The last few days, I’ve been having conversations about how to nurture a rural queer community - when Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Bi, Queer (GBLTQ) people feel safe in our community and when they don’t. I talked to someone at a Youth Drop-In Centre. He told me of a...
Dating violence is up across Canada according to a recent Statistics Canada report. The numbers, which encompass a wide range of relationships (boyfriends and girlfriends, exes and many permutations of intimate entanglements), were compiled from police reports from...
SWOVA has always prided itself on the training it provides facilitators interested in delivering the Respectful Relationships (R+R) curriculum. Respectful Relationships (R+R) is a National and Provincial award winning schools-based primary violence prevention program...
As a contractor for SWOVA, I have very specific tasks laid out that involve project coordination. As the project coordinator for the Respectful Relationships (R+R) program, the Pass It On Program, and for the Online R+R Facilitator’s Training, I need to ensure all the...
The Pass It On female teen mentorship program has now completed its second year. This year there were 16 mentors and 16 buddies. The mentors met weekly with their mentor supervisor, Kate Maurice, for support and guidance. In addition, they met monthly as a group with...
Kate Maurice, the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On female teen mentorship program, held us intimately and passionately in a circle of gratitude during an evening of entertainment on Sunday April 29th at the Harbour House Hotel. The event was a fundraiser for the...
On April 24th, Pass It On is coming to the end of this year’s program which means, in the words of female student mentor, Paige Penny, ‘We now throw Sparkfest as a way to celebrate the past year and to build momentum for the next year.” April 29th marks the 2nd...
The Pass It On Program is an initiative that aims to empower and support adolescent girls by providing education and skill building to help them stay safe. The project has two key components. The first is to engage high school adolescent girls in a dialogue around the...
Respectful Relationships (R+R) is a National and Provincial award winning schools-based primary violence prevention program for youth, developed by SWOVA. SWOVA has spent almost a decade of research and development, refining ideas about how to stop bullying,...
In the classroom, we use Energizers as activities for groups of youth to practice skill building related to the Respectful Relationships program as well as have the opportunity to move around and be in their bodies during our sessions. In a recent circle we played...
Today in the Respectful Relationships Program, we worked with Grade 8 youth to explore stereotypes and how they relate to violence. My co-facilitator Kevin and I do a role play and act out our two scenarios of two youth in conversation. The first scene is a young man...
Dialogue Circles February 14 or 16, 7-9pm (Registration required) A collaborative evening of dialogue for parents and youth of the Gulf Islands These evening talking circles are an opportunity for open, honest and safe dialogue between youth and parents about...
Val Jordan, the Mentor Supervisor of the Pass It On Project in Prince George, knows her community well. Prince George is the Northern capital of British Columbia with a population of approximately 70,000. There is a strong multicultural and Aboriginal component to the...
One of the most important reasons why I work with youth around gender, stereotypes and healthy relationships, is that I get the opportunity to engage in complex and thought provoking conversations with young men. Speaking of self- esteem, emotions, conflict...
Jennifer Quam is the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On Project in Valemount/ McBride, British Columbia. McBride has a population of 710 while 90 kilometers away is Valemount, with a population of 1100. The school population for both communities hovers around 100...
The Pass It On Project - Phase II is occurring simultaneously in 5 communities throughout British Columbia - Salt Spring Island, Uclulet, Valemount/McBride, Prince George and Kamloops. Kamloops is in the Southern Interior of the province with a population of 85,000....
This winter, I had the privilege of traveling around British Columbia delivering workshops with rural girls and young women as part of Phase 2 of the Pass it On project. These workshops were originally written for youth here on Salt Spring Island and thanks to the...
We recently found out that the Department of Justice Canada is funding us to work in partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band. As part of their Justice Partnership and Innovation Program - Access to Justice for Aboriginal Women, we will look at existing data from...
As Pass It On Phase II is being implemented across the province, young middle school girls are meeting up with their high school mentors. When asked to respond to 3 questions, 2 mentor supervisors from our most Northern communities involved in the project and 1 from...
What makes mentoring work for young women and girls? - having a supportive network. The 10 young female high school mentors on Salt Spring Island had their opportunity to test out their own expectations of what mentoring is this past week. Of the 10 mentors, half were...
We're pretty proud of SWOVA’s R+R program and it turns out that we have reason to be. Recently a review of the evaluation results for our program by Buote and Berglund, was published in the international Journal of Education, Citizenship and Social Justice. The...
The Pass It On Project - Phase II is a mentorship program, which partners young high school women with Grade 8 girls. The aim is to foster connections and friendships, which promote the health and safety of young women and girls. Funding from the Status of Women...
A sexual assault in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia in September has aroused much concern and discussion. A young woman aged sixteen was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party by a group of young men. It was videotaped and posted on the internet. The result has...
Val Jordan, the Mentor Supervisor of the Pass It On Project in Prince George, knows her community well. Prince George is the Northern capital of British Columbia with a population of approximately 70,000. There is a strong multicultural and Aboriginal component to the...
One of the most important reasons why I work with youth around gender, stereotypes and healthy relationships, is that I get the opportunity to engage in complex and thought provoking conversations with young men. Speaking of self- esteem, emotions, conflict...
Jennifer Quam is the Mentor Supervisor for the Pass It On Project in Valemount/ McBride, British Columbia. McBride has a population of 710 while 90 kilometers away is Valemount, with a population of 1100. The school population for both communities hovers around 100...
The Pass It On Project - Phase II is occurring simultaneously in 5 communities throughout British Columbia - Salt Spring Island, Uclulet, Valemount/McBride, Prince George and Kamloops. Kamloops is in the Southern Interior of the province with a population of 85,000....
This winter, I had the privilege of traveling around British Columbia delivering workshops with rural girls and young women as part of Phase 2 of the Pass it On project. These workshops were originally written for youth here on Salt Spring Island and thanks to the...
We recently found out that the Department of Justice Canada is funding us to work in partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band. As part of their Justice Partnership and Innovation Program - Access to Justice for Aboriginal Women, we will look at existing data from...
As Pass It On Phase II is being implemented across the province, young middle school girls are meeting up with their high school mentors. When asked to respond to 3 questions, 2 mentor supervisors from our most Northern communities involved in the project and 1 from...
What makes mentoring work for young women and girls? - having a supportive network. The 10 young female high school mentors on Salt Spring Island had their opportunity to test out their own expectations of what mentoring is this past week. Of the 10 mentors, half were...
We're pretty proud of SWOVA’s R+R program and it turns out that we have reason to be. Recently a review of the evaluation results for our program by Buote and Berglund, was published in the international Journal of Education, Citizenship and Social Justice. The...
The Pass It On Project - Phase II is a mentorship program, which partners young high school women with Grade 8 girls. The aim is to foster connections and friendships, which promote the health and safety of young women and girls. Funding from the Status of Women...
A sexual assault in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia in September has aroused much concern and discussion. A young woman aged sixteen was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party by a group of young men. It was videotaped and posted on the internet. The result has...