Peabody Award-winning writer and broadcaster Jowi Taylor, founder of Six String Nation, brought his message of belonging to Silver Creek Public School in Georgetown recently. His project is designed to encourage people to tell the story of Canada in different ways while celebrating the country’s diversity and the power of music.

Through his presentation, Taylor brought a very special guest to the school. It was a guitar named Voyageur. The instrument is special because it is constructed from 63 pieces of Canadian history and heritage representing many different cultures, communities and characters from all across the country. For example, it includes a piece of gold from hockey legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard's 1955 Stanley Cup ring. It also includes a piece of wood from a signature circa-1900 Saskatchewan grain elevator.

Taylor explained to the gymnasium-filled crowd about the many different parts that make up the Voyageur guitar. He did so by emphasizing the point that different pieces have been brought together to form a unique instrument, much like the way a culturally-rich and diverse Canada has formed and grown over past centuries. 

Silver Creek Vice-principal Carolyn Lewis says Taylor’s vision of “creating a guitar that represents stories of Canada exemplifies our vision of bringing children of different ages together to share their stories of what it means to be Canadian.”

She says the school wanted to celebrate the diversity of its students and Taylor “showed us diversity is not always visible – the diversity lies in the stories behind the artifacts.” 

Lewis continues: “We wanted a speaker who celebrates Canada in a unique way so that our community of parents and learners could appreciate how even the 'little' things can make a big difference in making something meaningful and memorable. We also wanted the kids to learn about the need to persevere, to believe in a dream and how to make it happen. We wanted the students to see how Canadians are made up of so many different facets – different cultures, different accomplishments, and different dreams and goals.” 

Following Taylor’s presentation, students were able to touch – and in some cases play – the guitar that has been handled by thousands of people over the years.

Lewis says Taylor’s visit fits a number of curriculum needs at Silver Creek including Design and Technology – creation and design of a guitar – Social Studies – researching the stories, artifacts and Canadian history – and Music, through the study of the guitar, role of the guitar in Canadian history through present day plus the study of Canadian music.