Louder Than Words

A group of 10 students facilitated by a teacher are working together to organize a conference on Social Justice. On March 16th, 2010 we are inviting 300 grade 9 students to Selkirk Junior High to learn and discuss issues surrounding Social Justice. The grade 9 students of the school will be facilitating sessions for our visitors along with NGOs that have agreed to join us. We hope to gather together to teach and motivate students on issues that are affecting people both locally and globally and how they can get involved.

Update (June 15, 2011)

The event was a huge success. The student organizers and presenters were very proud of themselves. Our keynote speakers were Keith and Renee from the organization Free the Children. They presented a strong message of helping others and shared their experiences with the students. Afterwards each visiting group visited 3 sessions either led by École Selkirk Junior High grade nine students or NGOs. We had groups from MCC Manitoba, World Vision, MCIC, The Salvation Army and Grands'n'More. We had over 250 visiting students from Winnipeg and surrounding areas, even as far away at Swan Valley. We broke for lunch which was provided by our local Walmart in Selkirk and the students had time to each, socialize and work with their teachers to reflect on their learning. We finished the day with a presentation by Bubba B, a local radio DJ and music artist. He provided the students with message that they are the change and it's their choices that will make a difference in the world.

As the year comes to an end, the students have been reflecting on the highs and lows of the year. Many of them have talked about Louder Than Words being an event that they thoroughly enjoyed and were proud to have had a part in.

The goal of this day was to get kids thinking about their choices and how to help others. Based on the feedback from the students, I think they were quite successful in expressing their message.