Report of the National Holodomor Education Committee by Province
September, 2014
British Columbia:
The University of Victoria held a workshop, on Teaching the Holodomor, organized by Prof. Serge Yekelchyk and the local Ukrainian community group on Nov. 15, 2013. There were three events for the half-day session which was held on the University campus and was attended by some 50 students, lecturers, educators and community activists. This was a first for British Columbia.
1. Teaching the Holodomor in North American Academia, with a panel of five academics from different universities/disciplines, discussing the strategies of incorporating the Holodomor into regular courses in their fields.
2. A look at a new resource, The Holodomor Reader, edited by Bohdan Klid and Alex Motyl, presented by Bohdan Klid of CIUS.
3. Holodomor in School Curriculum in Canada presented by Valentina Kuryliw,
Chair of the National Holodomor Education Committee of the UCC.
Alberta:
Melody Kostiuk is Chair of the Alberta HEC which is working with the NHEC and UCC Awareness Committee.
1. Alberta HEC is grateful to Assistant Superintendent,Boris Radyo, for his efforts in placing the topic of the Holodomor onto the Edmonton Catholic School website which includes basic information on the Holodomor, lesson plans for various grade levels (1-12), prayers, and resources for teachers. Edmonton Catholic School Districtshared its resources on the Holodomor and their website with the rest of the Alberta Catholic school districts for the first time (www.ecsd.net/holodomor/index.html).
2. The Alberta Catholic School Trustees Association (ACSTA) passed a motion May 24, 2013, declaring the last Friday in Nov. as Holodomor Memorial Day and entered it into the school calendar, encouragingall schools to undertake a moment of silence or other such activities in their schools on that day. It was passed unanimously by the full Trustee Association and was accepted as such in individual school districts.
3. Teacher Natalia Onyschuk wrote another song for schools on the Holodomor for the 80th Commemoration event for Nov. 2013. The song “It’s Up To Us” was performed by students of St. Mathew and St. Martin Elementary Schools in front of the Legislature in Edmonton. This was followed by a Borsch and Bread lunch. In schools such as St. Mathew, a separate Commemoration ceremony was also held with a Panakhyda, powerpoint, a display of student project/posters and a collection of funds for the Philippine Aid Relief, showing the importance of remembering the past and intertwining it with compassionate actions today.
4. Alberta HEC is still working on editing the curriculum commissioned on the Holodomor customized for Alberta Social Studies requirements for senior students.
Saskatchewan:
Cathy Schabel is the Chair of the Saskatchewan Holodomor Education and Awareness Committee.
1. Work with the Curriculum Review Committee of the Ministry of Education of Saskatchewan is ongoing with NHEC participation. A follow-up letter to a meeting with ministry staff and politicians was drafted to Brent Toles at the Ministry of Education offering our ongoing support, consultation and teaching resources on the Holodomor. The letter will be sent pending signatures from Saskatchewan Provincial Council. The review process has slowed in the past year and we are sending the ministry the latest resource publications for educators on the Holodomor.
2. On Nov, 14, 2013, a memorial program was held at the Rotunda of the Saskatchewan Provincial Legislature at which the Regina Catholic School District took part as well as the choir from Saskatoon’s Bishop Filevich Bilingual School. The Regina Branchof the UCCunveiled a replica of the memorial statue of the “Bitter Memories of Childhood” to commemorate the Holodomor which is on the grounds of the Provincial Legislature.
3. Nov. 12-14 was pronounced Holodomor Memorial Week in Regina. Regina Catholic School District is the only school district to date, to formally acknowledge Holodomor Memorial Day in its schools with a special program. Hopefully other school districts will follow their example. In Saskatoon individual schools, like Bishop Filevich Ukrainian Bilingual School held Black Flag installations and exhibits.
Manitoba:
Valentina Noseworthy, Chair of the Manitoba Holodomor Education Committee.
1. On Oct. 28, 2013 Val Noseworthy presented a workshop on Social Justice and Human Rights Teaching through Holodomor Education at the Manitoba Special Area Group Educators (SAGE) Conference in Winnipeg.
2. On Oct. 28, 2013, a session on Mennonites and Ukrainians under Stalin - Our Human Rights Lost and Found with presenters Dr. Myroslav Shkandrij, Dr. Peter Letkemann, Dr. Colin Neufeldt, Margaret Friesen and the Friesen-Kuzmenko Family at the Mennonite Heritage Centre, 600 Shaftsbury Blvd was held, jointly sponsored by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Mennonite Church of Canada, and the Manitoba provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Holodomor Education and Awareness Committee.
3. A number of additional lectures were held on the Holodomor:
A. Nov. 3 and 4, 2013, Resurrecting National Memory in Ukraine presented by Volodymyr Viatrovych (Ukraine) in Ukrainian with simultaneous translation, co-sponsored by: League of Ukrainian Canadians and Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Institute Prosvita, Winnipeg. Repeated on Nov. 4, 2013, at St. Andrews College (Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies), University of Manitoba.
B. Nov. 13, 2013, 11:30 a.m. Minorities in interwar Poland. Presented by Robert Kusnierz (Poland), University of Manitoba, Faculty of Education.
C. Nov. 13, 2013, 7:00 p.m. Holodomor 1932-1933. The view from the Polish Foreign Ministry Archives. Presented by Robert Kusnierz (Poland). Sponsored by: UCC-MPC, Department Of German and Slavic Studies (U of M), Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre - Oseredok.
D. Nov. 19, 2013, New Technological Resources in Teaching Holodomor. Presented by Dr. Orest Cap and Dr. Denys Hlynka, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Education.
E. Nov. 17, 2013, a Holodomor PowerPoint presentation at the Descent of the Holy Spirit Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada in Regina, SK by Val Noseworthy. This lecture was also presented on Nov. 21, 2013.
F. Nov. 20, and Nov. 21, 2013, 2:30 p.m. Researching the Holodomor in Sumy Oblast presented by Hennadiy Ivanushchenko in Ukrainian. Sponsored by: (Nov. 20) Department of German and Slavic Studies, and the League of Ukrainian Canadians, (Nov. 21) University College, University of Manitoba and the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Institute Prosvita.
G. Nov. 20 University of Manitoba Holodomor presentation (facilitator Dr. Roman Yereniuk).
H. Nov. 29, 2013, Presentation by Val Noseworthy and Sonia Lebedin to the Ukrainian youth organization CYMK at St. Mary the Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Winnipeg.
I. Fri. Dec. 6, Canada’s Press and the Holodomor. Presented by Jars Balan (Edmonton), Co-sponsored by: UCC-MPC, Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Mary the Protectress, Winnipeg.
4. In November 2014, for the month, long Holodomor Genocide book and resource displays were held at Winnipeg Public Libraries and the Department of Education Library. A list of recommended and new books and resources was provided to the libraries by Val Noseworthy for consideration to purchase and/or display.
5. Ongoing meetings were held with the Canadian Museum of Human Rights to discuss plans for Holodomor Genocide Awareness and Education community presentations.
6. Manitoba was the first province to have an educational program on the Holodomor on their Ministry of Education website. They acknowledge HMD in their schools throughout the province.
Ontario:
1. Holodomor Education Day was held in 6 school boards in southern Ontario, such as the TDSB, TCDSB, Hamilton, Mississauga, and Oshawa. Letters and pamphlets on the Holodomor were passed on to all boards with an announcement for HMD and a reminder in early November. Each school was given 20 copies of the Pamphlet for educators created by the NHEC and HET.
2. Pamphlet: To commemorate the 80th year of the Holodomor a special pamphlet in electronic and hard copy was prepared. It was for educators, with an announcement for the PA, which could be modified by schools. It contained information on available teaching resources, websites, a few books, DVDs, and contact information for speakers and class visits. HREC and UCRDC were the contacts for additional information in Toronto.
3. NHEC sent out flyers on suggestions for activities for schools on the Holodomor, offering speakers on:
Share the Story: 80 Holodomor survivors on a web site – brief accounts of what they lived through in 1933 in Ukrainian, with translations in English and Russian. These could be used for a short assignment on survivors (www.sharethestory.ca).
“From Hens to Holodomor”: Andrea Chalupa presentation on how Animal Farm is related to the Holodomor and DP camps in Hamilton schools.
4. Holodomor Writing Competition: a pamphlet in electronic and hard copy for students 14-19 attending school was prepared and distributed to school boards in the spring of 2013. The deadline was Jan. 15, 2014. It was open to all students across the country and for the first time not only for Ukrainian students but to all Canadian school boards as well. UCC National funded the prizes in the sum of $2500.
5. Ministry of Education of Ontario: New history and social studies curriculum guidelines are out for the Canada and the World grades 7-8 elementary history programs and the grades 9-10 History and Civics courses. Grades 11-12 selections will be released in the winter (2014-2015). The grade 10 Canadian History and Civics courses do mention the Holodomor in two places, though insignificantly. Premier Wynne announced in September 2013 at the Ukrainian Bloor West Village Festival that Holodomor was in the curriculum and that our community should be proud of what we have accomplished. She made a similar statement on August 2014 at Independence Day. Several letters were sent to the Minister of Education and meetings with Ministry senior officials were held expressing our ongoing concerns re-inclusion of the Holodomor in a prominent and appropriate place in senior Ontario curriculum.
6. School Visits: Local HET committee members and a Holodomor survivor visited a number of schools across Southern Ontario providing information and resources to teachers and students on the Holodomor.
7. The TCDSB is currently writing its own Genocide course for Catholic schools. V. Kuryliw served as a consultant on the organization of the course and its content. V. Kuryliw also provided suggestions for resources.
8. The TDSB review of their current Genocide course has been completed without the promised consultation with the UCC on the inclusion of the Holodomor in the courses content.
Quebec:
1. The Quebec Provincial Council had a number of activities planned: Andrea Chalupa’slecture was sponsored by the McGill Ukr. Students; Club and the QUCC, Ed Ivanko presentation.
2. Work on funding the production of Genocide Revealed in French (Genocide d’une Nation) is ongoing as it will be used as a teaching resource for educators in Canada and elsewhere. Narrating the French version is actress Genevieve Bujold. Cooperation with the NHEC and HET of Toronto to distribute Genocide Revealed, Educational version to schools is ongoing.
3. Talks with CBC-TV National to air the full length Genocide Revealed in English across Canada are still in progress.
4. Work on curriculum and HMD has yet to commence in Quebec.
5. Work on tapes of the first International Conference on the Famine-Genocide organized in Montreal 1983 are in the process of being restored by Yurij Luhovy. Among the speakers filmed are Prof. James Mace, Nina Strokata‐Karavanska, Prof. Bohdan Krawchenko, Prof. Yurij Shevelov, Prof. Roman Serbyn (organizer of the Conference) and others. This is an outstanding collection of speakers discussing aspects of the Holodomor in the early 1980's and will be an invaluable contribution in recording the historical development of Holodomor analysis over the past decades.
Prepared by Valentina Kuryliw
Chair, National Holodomor Education Committee
September 2014