Among the many lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic was that healthy schools are vital to healthy cities. As numerous studies have demonstrated, the extended school closures, delays, and disruptions experienced by students across Ontario took a toll on children’s mental and physical health and posed disproportionate challenges for Black and Indigenous families.

As school resumes this month in Ottawa, many parents, teachers and students are hoping for a return to familiar patterns and practices of teaching and learning, but what might be lost in our efforts to return to “normal”? Are we missing an opportunity to reflect upon and act on the lessons that the pandemic has taught us about the importance of functioning schools, and, more importantly, young people’s well-being?

In this special “Back to School” panel, our first in-person Healthy Cities event since February 2020, panelists offer insights into some of the challenges that Ottawa students may face as we move into a new “post-pandemic” era of schooling, as well as some of the possibilities that a more critical perspective on childhood and youth might offer as we reflect on the lessons from the last two years.
Moderator and Panelist Bios

Dr. Julie Garlen (Moderator) is a Professor of Childhood and Youth Studies and the Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies at Carleton University. Garlen is a critical cultural theorist with interests in childhood, education, and curriculum studies. Previously, she worked in the U.S. South as an elementary school teacher and an early childhood teacher educator. Her 2021 article “The End of Innocence: Childhood and Schooling for a Post-Pandemic World” appeared in a special issue of The Journal of Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Maria Rogers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Child and Youth Mental Health and Well-Being. Rogers’ research brings together mental health and education to improve our understanding of how they interact in children and youth. Education is one of the primary social determinants of health, and her ultimate goal is to help nurture success at school and beyond.

Dr. Leila Angod is an Assistant Professor of Childhood and Youth Studies at Carleton University. Angod’s critical race feminist research reveals the role of schooling discourses, policies, and practices in making racial regimes. Her scholarship intervenes in the normalization of institutional violence at schools and mobilizes youth co-led research to create critical communities of care. Angod’s scholarship draws from her experience as a secondary school teacher in southwestern Ontario.

Sherwyn Solomon has been committed to working towards equity in education for over 30 years. His past work in the field has included numerous public speaking engagements and workshops, writing curriculum for the Ontario Ministry of Education, and co-authoring a book. Currently, Sherwyn is the principal at Le Phare Elementary School in Ottawa, where he continues his work growing student achievement through his passion for equity, and excellence in instructional practice.