Who are we? Where are we from?

  Melanie Breckon and Fiona Wood are both middle school teachers in Canada.  While they are not teaching in the same provinces, they are both exploring social justice issues and sustainability within their classrooms.  Melanie lives and works on Treaty Six land, the Homeland of the Metis, and the traditional territory of the Cree, Saulteaux, Nakota, Dakota, and Dene Peoples. Fiona works on the ancestral territories of the Nadleh Whut’en and Stellat’en First Nations.  We are both grateful to be on this land, which has nourished people and communities for generations.

    As we learn about food systems and sustainability, we want to recognize that this land has always provided — the plants, animals, and water that continue to sustain us today. We give thanks to the original caretakers of this place, who have long practiced respect, balance, and gratitude for the food grown and gathered here. Their teachings remind us that food is not simply a resource, but a relationship — one that connects us to the land, to each other, and to the responsibilities we share.

    Being a grade 5 and 6 teacher from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Melanie integrates social justice themes into her teaching and encourages students to see themselves as active participants in their communities. However, she continues to grapple with how to confidently and meaningfully guide students through these complex conversations. This fall, during a class discussion about houselessness in downtown Saskatoon, one of her Grade 6 students raised her hand and asked, “I’m just a Grade 6 kid, what can I do about this?” This question has stayed with Melanie for months, prompting deeper reflection on how to help students move from awareness to authentic action.

Fiona is a Grade 6/7 teacher in Fraser Lake, British Columbia.  During a recent unit on identity and social justice, a Grade 6 student asked, “I’m not on the lunch program, so what does food waste have to do with me?” This honest question revealed a common perception: if an issue doesn’t directly affect someone’s daily life, they may not see themselves as connected to or impacted by it.

Drawing on D’Ignazio and Klein’s (2023) idea that “power is not distributed equally in the world” (Data Feminism, p. 8), Melanie and Fiona are exploring how mathematics can serve as a tool to uncover and challenge inequities. Through their project on food waste, they aim to support students in using data critically, to question who holds power in data collection, whose experiences are missing, and how mathematics can make visible issues of inequality and sustainability.