 So, our project was called Youth for Reconciliation, and we call it YFR for short. So the project involved the participation of students from grade 9 to grade 12, and these were students who were taking English courses, art courses, and communication technology courses in Markham and Picantica. So the project connects Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in communities for the purpose of building these connections and relationships and allyship between both. At its core, the project was a collaborative novel study between the students in both communities, and an important element of our project was the use of social media as a digital tool, where students essentially used it as a platform to share their lived experiences and discover the power of student voice. So the project involves students authoring photo stories on our Instagram page, and the prompts for those photo stories were inspired by topics or themes that they were exploring in the text that we were reading together, and those prompts were also inspired by conversations that the students were having within one another, so within our classroom and within both classrooms about those topics and themes that they were exploring. And essentially what the Instagram page provided was an opportunity for students to sort of provide these windows into one another's lives and worldviews, really made what we were reading authentic and meaningful, and provided a really unique opportunity for students in these communities who probably otherwise would not have had contact with one another to get to know really deeply about one another. So before this project started, many of the students in both communities had very little interaction or knowledge about what the students in one another's communities were actually like, so for the students here in Markham, Indigenous peoples were primarily relegated to textbooks. Our understanding of who Indigenous people are in this country was primarily mediated by the media, and we came to learn really quickly that that's one sort of aspect, and so one way that we were really able to measure the success of the program was to see the students develop a really deep understanding of who our partners were, and that sort of went back and forth. Another thing was that it provided an opportunity for students to really hear one another's authentic truth, and a measure of success for our program was seeing the students come to care very deeply about the well-being of one another, about the social issues that each of the students in each of the communities were talking about and raising awareness of, and really to see the students feel invested in and an important part of responding to the truth and reconciliation's calls to action. I think that YFR in its conception was really a response to the question, what does disrupting texts in our classroom look like? What does decolonizing the classroom look like? These are like, you know, terms that are being thrown around in the system. These are hashtags that are becoming very popularized on Twitter, and the project was really like, what does this look like in practice in our classrooms? And so the project really helped, I think, both of us teachers, Lana and myself, to explore further and more deeply what a colonized classroom looks like and the importance of diversifying the texts and the voices that are available. So the stated ultimate goal of the TRC is to help guide and inspire First Nations peoples and Canadians in a process of reconciliation and renewed relationships that are based on mutual understanding and respect. And that really was the goal of YFR was to, through the sharing of one another's lives and experiences, really build in a sincere way that mutual understanding and respect. The YFR project goals were a few. The first was that we were looking for ways to facilitate the learning of 21st century competencies. We were hoping to facilitate the development of real critical literacy skills for our students, and we were endeavoring to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. This project just feels really special, I think, to both Lana and I, and when we first connected with one another, which was entirely, you know, random, it was through reaching out on social media. And my first post was, you know, does anyone want to connect with a non-indigenous community who's teaching on a First Nations reserve? And her response to me was, sure, what did you have in mind? And my answer was, I don't know. And so I think what makes this project really special to both of us is just how authentic and organic that it was, and will forever, I think, be indebted to our students, because we kind of said, here's an opportunity that we have, and they pretty well ran with it. And that's what made the learning so sincere and so incredible. I think for all of us involved, the teachers and the students, because we didn't know what this was going to turn into, you know, as far as I know in our board and also in Lana's, social media wasn't being used as a digital tool, so there was some red tape to cut through. But it ended up being like so spectacular in such a remarkable way. And seeing these two groups of students share experiences with one another and stories with one another and ask really sincere questions and demonstrate a really sincere desire to get to know each other was really inspiring. And I think makes us all really hopeful for what reconciliation looks like in the country in the years to come. Indigenous education for me is about individualizing and tailoring the teachings of language, culture, and history of individual communities into the current state of knowledge and understanding of these topics within each community. There cannot be one size fits all kind of educational approach under the title Indigenous Education, because every community has a different way of understanding the world and had a different experience with the government and the public interaction in the past. For example, some communities are well on their way to developing their language and culture programs. Some have the ideas, but no means of developing them. Some have the funds, but don't know how to put these into use. Some communities are struggling with the impact of religion and traditional spirituality. And some are struggling with the substance abuses and gang involvement. Some are struggling with parenting, etc. There are so many other issues that each community struggles with. So it is really, really hard to say that one Indigenous educational program will really fit the needs of all the Indigenous communities in Canada. While these issues above are not selective to one specific community, there are probably a few that take priority in each community. Once these community context is understood, only then can an individualized program be developed to fit the needs of the youth in that specific community. One must also be aware that many communities are isolated, and frankly, students don't wish to leave the community permanently in order to study or get a job. In that regard, it might also mean a whole new vision and goal for success for youths in these communities. For students that wish to settle in their communities, it might be better to offer individualized programs for building, fishing, hunting, cooking, business, etc. that they can develop in their careers. So for me, Indigenous education is something that still needs to be defined further and developed by each community. My name is Jacqueline Wong, and I'm a researcher with NCCIE. During the course of interviewing Lana, there were some technical difficulties, so we were unable to record question three. The following is her response to the question, what is your vision for Indigenous education in 10 years? In the next 10 years, I hope to see our educational curriculum changed. I hope to see equal funding for our federal schools, and hope to see less segregation of Indigenous youths and people in general wherever they go. I also hope to see support for communities struggling to regain their languages, culture, and practices, which is a great part of the intergenerational trauma that plagues many Indigenous communities today.