School trip to the House of Commons question period minutes after Harper’s “Nation” motion, gives Voice Intermediate Students an eye-opening experience.

At Voice Intermediate School, the bi-annual trip to Ottawa for students in grades five to seven is a regularly scheduled event. But nobody could have foreseen that last week’s trip would provide students with a very special experience.

The trip to visit historical, cultural and political sites in Ottawa, also included attending last Wednesday’s Question Period in the House of Commons. To prepare for the experience, students studied levels of government, political parties and discussed some of the issues likely to arise during the session.

Little did they expect that the hot issue to be debated would be one of national significance and potentially long-lasting consequences. With mere minutes having passed since Prime Minister Harper introduced his motion to recognize Quebecois as a nation within Canada, the House Question Period erupted into controversy.

“We were completely amazed, ” said Ms McCullough, a teacher at Voice, “Here we were expecting just another day, and yet sitting through the experience was almost unreal. It took a bit to sink in, but a week later, I just keep thinking “Wow, I know where my class material is going to come from for quite a while!”

While the trip is over, the learning continues. As debates rage about the motion and what it means, students are following the issues closely.

“Now, when I see the news, I understand what people are talking about, said Kendal Atkin, a Voice student “Also, I understand more about what happens after the elections take place and the signs come down. The people are there from all over Canada and they have a job to do. It’s really interesting.”

Whether or not Harper’s motion amounts to little or to everything, it was a day of significance for Canadians. Being able to witness the immediate aftermath and then put it in context of current newspaper articles, discussions at school and at home and even commentary on the street, gave the children a sense of what it feels like to be really connected to a big issue.

“It was a trip they’ll never forget, ’ said Ms. Lardino, Principal of Voce. “Not only did they learn first-hand about politics and government, but they were there to witness history-in-the-making. Whatever comes of that day, twenty years from now they’ll be able to say “I was there when…”

About Voice Intermediate School

V.I.S. was founded in 2000 as a non-denominational, co-educational day school for students in grades six, seven and eight. Within the context of an environment conducive to a strong sense of belonging, V.I.S. offers a challenging academic program based on Ontario Curriculum expectations.

The school moved to the Distillery District in September of 2006. For more information, visit www.voiceintermediate.com.