Throughout the 2020 - 2021, the students, staff and familes at Bridge participated in an important initiative - the SOGI Innovation Project, led by Mme Kylie Jao, Mme Karen Lin, Ms Ellen Hsu , and the wonderful students in Division 18:

Our Bridge story starts with Their story – a Grade 6 student who inspired their classmates and teachers through their courage to be who they are. This student, together with the support of their parents and teachers, decided that they wanted to announce to their classmates one Monday morning during circle time that they are transgender. That couragous, moving and empowering moment marked the beginning of Our story: A journey of fostering inclusion and belonging in our class and in our school through discussion, amplifying the voices of those who identify and/or have preferences outside of hetero- or gender-normativity, and learning how to use inclusive language in both English and French.

Student X Profile 

• In a Grade 6/7 EFI class
• Identifies as He/they
• Loves art, reading
• Aspiring animator
• Gets along with all of their classmates
• Thoughtful, inquisitive and inclusive

Our Focus

Exploring how the classroom can provide a profound sense of belonging and safety amongst a diverse group of students, and extending this to the greater school community.

• Why does SOGI live in the classroom? How do we find and foster it there?
• Emphasis on neutrality/non-binary in French language, identity and diversity.

Three Focii for our exploration of SOGI withi the greater learning community at Bridge were:

• Readiness
• Resources
• Visibility

Actions to increase Readiness and Improve Visibility:

1) Student Surveys - connects to our our school-wide focus on Communicating our thinking and learning.

We surveyed the students at Bridge with three hopes / wishes for them. We wanted all of our students to:

• better understand where they’re at and how they are feeling
• have a stronger voice, sense of agency
• be active paricipants of this problem-solving project

Student Survey Questions:

1. What do you know about SOGI?

2. What do you know about LGBTQ2S+?

3. Do you feel that our school could use more visible signs/displays supporting LGBTQ2S+ people? (ie rainbow stickers, posters, flags, masks)?

4. How likely are you to talk to other students about SOGI?

5. What would you do if you heard a homo-negative/trans-negative comment (ie “That’s so gay”)?

6. I can name one+ adults that I would feel comfortable to go to to talk about my SOGI. (Y/N/Other)

7. What about SOGI do you want to learn or know more about?

8. Students are teased or picked on based on their real or perceived sexual orientation.

   1. strongly agree

   2. Agree

   3. Disagree

   4. strongly disagree

9. I feel that my school provides a safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ2S+ students and their families.

10. What do you think your teacher and/or other adults at Bridge can do to create a more inclusive and safe classroom and/or school for LGBTQ+ students?

Student Survey Results:

Please see the image gallery below for some results of the survey.

In addtion to providing a stronger voice for our students regarding SOGI, surveying our students makes the journey of vulnerable students within our community more visible/explicit and provides increased awareness of their feelings and experiences. This, hopefully, leads to a deeper sense of inclusion, connectedness and sense of belonging for all of our students.

2) Wheels in Motion  - some actions to make a difference...

A) The students and staff in Division 18 promoted inclusive actions by creating SOGI-related buttons for staff and students: 

• "Preferred Pronoun Buttons" for Bridge students

• "Inclusive Buttons" for staff

Please check out the image gallery for samples of these beautiful buttons

B) Displaying, discussing and incorporating inclusive language in the classrooom

C) Working on Classroom and School-wide SOGI projects

D) Integrating SOGI into everyday teaching and learning

E) Creating an "e-Guide for Belonging and Inclusion For All Students"

Pride Month focus in June ... more info coming