Governor General Julie Payette, centre, poses with Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School students after a presentation to the school. (Staff Photo)
Students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School spent Tuesday afternoon learning from the Governor General.
Julie Payette explained she’s visiting the city because of the Special Olympics Winter Games. She will be speaking at the Opening Ceremony.
While in the city, she says she wanted to connect with students. She spent around an hour explaining her duties as Governor General to students along with her past career as an astronaut, and answering students’ questions.
The Director of Education with the high school says they were happy to have her speak. Dobi-Dawn Frenette says Payette told students about achieving her dream to be an astronaut, despite facing some barriers as a woman and speaking English as a second language.
“Having those challenges and still saying ‘I’m going to be an astronaut, I’m going to go ahead and do that,’ obviously that’s a great message we want to send to our students. Many of our students do come to us from our fly-in northern communities, we want to expose them to as many opportunities as possible,” Frenette explains.
The school official adds it’s good that the Governor General also met with elders during her visit to the school, although she didn’t have time for a full tour.
Frenette notes the presentation also let students look at the relationship between Indigenous people and the Crown that Payette represents.
“It is a special relationship, especially in particular with the Governor General. Many of our First Nations view the relationship directly with the Crown because of our Treaties. I think it’s a learning opportunity,” she points out. “We ensured that our staff were provided with background information as well as a biography on Her Excellency, so that they could have that dialogue interwoven into the curriculum leading up to this visit.”
Payette’s visit continues on Wednesday with appearances at Special Olympics events, Lakehead University, and the Confederation College Aviation Centre of Excellence.
