Presenters

Keynote

Monique Gray Smith

Monique Gray Smith mistikwaskihkos is an award-winning and best-selling author and a leader in Indigenous relations and truth and reconciliation.

Gray Smith, who is Cree, Lakota and Scottish, was the recipient of the 2014 Canadian Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature for her first published novel Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience.

Gray Smith has published six more works including Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, for which she was named a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and her latest novel Tilly and the Crazy Eights.

Gray Smith, a psychiatric nurse by training, has worked extensively in in truth and reconciliation and in schools, businesses and government, building a deeper understanding of Canada’s history and the resilience of Indigenous people. For this work, she was named the 2019 recipient of the Victoria Leadership Award for Extending Reconciliation.

She believes in the importance of making decisions that are both intellectual and heart-based and that “love is medicine”.

https://www.moniquegraysmith.com/

morning presenters

Dr. Juliana Negreiros

Dr. Juliana Negreiros is a registered psychologist and researcher who has extensive experience working with children and youth with anxiety, OCD, and behavioural difficulties. She received her master's and doctoral degrees in School Psychology from the University of British Columbia. She has recently completed a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Provincial OCD Program at the British Columbia Children's Hospital. Dr. Juliana has published peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has provided in-service training on anxiety, OCD, and cognitive and academic functioning. As a consultant to and collaborator with Anxiety Canada, Dr. Juliana was a key content contributor to developing a province-wide package for educators designed to support students manage everyday anxiety. These resources, called EASE (Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators), are based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles and align directly with the BC Ministry of Education curriculum. Currently, Dr. Juliana runs a private practice in Port Moody, where she conducts psycho-educational assessments and provides mental health treatment to children, youth, and their families.

Jennie Abbot: Harmony Yoga

Jennie Abbot is the Founder and Director of Harmony Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Company, the creator of YogaBREAK for Classrooms, Harmony at Home Kits, various Parenting and Educator Workshops and The My Peaceful Play Game for Kids. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and Registered Children's Yoga Teacher (CYA-CYT) with the Canadian Yoga Alliance teaching over 10,000 children to date. Jennie is the co-creator of the Harmony 95 Hour Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher Training Program through the International Yoga Alliance. Jennie’s offers Workshops for Parents and Educators in partnership with the Institute of Child Psychology and presented at the ICP Global Children’s Mental Health Summit. Jennie is also a Color Me Yoga Children's Yoga Teacher Graduate, Rainbow Kids Yoga Certified Instructor, with Specialties in Yoga for the Special Needs, Safe Anatomy for Children and Trauma Informed Yoga for Children and Youth through Yoga Ed. In addition, Jennie has taken Mindfulness Training through Dr. Dan Siegel, Author and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute. Jennie has worked with children, families, government, non-profit organizations and educators for over 20 years sharing her passion of bringing happiness and peace into the lives of children through yoga and mindfulness.

Susan Robinson

Susan Robinson teaches math at Gulf Islands Secondary School. While her teaching experience is at the secondary level, she has worked with K-12 teachers and mathematics leaders through her work with the BC Numeracy Network and the British Columbia Association of Mathematics Teachers and as a Desmos Fellow.

SD64 Indigenous Education Team

Afternoon Presenters

Dr. Sarah Davis

I acknowledge with respect that I am an uninvited guest on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen peoples and the Songhees, WSÁNEĆ, and Esquimalt peoples who also have historical relationships with this land I feel so gracious to call my home.

I’ve had the privilege of working with students, educators, and families in a variety of settings and roles for over fifteen years. From working in education as a teacher and high school counsellor to my current roles as registered clinical counsellor (RCC), learning coach, and research consultant, my priority is to help students and clients find and define success for themselves. I am committed to helping bridge research to practice in education, for example through my PhD research on mental health and learning.

I love spending time with my family and friends in the beautiful outdoors of Vancouver Island, including kayaking, hiking, paddleboarding, and camping, as well as playing hockey, cooking, volunteering, and supporting the local arts and theatre scene in Victoria (pre-COVID-19) by attending shows, especially improv shows!

The Galiano Conservancy Association has been developing and providing outdoor environmental education for over 20 years. Ria, Reed and Emily are a team of enthusiastic experienced educators bringing great ideas and activities that you can use in your classroom or when outside exploring.

Carol Arnold

Gulf Islands Secondary School First Nations/Social Studies Teacher and Provincial BCTF Aboriginal Education Facilitator

Carol Arnold is of Métis-Cree ancestry on her mother’s side and was raised in the Métis community of Lac Ste. Anne, also known as Manito-Sakahigan. She has been a teacher for over 30 years in both Alberta and British Columbia, specializing in social studies, BC First Peoples and English. Although she teaches full time, she is involved in Aboriginal education workshop development and delivery for teachers in BC through her in the BC Teachers’ Federation.

Report abuse