On a recent family vacation, Julia Palfreyman had the chance to visit Craigellachie, site of the last spike that completed the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
It’s a popular tourist destination in British Columbia, but it’s one that has special meaning for the Grade 5 student at BX elementary school.
Julia, 11, and her classmates in Tanya Kaempf’s Grade 5/6 class recently learned about the history of the CPR and the thousands of Chinese workers who built the railroad, under often appalling conditions.
“Mrs. Kaempf taught us about the CPR and the Chinese workers that came in and the way they were treated, and that they got paid less than the Canadians,” she said.
As part of the lesson, Kaempf read Spirits of the Railway, by Chinese-Canadian author Paul Yee. It’s a tale that tells of the first Chinese peasants to leave south China for the New World. In this story, Chu embarks on a two-month long voyage to Canada in search of his father, a poor farmer who left his family months ago to find work. Chu finds work in Canada on a work gang, building the railroad. But there he encounters the bitterness of the Chinese men that were there before him, who experienced mistreatment and prejudice of the white overseers.
For their assignment, students were asked to write their own short story, and were given about three weeks to work on it.
“We had to write a story as if we were there with Chu,” said Julia, who has agreed to share her story, Silent Railway Deaths, with The Morning Star.
Kaempf said the lesson put into practice a teaching strategy called Smart Learning, a framework that focuses on developing a higher understanding and lasting learning where students mindfully apply skills and tools to complex tasks.
“So what you do is you break up text into chunks and make use of description to bring it to life,” she said. “Students had to be a reporter who had stepped into the situation, so they could become Chu or another worker, whatever they chose.”
Kaempf contacted Yee, who lives in Toronto, to ask permission to use his story as the basis for the students’ work. And he also agreed to take a look at some of the pieces written by the students.
“The curriculum is to learn about the development and significance of the CPR,” she said. “This was my first time teaching the topic, and when I started doing my own research, I came across the atrocities and I just didn’t feel I could gloss over it.
“The other part of the story was about immigration.”
For her part, Julia said she was surprised to learn of the poor treatment of the Chinese people by Canadians.
“I always thought we were nice to everyone, but one thing I learned that shocked me was that if the workers died, they were just thrown in the river, instead of getting a proper burial.”
Born in the Yukon, Julia moved here two years ago and, although she misses her friends back home, she has quickly settled into her new home, making new friends and being made to feel welcome.
BX school was recently the site of a ceremony for new Canadian citizens, so it was a chance for students to discuss immigration and why someone might choose to come here.
“It’s nice here, Canada is a beautiful country and everyone is treated with respect.”
While most of Julia’s writing involves keeping a journal, she hopes her future includes a career as a writer.
“I would like to write scary stories with ghosts because that’s what I really enjoy,” she said.
