CLE 10 students were given the task of researching a social issue in their community and choosing a non-profit that supported the issue to include in their YPI projects (Youth and Philanthropy Initiative Canada). In-class finals are being presented throughout the week with the semi-finals on December 7. The school-wide finals will happen in May 2019. The winning group’s prize is $5000 going towards whatever their charity chooses to use the money for. The groups who will be going to the finals are: the charity Children’s Wish with the social issue of children with life-threatening illnesses and group members Deena Lakher, Rhiannon Rud, and Claire Bajha; the charity KidSport with the social issue of financial support for kids who can’t afford sports and group members Mehdi Esmaeilzadeh, Mehrshad Esmaeilzadeh, Ethan Michaud, and Jason Son; and lastly, the charity SOS Children’s Village BC with the social issue of foster care and group members Sydney Ilaender, Ali Ghane, and Karly Traub.
After the students researched a local social issue they were passionate about and chose a local non-profit organization supporting the cause, they got into contact with them and learned everything they could about how this charity is supporting their issue. The students then created a project to showcase both their chosen social issue and the non-profit, including an explanation of how the $5000 will be spent to help the community.
The group’s that made it to the semi-finals but did not make it to the finals include: Autism BC and the issue of Autism support; Lookout Housing and Health Society and the issue of homelessness; I Am Someone and the issue of bullying and mental health.
The YPI presentations were judged based on the content of the presentation (60%): information about the social issue, charity, and how the charity provides positive outcomes for the community; how people could help address the social issue; what the group learned/how they were personally impacted and how they will use their skills and time to help the charity; and, how the $5000 grant would be used by the charity and how it would impact the community. The second part they were judged on is presentation skills (40%): how passionate the group is; structure and effectiveness of their presentation; creative elements and the speaker’s presence. The total was marked out of 50, which each point being marked out of 5.
Ms. Adrienne Chapell, a CLE 10 teacher at Riverside, commended that the goal of the YPI projects is to help out in the community and teach students valuable lessons. “It helps students see those social issues, but also the ways that people are already doing good work to help and how we can be a part of that,” said Chapell. “Hopefully they take that message with them, where they do see those issues and are more inclined to take action rather than just be a bystander of them. To make more positive actions towards helping out with those social issues.”
Riverside has taught students this YPI unit for many years now. The class that previously taught this unit was Planning 10, but it has been moved to CLE 10. This unit allows students to take a better look at their community and the issues they are facing, all while helping the non-profits that are focusing on these issues.
Names of the students who made it to the semi-finals:
Autism BC – Kelsey Stewart, Ella Gaspar, Maya Pawley, Ruby Mahar, and Emma Morgan.
Lookout Housing and Health Society – Emily Dickson, Alexandra Newbery, Damian Deux, and Tanya Tettenborn.
I Am Someone – Didi Dimitrova, Lauren Gunster, and Kameko Hall.
