Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB)
JoAnna Roberto has walked through the H.M. Royal Chapel of the Mohawks half a dozen times. She still sees something new every visit.
Standing before the eight stained-glass windows lining the chapel walls, watching sunlight move across centuries of regional history and the relationship with the Crown, the experience becomes personal. Roberto and hundreds of Grand Erie staff hear real stories of the land from local knowledge keepers and take those stories back into their classrooms, their curriculum, and their committees.
"Each time I look at a panel, there's something new there," said Roberto, CEO for the Grand Erie District School Board. "For me, it was an opportunity to just step back and think about historical and contextual perspectives... It's right here, a national historical site situated in Brantford.”
Rooting Reconciliation in Local Realities
The Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB) serves a diverse community, including Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation students. These students attend publicly funded provincial schools or transition into secondary schools from federal schools.
GEDSB made a commitment in its strategic plan to prioritize Indigenous education and a sense of belonging for all.
"Learning opportunities are all around us, and the relationships we establish locally increase our commitment to reconciliation," says Roberto. "It is the importance of histories, context, experiences, and stories that builds our understanding and shared responsibility to learners, the land, and the communities we serve in Grand Erie."
GEDSB launched an immersive professional learning initiative in the first half of 2026. Instead of learning about history from a textbook or a lecture, hundreds of staff members—including teachers, trustees, support staff, and board leaders—were invited into the historic sites located right in their backyard.
Immersive Spaces and Powerful Storytelling
The board designed a professional development program anchored by two profound, local historic sites located just over a kilometer from the board’s head office: the Woodland Cultural Centre and the H.M. Royal Chapel of the Mohawks.
The Woodland Cultural Centre is situated on the grounds of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School. There, staff learned through survivor stories and historical perspectives, facing the 140-year history and lasting traumas of the residential school system. The experience gave staff a chance to understand these lasting impacts while strengthening their commitment to building inclusive, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive classrooms and lesson plans.
Down the road at the H.M. Royal Chapel of the Mohawks — built in 1785 and recognized as a National Historic Site — facilitator and community knowledge keeper Barry Hill guided participants through centuries of regional history. Staff traced the story from the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the origins of the Two Row Wampum Agreement through to the issues shaping truth and reconciliation efforts in Canada today.
What made this initiative unique is its reach. The learning wasn't limited to classroom teachers. GEDSB opened the sessions to new and occasional teachers through induction programs, special education, curriculum, and mental health teams, IT, Human Resources, facilities, and finance staff, and parent and community advisory committees. Every participant received a joint certificate of participation from the board and the Mohawk Chapel, marking their commitment to shared learning.
Results: Turning Learning into Action
GEDSB’s research team surveyed close to 200 participants about their experience to measure the program's impact:
● 80% of educators said they had already begun embedding what they learned into their curriculum.
● 81% said the sessions deeply strengthened their understanding of truth and reconciliation.
● 90% said they appreciated learning history through storytelling and the visual art of the stained glass.
"This [professional development] will directly impact my ability to make local, relevant connections for my students while teaching social studies," one participant said.
Many staff asked for more, suggesting the half-day sessions become full days so they could spend more time exploring the grounds and artifacts. Others said the experience helped them understand land acknowledgements in a way they hadn't before.
GEDSB is extending the same experience to students. The Student Senate has begun visiting the sites, opening the door for classroom teachers to bring their own students. The board also partners with the Woodland Cultural Centre on virtual sessions, so classrooms across the district can take part even without a field trip.
"Every person in Canada should learn this history because it is our shared history," Stacy Hill, Grand Erie's Principal Leader of Indigenous Education, said. "For educators, having a foundational understanding — and their own experiences with these truths — is essential to effectively adding Indigenous perspectives to the curriculum."
For Roberto, the impact is what happens when people walk through a door they've driven past for years.
"I think that was fascinating — to see how many people who live in Brantford, who've taught there, have never actually gone, opening these doors has provided insight and a continued collective commitment to the learning" she said.
With more sessions planned over the coming months, GEDSB's staff are carrying a shared understanding of the community outside its doors into classrooms across the board for years to come.