Kateryna Bandura, New Pathway – Ukrainian News, Toronto.
At their board meeting on May 31, 2018, the trustees of the Toronto Catholic District School Board proclaimed the month of September as Ukrainian Canadian Heritage Month, and September 7th as Ukrainian Canadian Heritage Day at the TCDSB.
The decision came after the UCC Toronto Education Committee, which includes representatives from all three TCDSB Eastern Rite Ukrainian schools, had put forth an official proposal to the Trustees of the TCDSB earlier in May this year.
In the official statement, the committee outlined the strong 50-plus year relationship between the TCDSB and the Ukrainian community, and undertook to work with key members of the community to create a “robust and informative, yet succinct resource guide and references for all TCDSB stakeholders.” This guide will aid the celebrations of Ukrainian Canadian Heritage month in the second half of September, once the new academic year is underway.
The reason the committee chose September as Ukrainian Canadian Heritage month is that it closely follows annual traditional celebrations of Ukraine’s Independence (August 24th), Toronto’s Bloor West Village Ukrainian Festival (second week of September), and now, Ontario’s Ukrainian Heritage Day (September 7th).
Starting this September, the TCDSB will implement a program that will focus on the following three areas in the guide to support Ukrainian Canadian Heritage month at the TCDSB:
- Eastern Rite Ukrainian Catholicism (traditions, feast days, songs, etc.);
- Ukrainian Canadian history (history of Ukraine, history and geography of Ukrainian settlement in Canada, political events, etc.);
- Ukrainian culture and art (pysanky (Easter egg painting), embroidery, song, dance, cuisine, etc.).
Dedicating September to teaching Ukrainian history and traditions across TCDSB will allow the students to learn about a community that has had a central role in building Canada for over 125 years.
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