SOGI

‘Tis The Season For Hope – Take 2

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

Almost exactly three years ago to the day, I wrote ‘Tis The Season For Hope. It was December 2020 and we were smack in the middle of the pandemic with no vaccine and dozens of health restrictions all around us.

Times were tense.

Schools had significant changes to their operations — the whole province had restrictions. People were anxious. Emotions were high. I was receiving a ton of email about the pandemic and what we ‘were’ or ‘were not’ doing.

Amongst all of this disruption there was a building sense of calm — of being connected to each other. The Season of Light came to remind us about the many cultural events that begin near the Winter Solstice when November meanders into December — a time when cultures showcase warmth, love and hope with the beauty of light. It was just what we needed as we continued to fight the virus without all of the tools we needed. We needed a break.

Light can do that.

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Painting a Picture with Numbers

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

Numbers are a great place to start a conversation. While they never tell the whole story, they do offer a launching point.

Take a look at the ones above.

They represent some statistics on an important topic — a part of a story from across our province and country. And while they don’t offer a complete narrative about the topic they do help to paint a compelling picture — a picture that reaffirms for me why schools need to be an important place of understanding and acceptance.

The topic I want to talk about today is also a polarizing one in our communities. My experience has shown that few people are without a strong opinion on the topic.

Let’s begin today’s discussion by looking at the two largest numbers …

1,000,000

  • The approximate number of persons in Canada who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioning (2021)

75,000

  • The approximate number of persons in Canada who identified as trans or non-binary (2018)

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Life is All About the Grey … But Does That Apply to Character?

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

As I get older I see more grey.  Ya, ya, ya … the hair jokes .. I get it.  Nice!

What I’m talking about are my observations that we don’t live in a binary world of ‘Yes or No’ , ‘Black or White’.  We just don’t typically live in “All or Nothing” scenarios.  Our world is a series of sliding position points along a continuum.   It isn’t static, measured once and labeled.  It is a complex, multi-dimensional, constantly evolving space.

Need proof?  OK.  Some examples that are right off the top of my head include:

  • musical ability.jpg

    Practice MAY make perfect

    Musical ability

  • Physical aptitude in sports
  • Cooking prowess
  • Home repair abilities
  • Computer use
  • Essay writing

The point being, we have some ability or knowledge in lots of areas — some are just more developed than others.  And in many cases increased practice results in improvement.

So our world is a patchwork of grey!  Different shades of ‘greyness’ which indicate our varying abilities.

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