Reflecting on 2021
As the new year begins, we at Rising have much to reflect on from 2021. This year our mission to bring critical topics into classrooms expanded in ways we could have only imagined.
Our Module on Homelessness created in collaboration with Journey Home was piloted in 7 classrooms to incredible response from both teachers and students. Learning, exploring, and reflecting on the topic of homelessness inspired a group of students from Chute Lake Elementary to take positive action in their local community. These students took it upon themselves to make what they called “Tokens of Kindness” - laminated, colourful messages to spread love, encouragement, and a theme of community to those experiencing homelessness in the Okanagan. The Journey Home Module was also utilized as a teaching tool for those in a local senior’s centre, this past fall. This Module is very representative of Rising’s roots. We started Rising because we had a vision of using educational tools to empower young people to look at the experiences of others through a lens of empathy, learn from those with lived experience, and become change makers in their own community. The students in our community have begun to think differently, and our team is thrilled to be learning right alongside them. We are proud to be living the values of Rising by committing to being life-long learners and active contributors to our community. This past holiday season, our team loved volunteering for the Central Okanagan Food Bank, and cannot wait to continue living our values in 2022. The Journey Home Module on Homelessness is already making a positive impact in Kelowna, and we highly anticipate this momentum to keep growing in the new year.
This year we teamed up with two more non-profit partners to create new and unique teaching resources. Starting in January we will officially be in the piloting phase of our Module on Sustainable Fashion created in collaboration with Remake! This module explores the fashion and textile industry’s substantial impact on people and our planet, and challenges students to change their outlook on the clothes we wear. We kickstarted our partnership with Remake in the most fun way we could concoct - a clothing drive! Hosted at Okanagan College here in Kelowna, we fundraised for Rising and Remake by recirculating donated clothing and educating participants on the importance of shopping second hand. Our work with Remake was highly anticipated as Rising’s very own, Emily McKay is a proud Remake ambassador and Community Organizer for Remake’s Canadian hub. Our team has taken it upon ourselves to once again learn alongside the students by changing our own shopping habits, challenging our thinking around consumption, and continuously educating those around us about fashion sustainability. Our Remake Module is designed for grades 5 and up and will be available for purchase mid next year, but we are not stopping there. 2022 will bring many new creative opportunities for Rising as we work with Remake to expand into new teaching mediums.
We will leave you today with a hint at another new module to come in 2022 - designed in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Club. This module focuses on the staggering impact of social media in our society, especially our youth.
Whether in the piloting, development, or classroom stage, we could not be more proud of our modules and all that we have accomplished in this year. 2022 will be another year of learning, exploring, inspiring our future change-makers!
Emily & The Rising Team
