Keywords:
lesbian, elementary school, middle school, high school, parenting, volunteering
lesbian, elementary school, middle school, high school, parenting, volunteering
Transcript
Bev: My name is Beverley Jones, and I have two children, uh, a boy and a girl, who, um, were, um, conceived within a lesbian relationship, I was with my partner for fifteen years, uh, so my ex-partner is still very involved with their life; we also have a known donor and he—the intention always was that he would be very involved, and he has a very active relationship with him, with, uh, both children, and his partner is also very active in their lives as well. So they have a huge number of parents who love them and look after them.
Tara: That’s wonderful. Uh, tell us a little about, uh, the schools that your children have been to and are going to right now.
Bev: Okay, so, uh. They have been to the local school from kindergarten all the way up, and my son is now in grade nine and my daughter is now in grade seven. Um, the elementary school they went to is Palmerston Public School, which, um, was a very welcoming environment, there are a lot of, um, gay teachers on staff, and that was always a very positive experience in there, though there’s… no issues at all, um that I really sort of came across, in terms of being accepted as a family, there are also a lot of lesbian and gay parents, uh, and the other kids, in the classroom. So it is, it, it’s actually been very good, um. There has also been no issues with the middle school that we’re now at, both kids went to the same middle school, which is King Edward, uh, public school, and uh, we try and be involved just to make sure there aren’t any undercurrents of issues so I, um, at the minute I volunteer for the school advisory committee at Parkdale, which is where my son is in high school, um, just to make sure I’m in there and, uh, it’s a very different atmosphere there in that particular school, and to make sure there isn’t anything that would be a problem for him.
Tara: Wonderful. So, um, the strategy of getting very involved and being on the advisory council, um, do you feel that that would give you an authority, uh, to raise issues that’s perhaps different if you weren’t involved?
Bev: I think access, the school is school very open, and I think if I needed to raise an issue, I wouldn’t have to be at that level, but um, going and volunteering not only… gets me involved in my child’s education, and, uh, how the school actually functions, but it allows me to also find out if there are problems that if, maybe he’s not reporting to me.
Bev: My name is Beverley Jones, and I have two children, uh, a boy and a girl, who, um, were, um, conceived within a lesbian relationship, I was with my partner for fifteen years, uh, so my ex-partner is still very involved with their life; we also have a known donor and he—the intention always was that he would be very involved, and he has a very active relationship with him, with, uh, both children, and his partner is also very active in their lives as well. So they have a huge number of parents who love them and look after them.
Tara: That’s wonderful. Uh, tell us a little about, uh, the schools that your children have been to and are going to right now.
Bev: Okay, so, uh. They have been to the local school from kindergarten all the way up, and my son is now in grade nine and my daughter is now in grade seven. Um, the elementary school they went to is Palmerston Public School, which, um, was a very welcoming environment, there are a lot of, um, gay teachers on staff, and that was always a very positive experience in there, though there’s… no issues at all, um that I really sort of came across, in terms of being accepted as a family, there are also a lot of lesbian and gay parents, uh, and the other kids, in the classroom. So it is, it, it’s actually been very good, um. There has also been no issues with the middle school that we’re now at, both kids went to the same middle school, which is King Edward, uh, public school, and uh, we try and be involved just to make sure there aren’t any undercurrents of issues so I, um, at the minute I volunteer for the school advisory committee at Parkdale, which is where my son is in high school, um, just to make sure I’m in there and, uh, it’s a very different atmosphere there in that particular school, and to make sure there isn’t anything that would be a problem for him.
Tara: Wonderful. So, um, the strategy of getting very involved and being on the advisory council, um, do you feel that that would give you an authority, uh, to raise issues that’s perhaps different if you weren’t involved?
Bev: I think access, the school is school very open, and I think if I needed to raise an issue, I wouldn’t have to be at that level, but um, going and volunteering not only… gets me involved in my child’s education, and, uh, how the school actually functions, but it allows me to also find out if there are problems that if, maybe he’s not reporting to me.