At the training session, they are divided into groups, or families. They are separated from the other students in their school. Families work on trust, communication, understanding other cultures and personal interaction. They learn the negative impact of racism. The workshops employ cross-cultural training.
Students learn to communicate, to be non-judgmental, to feel empathy and to tolerate ambiguity.
I ve used in almost 30 years of teaching, Fredrickson said. It was a really big thing for me, said Blake, a student at Winston Knoll Collegiate. I never looked at these situations in the eyes I do now. Students go back to their schools and relate what they ve learned to the school. They make a presentation to the staff and parent council, and have to organize activities for every grade level.