Schools across Surrey and White Rock celebrate Pride through June and beyond

The district is celebrating Pride Month this June, with students and staff participating in numerous LGBTQ2+ events and initiatives promoting inclusivity and welcoming environments for people of all backgrounds, identities and orientations.

William Watson Elementary is just one of our district's schools celebrating Pride, having recently hosted a Diversity Day to celebrate students' unique qualities. Surrey Schools is also celebrating this month with the recent Youth Pride Dance, Pride Poster Contest and participation in the upcoming Surrey Pride Festival and Vancouver Pride Parade.

“Pride is about recognizing that everybody deserves respect, everybody deserves to be included, and that celebrating diversity makes us stronger,” said helping teacher Nicole Curtis. “These principles are fundamental to our district, and a lot of our schools are doing great things for Pride Month to ensure that our schools are safe and welcoming environments for every single student.”

École Panorama Ridge Secondary celebrated Pride with a gallery walk, providing informative booths and displays on such topics as Pride flags around the world, Latinx Pride, inclusive writing in French, queer books, transgender athletes, and gender and queer identity in Indigenous histories.

Here is just a sample of the activities taking place at our schools during Pride Month:

• William Watson Elementary hosted a Diversity Day, celebrating the things that make each student unique. Students painted feathers for a school-created mural of rainbow-coloured wings and took class photos in front of it. “I got an email from a parent who said her child, who’s now in kindergarten, said it was the best day of the school year – that was pretty cute,” said Curtis.
• Every day this month, Elgin Park Secondary’s Proud Club is doing morning announcements to introduce a term related to queer culture and its definition to raise awareness for Pride. The school’s Proud Club and Antiracism Club also recently collaborated with queer South Asian visual artist Jag Nagra on a mural featuring their mascot, the orca, with Pride colours behind it.
• École Panorama Ridge Secondary held a gallery walk last Wednesday, where staff at various booths talked about how SOGI connects to different aspects of the curriculum, ranging from SOGI in math to LGBTQ2+ authors. There were also booths on community groups offering services and support.
• Princess Margaret Secondary’s Social Justice Club and Gay Straight Alliance collaborated to raise money for a local LGBTQ2+ charity.
• Sullivan Heights Secondary has a large Happy Pride Month display outside the library by the entrance to the school.
• Fraser Heights Secondary students made rainbow buttons to wear during Pride Month.

Pride Poster Contest

For the third year, the district ran a pride poster contest, encouraging elementary and secondary students to design posters based on LGBTQ2+ books, authors and characters that spoke to them. Students submitted about 100 entries and winners will be announced soon.

“There were some really great entries and it’s so cool to see what the kids know and what is important to them, and that they feel confident to share that messaging in a district setting,” said Curtis. “When I talk to admin or other staff about the posters, they say it’s really powerful to see what’s going on for a marginalized group of students who feel like they need to be visible. It’s very powerful and that student voice is so important.”

The district co-hosted this year's Youth Pride Dance at the Newton Seniors Centre, offering a more central location for students from across Surrey and White Rock to attend.

Youth Pride Dance

The district once again hosted its Youth Pride Dance, in partnership with the City of Surrey and Youth for a Change. Held at the Newton Seniors Centre, the dance saw 58 attendees and provided an opportunity for youth age 13-18 to have fun and express themselves freely.

“It was really neat to see the kids come together from all across the district,” said Curtis. “They don’t know each other but they come to this space that we’ve created for them and then they make new friends while they’re here.”

The evening was also supported by staff from the Surrey RCMP and city bylaw officers.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity resources

The district’s Protecting Surrey Schools Together (PSST) and Surrey Schools One websites continue to have numerous SOGI resources for students, parents and staff.

Curtis also noted that district leadership is preparing an FAQ to address questions that parents may have about SOGI in the B.C. curriculum.

“It’s about what SOGI looks like in the school district, what our teaching resources look like, what kind of language we use around it, how parents can be supportive and some of the whys in terms of student safety and other pieces,” said Curtis.

Surrey Pride and Vancouver Pride Parade

The district is also participating in this year’s Surrey Pride Festival on Saturday, June 24 and, for the second year in-person, the Vancouver Pride Parade on Sunday, Aug. 6, with about 30 staff signed up to walk in the parade.

“It was a really awesome time last year – there was a very supportive crowd and people were very happy to show up as themselves and represent the queer community with the support of the district,” said Curtis. “A lot of people are really excited to come back and do it again.”

For more information on both events, visit surreypride.ca and vancouverpride.ca