Exhibition Resources

Personal & Cultural Identity Projects

Project Submissions DUE MARCH 13, 2026

During April & May, K-12 student projects will be on display in the gallery! This year, in conjunction with our exhibition Parallax(e), we invite students to consider their own personal geography.

Students are asked to develop personal identity presentations on the themes:

“What places, spaces, and moments are significant in the story of my life?” or
“How does my culture show up in my life?”

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to exhibit student work at The Reach! Students may use the platform Book Creator for their projects, or create artwork or class projects that expresses identity. Digital projects will be included in an interactive kiosk, and artwork will be installed in the Community Arts Space Gallery!

Teachers can make use of Curriculum Helping Teachers to support the generation of identity texts. Collateral resources available to teachers outline the Big Ideas and Core Competencies for this special assignment, which focuses on positive personal and cultural identity and has been developed in partnership with District Curriculum Administrators.

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Activity Kits

Bring arts and culture to life at home with our Activity Kits!

Each new exhibition season, we offer free kits (while supplies last) with easy-to-follow instructions and all the materials you’ll need to create fun and educational art projects.

Personal Geographies Activity Kit

Our Personal Geographies activity kit is inspired by the artworks and historical objects in Parallax, which investigate the many and ongoing impacts of the Canada–U.S. border’s creation on Indigenous communities.

In this activity, we invite you to consider your own personal geography. What places, spaces, and moments emerge as significant in the story of your life? What boundaries—real or imagined, imposed or voluntary—have shaped your geography?

This activity is great fun for all ages! The activity kit includes instructions, art materials, and fun facts about two historical objects in the Parallax exhibition! Pick up a FREE activity kit at The Reach, or order in bulk at $1 each for your class through the link below.

Attention Educators: This activity kit addresses learning goals represented in the “Big Ideas” and Core Competencies in BC’s curriculum, and offer an easily administered, complete 40 minute lesson for Grades 6-9. Our activity kit complements learning goals in Social Studies, English Language Arts, and Arts Education.

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Skwó:wech (Sturgeon) Plush Toy Kit

$10/kit

Recommended for Kindergarten to Grade 5

This kit contains how-to instructions and all the materials your students will need to create their own plush toy sturgeon inspired by our children’s picture book Semá:th Xó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sx̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake: Great Gramma’s Lake).

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Grand Theft Terra Firma Online

Grand Theft Terra Firma reframes the settlement of Stó:lō Téméxw (now known as the Fraser Valley) as a complex heist conducted by a “gang of greedy thieves.”

Combining a deep dive into local historical research with photography, creative text, and video vignettes, the website unfolds as an imaginary gaming guide, complete with a cast of characters, missions, power objects necessary for gaming success, and screen shots that share key moments in game play. The twist, however, lies in the moral implications of the game’s goals: visitors to the website are asked to step into the villains’ shoes to colonize the land.

The site features an Educator’s Guide that supports the implementation of Indigenous content and pedagogies in the classroom.

This unique website deftly blends art and history to unsettle everything you think you know about Canadian history.

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Semá:th Xó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sx̱ó:tsa / Great Gramma’s Lake

About the book

For millennia, a vast lake existed between Sumas and Vedder mountains in the unceded territory of the Stó:lō people, in what is now known as the Fraser Valley. Teeming with ecological abundance, Semá:th Xó:tsa (Sumas Lake, pronounced seMATH hOTsa) was central to cultural, spiritual, and physical wellbeing of the Séma:th people (Sumas First Nation) and surrounding Indigenous communities. Between 1919 and 1924, settlers in the region lobbied government to drain the lake, thereby enhancing the agricultural capacity of the region.

The collaborative book recalls a time when the lake was thriving, using memory and story to allow the lake to live on today. The project is illustrated by Carrielynn Victor and co-authored by Chris Silver, Carrielynn Victor, Kris Foulds, and Laura Schneider.

Copies of the book can be purchased for $12 from The Reach.

Material Culture Kit

Bring the local South Asian Canadian experience to your classroom with the Des Pardes Material Culture Kit! Through historical photographs, cultural objects, artwork reproductions and artifacts of daily living, South Asian students can find familiar items to share with their peers and other students can learn about new cultural traditions. Our easy-to-follow classroom guide presents a photograph of each object included in the kit, a written introduction to the item, and questions that encourage discussion for classroom engagement. Conveniently packaged in a vintage suitcase, the Material Culture Kit is free to reserve and will be delivered to participating schools for three weeks, to allow multiple classes to access the resource. Email programs@thereach.ca to reserve the Material Culture Kit for your school.

Digital Access To Heritage

The Digital Access to Heritage Guide brings Des Pardes digital content into classrooms using a framework of short videos and discussion questions to explore universal themes and increase cultural literacy.

This free resource provides you with private links to video content featured in our exhibition, followed by discussion questions to deepen student learning.

Each three to five minute video is a compilation of interviews by South Asian Canadian community members on universal themes such as Family, Migration, Contemporary Culture, and more! This guide can be utilized on its own or as preparation for an in-person field trip to the Reach. Email programs@thereach.ca to receive a digital copy for your class.