“Thanks for voting,” says Cohen Francis, acknowledging a Grade 4 student who successfully folded their ballot as they’d been shown and tipped it into the voting box. Francis is in Grade 9. On Monday, November 25, his class at the Halifax Independent School led the provincial edition of the Student Vote program for their school. […]
Lauren Phillips, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Lauren Phillips is The Coast’s Education Reporter, a position created in September 2023 with support from the Local Journalism Initiative. Lauren studied journalism at the University of King’s College, and has written on education and sports at Dal News and Saint Mary's Athletics for over two years. She won gold in the Canadian online publishing awards in the academic Best Multicultural Story category for her work on "Kwe’ Eskasoni," in May 2022, and assisted the journalism academic partners of Looking Out For Each Other (LOFEO), a project that started with the media guidelines on how to report responsibly on missing Indigenous people. Lauren assisted in researching recommendations for family and friends of missing Indigenous people to help them understand how media works and how to communicate effectively with reporters.
Posted inNews + Opinion
What have we heard about education and child care this election campaign?
An election no one wanted, called late last month, will bear fruit Nov 26. As reported by the CBC, a recent telephone poll of 800 Nova Scotians from Narrative Research suggests that premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives have maintained a significant lead throughout the campaign. However, nearly a quarter of those polled are still in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Last chance to catch two expansive shows on hip hop at MSVU Art Gallery
Two levels; two deep-dive exhibitions; one price: free. Since Sep 21, the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery has brought together two shows to explore the art of hip hop—the graffiti, the music, the people, the movement—and how it lends itself to groundbreaking forms of archival work and scholarship that honours hip hop’s ongoing 51-plus-year […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tammy Jakeman’s journey from candidate to pariah and back
On Friday, Nov 8, Tammy Jakeman was canvassing as a New Democratic Party candidate in Eastern Passage for the upcoming provincial election on Nov 26, unaware this was the beginning of a blurry and tumultuous week. “I was having the most amazing conversations” with voters on their doorsteps in her riding, Jakeman tells The Coast. […]
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Scenes from NSCAD student weekend on organizing and art
The student union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, or SUNSCAD, had planned two days of teach-ins, art-making and discussions focused on student organizing for their art-college peers—to be hosted at their Granville Street Campus last weekend. Their booking to use NSCAD space Nov 2-3 was initially approved. Then, their university president […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
In this economy, try art
I will not doomscroll news about the election(s). I will not doomscroll news about the election(s). I will not doomscroll news about the election(s). Today (and everyday) is a great day to talk about and visit art through shows, lectures and discussions happening this Thursday, Nov 7. To start things off, from 12-1pm, scholar, DJ, […]
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Dal will not ask survivors of sexualized violence to sign NDAs
Dalhousie University has made a significant change to the way it responds to cases of sexualized violence involving members of its community. In the week following several events hosted by the group Can’t Buy My Silence, or CBMS, in Halifax—including training and information sessions on banning the misuse of non-disclosure agreements because of their harmful […]
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Al Zeitoun Weekend is happening this Saturday and Sunday…somewhere
This weekend, the NSCAD Student Union—SUNSCAD—and Students for the Liberation of Palestine—Kjipuktuk (Halifax), or SLPK—will host a two-day event “in solidarity with the Indigenous struggle against the genocide in Palestine.” However, the event’s location has been thrown into flux. The SLPK is a coalition of students from across Halifax universities, including NSCAD. Over the spring […]
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Have your say in the provincial school code of conduct update
Nova Scotia’s School Code of Conduct Policy is overdue for an update. Six years overdue, to be exact, writes the Auditor General’s report from June, Preventing and Addressing Violence in Nova Scotia Public Schools. The report contained several recommendations related to updating the code of conduct, all of which the Department of Education and Early […]
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Education worker strike could happen as early as January
Over 5,000 education workers—including teaching assistants, custodians, bus drivers, early childhood educators, librarians and cafeteria workers—could go on strike as early as mid-January if bargaining over key issues breaks down. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) NS, representing school support staff across eight provincial education sectors, voted 94% in favour of a strike mandate […]
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“Our future’s in such critical danger”
Iman Mannathukkaren has been an organizer with the student-led group School Strike 4 Climate Halifax since she was in Grade 10. Now in her first year at the University of King’s College, Mannathukkaren was testing megaphones at noon on Friday Oct. 25 ahead of her third climate rally beginning that day at Victoria Park, in […]
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Province adding 47 staff to address violence in Nova Scotia’s 373 schools
Violence in schools affects students, staff and teachers. Educators have long requested that the province take this crisis seriously, listen to their needs and commit more resources to address it. Finally last Wednesday, Oct. 17, the province announced it would be “adding 47 specialized staff to prevent and address violence in Nova Scotia schools” through […]