What is B.S.S.A.P.?

Building Student Success with Aboriginal Parents

"Building Student Success with Aboriginal Parents” (BSSAP) was launched in the

2004-2005 school year by MECY to encourage Aboriginal parents and families to engage in

the education process of their children and youth. The program is based on the principle

that Aboriginal children will have more opportunities  and achieve greater success when

parents and families support their education.

The BSSAP fund continues to be directed at Aboriginal  parent engagement initiatives that

are clearly and directly focused on increasing Aboriginal student success in school.

Acadia's BSSAP Projects

Generational teachings of Aboriginal people tell of an ancient prophecy of seven prophets foretelling the future. The seventh prophet-or the seventh fire- told them of a time when a younger generation would regain the people’s pride and greatness after a period of loss, tragedy and alienation. Many believe that this seventh generation has now been born. (Kenn Richard, 2005)   

In the spring of 2007 several Acadia staff members and students were inspired  to take on a naturalization project. The dream began with envisioning how we might use our generous outdoor spaces to create places for our staff and students to take teaching and learning outside. On our school grounds we are fortunate to have the Dalhousie forest, a man-made hill that divides our school from neighbouring Fort Richmond Collegiate and wide open spaces. Our committee began with a vision of seeing groups of students and teachers reading, drawing, writing and thinking, all the while enjoying being outdoors in the spaces we created.

Over the next couple of months, our dream grew. We began to think about how we might apply for different grants to support the work we wanted to do.  Building Success with Aboriginal Parent Involvement (BSSAP) was applied for to help bring the staff and community together in a project that would support student success. Under the title, “Teaching and Learning for the Seventh Generation” our landscape project evolved into the idea of building three classroom spaces and two seating areas at the front of the school. While this was undoubtedly an ambitious undertaking, the enthusiasm of our staff and community for realizing this vision kept us moving forward.

The first signal to our community that “things were about to happen outside at Acadia” was the strategic placement of 11 limestone boulders at the front of the school.  The limestone rock circle quickly became a place for students to sit, read, study and play. We delighted in watching our students jump from rock to rock and warily ask, “Is it okay to be on these rocks?”  It seemed incredulous to our students that we would build something simply for them to enjoy.

The second and third phases of the project were significantly larger undertakings. The second phase was the construction of an outdoor teaching space adjacent to the Dalhousie Forest. After much careful thought as to the design – the turtle classroom was born. The work began in the spring of 2008 and concluded before school ended in June. It was a tight timeline, but we finished it just in time to open the space for a community discussion of the significance of Stephen Harper’s Apology on behalf of the Canadian government and to have a place for students to study for their exams. To see photos of the planning and building of the Turtle classroom click on Mi Kinack Api Slide Show in the sidebar to see the photos.

The second seating area at the front of the school also came together during the spring of 2008. Students in the outdoor education program assisted their teacher in building an outdoor planter with bench seating. The planter was planted with a variety of perennial plants and evergreen shrubs. Once again, along with the limestone rock circle, this seating area is one that is accessed frequently by our students, staff and parents.

The third phase of our project has been the building of our Infinity Space, two classroom spaces in an infinity shape surrounded by several beds of native plants. The Infinity Shape was chosen to remind us that nature should be preserved for all times and to remind us of the symbol of the Metis flag.

Acadia’s landscaping project, “Teaching and Learning for the Seventh Generation” came together with much community, staff and student involvement. In September and October, once again our staff, students and community came together to create two more spaces to move teaching and learning outside. Local companies gave of their equipment and supplies, individual community members and our staff gave countless hours of their time as they worked tirelessly to bring the physical parts of the classroom vision to reality. It has been very humbling to see the dedication of our staff, students and community members come together to support the work of the school. The sense of community spirit, of our coming together over something we jointly believe in, buoyed our spirits and strengthened our resolve to keep going until the jobs were done. In November, we feasted the landscaping project, “Teaching and Learning for the Seventh Generation” with a potluck and a presentation of the Four Races of Drumming. Aboriginal, Japanese, African and Western drum groups entertained our community as they enjoyed delicious food that represented our families’ various cultural backgrounds.

The seventh generation prophecy says the seventh generation will be the generation that moves indigenous people of all races forward and through supporting a sense of community. At Acadia we have taken this message and created a vision as it relates to the greening of outdoor spaces around our school. We hope to encourage our young people and their parents to provide the leadership that is needed to make a difference in the lives of future generations by opening spaces for all the many voices that make up Acadia.