Student Operated Business, PEACE Pens and Beyond, Adds Handcrafted Indigenous Greeting Cards to Product Line!

Exciting news for next academic year! We’re launching a new product at PEACE Pens and Beyond: beautifully handcrafted greeting cards created by students from our Indigenous art project at St. Albert Learning Centre.

This initiative, funded by a call for proposals from SCDSB Indigenous Education and in partnership with Sudbury Art Gallery, involved at-risk students from three of our classrooms: U-Turn, ECPP, and PEACE Programs.

Led by Abanaki artist, Jessica Somers, the project focused on animals and their connection to emotions. Students from grades 9-12 learned Indigenous teachings about animals like the bear, eagle, bison, wolf, and raven, and translated these into messages for greeting cards.

Each student crafted five types of cards: birthday, love, sympathy, friendship, and thank-you, incorporating both English and Ojibway words.

This project not only allowed students to earn a visual art credit but also encouraged them to discover their spirit animals and draw inspiration from nature.

For every package of these unique greeting cards sold, we’ll donate to the Orange Shirt Society.