School Champions

Throughout its long history, Change for Children has witnessed and worked with many schools who have truly championed social justice with inspiring passion, creativity and commitment.

George P. Nicholson School

GPN_T4_logoThird graders from George P. Nicholson Elementary School invited the rest of their school to participate in a Water Carnival they organized as a fundraiser. From a lemonade stand to water races, to a fishing pond, to everything in between, these creative students raised $2,000 for the Nicaragua Water Project.

Ecole Elizabeth Barrett School

elizabethbarrettThe students at Elizabeth Barrett School held a Walk for Water on World Water Day (March 22nd) to raise awareness and funds for the Nicaragua Water Project. Students committed to bringing a loonie or a toonie or more as a donation and they sent video messages to challenge other schools to do the same! By encouraging the participation of other schools, they wanted to see just how BIG their small act of kindness could grow! Collectively, the schools involved raised $2,000. Small CAN be BIG!

John D. Bracco Junior High School

john d braccoThe students of John D Bracco School came on board with Change for Children in 2016 with their support of school construction in the Bosawas region on Nicaragua, an area with the lowest literacy rates in the country. The girls group at the school baked goodies and held a bake sale to raise funds to support education for girls through CFCA’s school construction and campaign for girl’s education project.

Strathcona School

The TreeHouse Project

scona lionThe  Treehouse Project is a social initiative run out of Strathcona High School.  As a school, they chose to work together to alleviate poverty both locally, in Edmonton, and globally, in Ecuador.  By constructing an ecotourism lodge in the Ecuador rainforest, they hope not only to protect the rainforest for generations to come, but to alleviate poverty among the Siona people who call it their home.

The student’s goal for the initiative in 2015 was $200,000 to be split between Change for Children and a second organization involved in alleviating local poverty. The bikeathon which was the main event this year started at noon on Thursday, March 19 and ended at noon the following day with over 80 bike teams and more than 1100 people participating.  In true Scona fashion the students went above and beyond in their passion and enthusiasm for this year’s initiative and raised $352, 081!

St. Vincent Elementary School

The YMCA of Northern Alberta awarded St. Vincent Elementary School with a Peace Medal (2013) in recognition of their participation in the Hunger Games and their engagement in learning about local and international food security through partnership with Change for Children. The annual YMCA Peace Medals honour peacemakers who “inspire and affect the lives of others through their peaceful endeavours.”

Bearspaw

Bearspaw, Calgary

bearspawThe students of Bearspaw School in Calgary are our latest Water Champions. Through raffles of concert tickets and various other initiatives, students reached their goal of financing a community water well in Nicaragua (2013)!

Kinston Highschool

Kinston Highschool, NC

The students of Kinston Highschool in North Carolina started fundraising before they had even participated in the Video Conference for Hope which will focus on food security in Nicaragua. Selling hot chocolate at the football game half time proved to be a pretty successful initiative – they ran out and raised almost $400!

St Edmund School

St Edmund School Welcome International Guests

After inviting Miskito guests to talk about the day to day realities of life in BOSAWAS Nicaragua, students and staff of St. Edmund School were eager to welcome Ugandan visitors to share their stories. Dr. Geoffrey Anguyo & Robert Kakuru made two presentations at the Edmonton Catholic Elementary & Junior High School. In conjunction with the visits, students did their own active learning with Food Facts for a day and then Solutions on World Food Day. They raffled off several Ugandan items, handmade necklaces, Ugandan soccer balls and jerseys to raise money for the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Communities project.

St. Teresa School Digs that Well

Champions of the Right to Water

School Champions to be sure! St. Teresa’s Elementary School has taken on a third CFCA project with their Dig That Well campaign. These creative fundraisers continue to demonstrate the passion of today’s youth for making a positive difference in our world. The students and staff have paired learning with fundraising initiatives: Grade 1 students created pieces of art which they framed and sold gallery-style, Kindergarten students hosted a ‘Break the Rules’ Day, and Grade 5 & 6 students are hosting a Year-end Carnival Fundraiser. They have raised almost $5000 towards a well with more fundraising to come. Inspired teacher, Michele Fidyk, says, “We are so pleased and our students are learning so much!” Visit St Teresa’s school webpage.

Paul Kane

Students at Paul Kane have been involved in many activities at Change for Children. In May 2011, grade ten students participated in our Annual Video Conference for Hope event, connecting live with Nicaraguan students to talk about the importance of education. Inspired to make a difference, students organized and launched a “Tacos for Toonies” event at Paul Kane to fundraise for secondary school construction in Nicaragua, and raise awareness about the difficulties and injustices that many students face around the world.

Queen Elizabeth High School

The Social Justice Club at Queen Elizabeth High School recently held their Annual Wake a Thon Event – spending their Friday night dedicated to making a difference. Students collected pledges for Community Gardens in Nicaragua, and spend the entire evening and early morning at the school. Playing dodgeball, arts and crafts, and “staying awake” in the name of social justice. This is the fifth year students have participated in the event, inspiring others to “open their eyes & wake up” to social injustices happening at home and around the world!

Ecole Monseigneur Blaise Morand

Students of this North Battleford school fund raised over $1400 in support of the Food in the Forest project that will improve food security in the rainforests of Nicaraguan and Honduras by providing seeds. livestock and agricultural training (including community gardens).

St. Teresa Elementary School

Champions of Microloans

St. Teresa Elementary School students used the book One Hen along with CFCA’s Microloan stories from Uganda as the foundation for learning about the impact a small amount of financial support can have on people’s lives. The students were asked to earn $1/month during the school’s Fill a Basket Week. As there are 250 students in the school, the goal is to support one microloan in CFCA’s Microfinance & Nutrition project /month (approximately $220). Each month, they focused on one of the microloan stories as their inspiration. To date St Teresa’s has raised almost $5000!

Cold Lake High School support Eco Stoves

Jennifer Dusyk Johnson, a biology teacher at Cold Lake High School participated in Change for Children’s 2010 Just Teach Tour and was inspired by the Eco-Stove initiative incorporated into CFCA’s Rural Community Water Project. She shared what she learned about eco-stoves (see article below) with students who in turn raised funds to support eco-stoves for Nicaraguan families through their Student Union dance for justice.

St. Angela Elementary School truly Water Aware

St. Angela’s school has been devoted to being water-aware, learning daily water-facts…

Their recent spell-a-thon raised a remarkable $17,000+ – $10,000 of which will support the drilling of a community water-well in Nicaragua.

The aim of the school’s year-long water project is to increase appreciation of this precious resource both locally and globally. To wrap up the initiative, in May St. Angela’s students celebrated a Water Fair day, hosted in partnership with Change for Children and the North Saskatchewan Riverkeepers. Although this year’s water project is wrapping up, St. Angela’s is planning to continue water education next year.

For more resources & projects related to water learning click here.

St. Matthew School Sings for Change

The staff and students at St. Matthew School undertook a Lenten fundraising project entitled “Sing for Change” with all proceeds donated to Change for Children in support of educational programs. All students, grades kindergarten thru grade 6 learned to sing the song “I’d like to Teach the World to Sing.” This song was selected because it speaks to building and inspiring hope within the community. The students were then encouraged to sing this song to their family members or close friends in exchange for change/donations. St. Matthew School students raised over $3500 with their Sing for Change project proving just how powerful their voices are!