A Windsor teacher has been named as the next Educator in Residence at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights based in Winnipeg.
Walter Cassidy has been a local leader in creating 2SLGBTQI+ programs for students and teachers, and will bring decades of experience highlighting queer and trans issues to this national role.
An educator, historian and activist, Cassidy's work has helped address the underrepresentation of 2SLGBTQI+ people in schools and communities across Canada.
He's a teacher with the Greater Essex County District School Board, he will be the third person to serve as Educator in Residence, and the first from Ontario.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift, Cassidy says he's already in Winnipeg getting the lay of the land for what he'll be doing.
Cassidy says part of his role will be working on a touring exhibit and raising awareness of the past.
"And I'm to help create some resources for K-12, and one of the things I did tell them is I hope they come to Windsor so Windsor can experience that exhibit. I'm also to help facilitate getting more visibility in schools and classrooms around the country," he said.
Cassidy says the evidence shows that when kids see themselves in the curriculum, it makes a world of difference to their sense of self-worth.
He says part of that is raising the awareness of those who have fought for equality over the years.
"One of the things I've talked about was a local from Windsor, John Damien, who in 1975 was fired for being gay," Cassidy continued. "And he actually became the gay liberation poster boy around the country, he had national recognition, but no one knows about him."
The Museum’s Educator in Residence program began in 2017 to foster and support the development of human rights education programs for young learners, both on site and online.
Following a national call for applications, an outstanding educator is selected for a two-year term position.
Cassidy says the mandate is about human rights, so creating programs has to be wrapped about that as a focus.
"We have to be very clear that everyone has human rights and that there's a history of people struggling to achieve those human rights. And so I think that's how I really want to include that, because the queer and trans community has for decades, and decades, and decades had to fight for their rights."
Cassidy has over 20 years of experience in the classroom, and he founded and chairs the GECDSB Gay Straight Alliance for Staff.
He also created the Pride in Education resource for educators, teaches a course at the University of Windsor titled "How to Teach LGBTQ Students," and is also the chair of the Windsor/Essex Rainbow Alliance.
- with files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides