Despite finishing her last exam at Queen’s Law mere weeks ago, Jennifer Dumoulin is back in class – this time, at the front of the room.

She’s a special lecturer for the SIR (Seeds in Residence) program – a special annual event that provides an opportunity for highly motivated, above average and bright grade 7 & 8 students to come to Queen’s University to study a subject of their choosing at an advanced level.

During their three days at Queen’s, students enjoy a “total university experience”, staying in residence, eating at the dining hall, and participating in extracurricular activities including cooking schools, a climbing gym and pottery classes.

Dumoulin’s course, “You said what? The law of freedom of expression in Canada,” is being taught to two groups of SIR participants through the last two weeks of May.

“There was a call for applicants over the Christmas break, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try teaching,” Dumoulin says. Teaching, it turns out, has been a subject of interest for some time. “I was very inspired by my high school Law teacher – we’re still in touch – and I remember thinking when I started law that one day I’d love to return to teach it,” she says. Her ambitions have changed since then, but guest speaking in high schools remains a goal.

She is teaching Freedom of Expression – a topic of her own choice. “I was given the advice to keep it interesting, and I’m a Charter rights person – that’s the kind of law I want to practice – so that’s what I gravitated toward,” Dumoulin explains. “But there are certain Charter rights that are more complex than others. I tried to pick one that was interesting and had nuance, but would be possible to grasp by the end of the week, since I only have the students for two and a half days.”

Her approach to this rich topic is structured, starting with satisfying curiosity. “I start with an introduction to lawyers and law school – when I asked the students if they were curious about law school in the first week, a lot of hands shot up,” she laughs. “Then I move into rights: what are rights, what is the Charter, and then we go through the different legal tests for freedom of expression – what kind of rights does it protect, how does it stop the government from doing certain things and not give you the right to speak whenever you want.”

“It’s very topical right now, especially for this age group, because there’s been a lot of talk in the media about clothing requirements and dress codes at schools, with the counterpoint being it’s just a way to express yourself.” This natural interest provides a great lever to show young students how Carter rights apply to them – “we can use this as a lens to look at rights,” Dumoulin says.

The program is run by the Enrichment Studies Unit at Queen’s, a group that “strives to enrich highly motivated youth by challenging them academically, developing them personally, and inspiring them with the Queen’s University experience.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Dumoulin says, “I think the kids are enjoying it as much as I am.”