Youth Connections: 2002-2003 Projects

Sun, Sep 28, 2003

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Teen Talk (Youth Health Conference)
October 2002 (Amount granted: $1000)

Youth members of Teen Talk’s Peer Support group organized and hosted a day and a half of activities and workshops related to youth health and diversity.

Garden City Collegiate (Peer Support Training)
October 2002 (Amount granted: $1000)

Grade Nine students initiated and underwent a course of training that prepared them for a new peer support program aimed at reducing incidents of bullying and violence at their school.

Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (Community Pancake Breakfast)
November 2002 (Amount granted: $600)

The school’s social activism club S.W.A.S.A (Students Who Are Socially Aware) hosted a community pancake breakfast to create and strengthen connections between students and the community in general.

Dakota Collegiate (Operation Rudolph)
December 2002 (Amount granted: $1000)

Dakota’s Black & Gold Society planned and hosted a Christmas party for children from low-income families. This was their second year of Youth Connections funding.

Kelvin High School (Kelvin Bridges Initiative)
December 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Over 150 students participated in planning and hosting their third annual Christmas party, this time inviting 175 children from nearby Fort Rouge School, which is located in a low-income neighborhood close to Winnipeg’s downtown district.

P.A.S.S. Youth Committee (Aboriginal Youth Conference)
February 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Youth members of the Selkirk, MB P.A.S.S. (Promoting Aboriginal Student Success) Committee organized and hosted their second conference designed to encourage aboriginal youth to stay in school. Conference attendance doubled and the P.A.S.S. model has attracted interest from educators province-wide.

Isaac Newton (Community Pride Project)
Winter 2002/03 (Amount granted: $307)

Grade Eight and Nine students who were involved in last year’s free snow shoveling service decided to offer the service again this year, giving new inner-city youth the opportunity to lead their peers and gain self-confidence.

Kelvin High School ( Camp Ooga Booga)
March 2002 (Amount granted: $1000)

A core group of 12 students, assisted by another 15 – 20 of their peers, offered a free day camp for low-income families during spring break. Approximately 45 children attended the camp.

Victor Mager Boys & Girls Club (Multicultural Celebration)
March 21, 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Regular members of the Victor Mager branch of Winnipeg Boys & Girls Clubs invited community members to a celebration in observance of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The event included multicultural performances and a potluck buffet featuring ethnic dishes representative of the St. Vital community.

Embracing Cultures Project
April 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Embracing Cultures brought three young speakers to Winnipeg from Toronto-based organization Kids Can Free The Children. The speakers gave presentations on cultural diversity in front of the entire student body at four different schools (three in Winnipeg, one in Portage La Prairie), and conducted workshops with smaller groups of leaders at each school. One young person who raised over $6000 on her own organized the series.

St. John’s High School (Plant Project)
Spring 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Special needs students at St. John’s learned to grow and care for bedding plants in their classroom, and then sold them at a reduced cost so that low-income families in their north end neighborhood would be able to afford them. The students also planted flowers around their school to make the grounds feel more inviting. Youth Connections helped to pay for hydroponic growing equipment for the classroom.

Westwood Collegiate (Westwood Unites)
April 18, 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

A Grade Eleven student organized a series of presentations that were designed to teach her fellow students about issues of racism, addictions and human rights.

Maples Collegiate (Celebrate Community Carnival)
May 30, 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

World of Business classmates organized a carnival featuring student performances and children’s games for the purpose of connecting their school to the larger community.

Niji Mahkwa School (Anti-Bullying Program)
Spring 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Grade nine students decided to try and reduce bullying, a common problem in their school and many others, by purchasing special course material that students worked through during class time. They also held an anti-bullying poster contest, and because incidents of bullying decreased during the last three months of school, the entire student body was rewarded with a BBQ and activity day.

Silver Heights Collegiate ( Brooklands School Snack Program)
June 2003 (Amount granted: $500)

Students went to Brooklands School to connect with younger children and encourage them to read by leading them through a series of games based on the books “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” The project was called Brooklands School Snack Program because part of their grant request included a $500 donation to the school’s snack program, a request that the Youth Connections Council did not approve.

St. John’s High School (Women’s Flag Football Clinic)
April 2003 (Amount granted: $350)

A former St. John’s High School organized a flag football clinic, facilitated by the head of the International Women’s Flag Football Association, to encourage female students at the school to become involved in the sport.

Collège Churchill (Olympic Sports Day)
May 2003 (Amount granted: $405)

Senior High students at this French immersion school planned and hosted younger students from other French immersion schools for an Olympic-style sports day. Their goal was to provide an opportunity otherwise not available to the younger students, while encouraging them to interact with peers using the French language outside of their regular classrooms.

Sister MacNamara Boys & Girls Club (3 On The Floor Basketball League)
Spring 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

In a repeat of last year’s highly successful project, members of the Sister Mac Torch Club, a subgroup of young leaders chosen from the regular members who spend time at the Winnipeg Boys & Girls Clubs Sister Mac location, planned a basketball league for youth in their inner-city neighborhood.

Grace Notes
September – June 2003 (Amount granted: $300)

Youth volunteers gave free piano lessons to children whose families were financially unable to provide those kinds of opportunities for them. The project was organized by a Grade Twelve student from Grant Park High School , who recruited volunteers, negotiated for the use of pianos at various elementary schools in Winnipeg , asked people to donate used and slightly damaged keyboards for the children to practice with and even found a local music store that agreed to fix the keyboards at no cost.

Miles Macdonell Collegiate (Home Repair Project)
May/June 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Students in Miles Mac’s Career Quest program provided free labor to repair two homes owned by low-income residents in their community. Youth Connections funding helped them to pay for supplies such as paint, lumber and landscaping material.

Southeast Education Centre (Cultural Awareness Day)
May 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Senior High students at this aboriginal high school hosted several hundred students for a day of performances and activities designed to connect the school to their larger community and help students to celebrate aboriginal culture.

Churchill High School (Women’s Wellness Week)
Fall 2003 (Amount granted: $700)

A small group of female students received funding that they will use to put on a series of workshops and activities on nutrition, stress management, depression, anxiety, personal safety and body image.

Prairie Outdoor Weekend Adventure Race (POWAR)
Fall 2003 (Amount granted: $1000)

Students from Grant Park and Kelvin High Schools teamed up to organize a weekend event that will educate youth about issues of homelessness in Winnipeg and help them develop teamwork and leadership skills using the context of an extensive obstacle race that teams must complete.

Since 2000, the Youth Connections Council has funded more than 100 youth-led projects, granting more than $80,000! For some examples of the kinds of projects we’ve funded in the past, check out these pages:

 

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