given one at birth, and receive them at other important stages of their lives as they get older.
