PhD Student Keri-Lyn Durant Leads Award-Winning Hospice Northwest Video Project: “Die-alogues: Talking to Kids About Death”
Keri-Lyn Durant, a PhD student, puppeteer, and volunteer for Hospice Northwest, developed the idea for a video project to help teach children about death and dying.
The video, produced by Hospice Northwest, won a $5,000 TBaytel Good Community award based on the number of votes it received in an online competition.
Entitled “Die-alogues: Talking to Kids About Death,” the one-minute video features Phoebe, an inquisitive sloth puppet (see picture below), voiced by Keri-Lyn, who talks to a child about the death of a grandparent.
Keri-Lyn, whose PhD research is focused on the importance of death education, says the video is aiming to “fill a gap in the Ontario elementary curriculum. We’re not teaching our kids to cope and deal with death, dying and loss. Our program is going to invite members of the community to come and discuss how we can better serve our children.”
