Around 30 volunteers are at the School District No. 41’s maintenance shop today (Friday) putting the finishing touches on the Burnaby school district’s first-ever Vancouver Pride Parade float.
The local school district has participated in the parade for the last two years, but its entries – consisting of groups of trustees, teachers, students and parents marching beside decorated school district vehicles – weren’t exactly fabulous.
“Shortly after the last year, we got a lot of comments from all of our partner groups that we should have maybe a better presence than what we had last year and the year before that,” trustee Gary Wong told the NOW. “Most people felt it was lacking.”
The outcome of those discussions is this year’s float: a 20-foot trailer decorated in the style of a traditional classroom, complete with two rows of student desks, a teacher’s desk and a chalkboard with the lines “Diversity is a beautiful thing” written on it.
District Parent Advisory Chair Jennifer Mezei came up with classroom idea, according to Wong, and DPAC volunteers will pitch in decorating the float and walking in the parade.
CUPE has also donated time hauling desks and other old classroom equipment out of storage for the parade entry.
Trustees, meanwhile, have donated 5,000 Frooties candies to hand out during the parade. All that remained Friday was to jazz up the float with banners, bunting and flags.
Involvement in the parade is a way to showcase what the local school district stands for, according to Wong.
“I think it demonstrates our commitment to human rights and that Burnaby schools welcome all students and we don’t screen our students for things like sexual orientation and everyone’s welcome and we provide a safe and caring learning environment for all our students,” Wong said.
Vancouver and Burnaby are the only districts with entries in the parade, but that’s not because they’re the only ones committed to celebrating diversity related to sexual orientation, according to Wong.
“There are a lot of other school districts that do have similar policies to what we have,” he said. “I would think that, because we’re in the Lower Mainland, it might be a little bit easier for us to participate in the parade as opposed to some that aren’t as close to what’s going on. But I certainly would welcome more school districts to participate.”
Costs for the district’s involvement will be minimal, Wong said, with $200 for the parade entry fee and about $75 for a barbecue Friday for volunteers.
Anyone interested in joining the school district entry in the parade can meet the group on Thurlow Street between Haro and Robson streets by 10:30 a.m.
Don’t expect a ride on the float, though.
School district insurance doesn’t cover anyone who might be injured riding on the float, so the desks will remain as empty as they usually are during the summer months.
