Spiritual Emphasis Week 2022
What is Spiritual Emphasis Week?
Rockway recognizes that students, faculty and staff benefit from opportunities to explore important conversations, and particularly ones that relate to students’ spirituality and personal journey. This is what inspires Rockway’s annual Spiritual Emphasis Week – a week where students are challenged to dig more deeply into a relevant topic, through a guest chapel speaker, discussions, and reflection. This year, the conversation continues with our focus on relationships to land and First Peoples.
Connecting to the Land, Connecting to Each Other
Our guest speakers this year are Clarence M. Cachagee and Rebecca Seiling. Together, they will be speaking to students virtually through three video chapel addresses:
- Tuesday, March 22, 2022: Stewardship vs Ownership
- Wednesday, March 23, 2022: Sitting with the Truth
- Thursday, March 24, 2022: Two-Eyed Seeing and Allyship
Like last year, we will not be having an evening session for parents, but we do invite you to watch the videos at home. They are linked below:
- Session 1: Stewardship vs. Ownership of Land
- Session 2: Sitting with the Truth
- Session 3: Two-Eyed Seeing and Allyship
Meet our Guest Speakers
Clarence Cachagee is from Waterloo Region and has an undeniable spirit for change. With a primary focus on working with the Spirit within, he is a helper, visionary and author who is known for investing his whole self into his community.
Clarence originates from Chapleau Cree First Nation and calls Cambridge his home. He has faced his fair share of struggles and chooses to serve and support those living on the margins of society.
Clarence continues to engage with his community through land-based teaching and healing as an Indigenous Community Educator, public speaking and facilitating groups to encourage “healing”.
Clarence says, “It is said that Mother Earth has all the medicines for every disease there is. Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island are land-based people. We have received many of our teachings from the animals. Our creation stories are about Mother Earth and how we came to be. It is said that you can go anywhere on Turtle Island and find the medicine you need. Understanding land-based philosophies helps us become better connected and feed our spirits”.
Clarence currently works as an Aboriginal Services Coordinator at Conestoga College and is the visionary behind Crow Shield Lodge which is a place for reconciliation, land-based teaching and healing.
Rebecca Seiling is grateful to Rockway Mennonite Collegiate for long ago giving her some “teaching legs” in her job as T.A. before she even knew she wanted to be a teacher. Since then, Rebecca has worked in many roles related to education, spirituality, and land-based learning.
She currently wears several work hats: running nature programs with the City of Kitchener, facilitating professional development for teachers through Child and Nature Alliance of Canada, and working with Mennonite Central Committee’s Indigenous Neighbours program.
Rebecca’s connection to land comes from growing up on two farms: her grandparents’ in St. Jacobs, and her family’s in Elora, and spending lots of time outdoors. She is passionate about connecting people to the land around them. To her, each season and space is full of wonder – when we have eyes to see.
We look forward to Clarence and Rebecca sharing their reflections with our student body and we are grateful for the support of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, our Opening Chapel Sponsor.
