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January 6, 2020

Inclusion in Action

The students in Mr. Mieske's Grade 6 class are all about inclusion and that has attracted a lot of attention from the local media. 

There preperations and execution for their Winter SurTHRIVEal event was covered by the Nelson Star and CBC Radio.

 

Listen to the coverage on CBC Radio (Story starts at about 1:20)

 

Trafalgar Middle School’s Todd St. Pierre gets strapped into a special sled built for him by his fellow Grade 6 students for a winter hike. Photo: Tyler Harper

VIDEO: Nelson students build special sled for classmate

Todd St. Pierre has mobility issues, but the sled helped him go on a class hike

When a class of Grade 6 students came to call the pre-holiday hike Operation Leave No One Behind, it was clear this would be no simple winter walk.

Chris Mieske’s class at Trafalgar Middle School includes Todd St. Pierre, who was born with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria, a genetic disorder that affects his mobility.

So if they were going to spend a day stomping through snow outside Nelson, they needed a solution for including Todd.

“Because he’s our classmate,” said student Koen de Jong. “Bringing him helps us learn about empathy.”

The answer was a sled, designed and built just for Todd. The students solicited local businesses for supplies and took about three weeks to complete the finished product.

Read The full story at the Nelson Star