Student Involvement and Leadership Development

Equity Integrated Library

Dustin Alexander, a school librarian in Santa Ana, California was eager to support their school community and wondered how to help learners remain curious and connected to what they were learning. Dustin introduced the Equity Integrated Library, a learner-centred space that transformed their voices into real social actions. Dustin invited a group of learners to design the library space to be as inclusive and accessible as possible. Learners pointed to the need for multilingual books, alternative texts like comic books, and a learner-driven mentorship program focusing on improved reading skills. What began as a school library project transformed into a school-wide culture where learners felt represented, valued, and empowered to succeed academically and socially both in and out of the classroom. Watch the video below and then check out the article School Libraries as Hubs for Nurturing Changemakers to learn more.

Students Teaching Finance

Isaac, 16, began noticing economic disparities in their Indiana community and got curious about how they could combat economic inequality. Isaac began researching state curriculum, noticing that 35 out of 50 states do not include content related to personal financial literacy. Isaac developed Students Teaching Finance (STF), a heart-centred, empathy-based, open source resource that covers financial literacy. STF teaches high schoolers  how to facilitate the content for elementary school learners, and has already reached 550 learners in the United States. STF represents the intersection of empathy, teamwork, and leadership at the site of educator support. Watch the video below and then check out the article Making Financial Education Accessible to learn more.

Georgian College Students Association

As a call-to-action for learner empowerment, ownership, and accountability both inside and outside the classroom, the Georgian College Students Association (GCSA) signed their own SDG Accord at six campuses in 2023. Some of the initiatives the GCSA has implemented to address the SDGs are the Georgian Food Locker, an on-campus food bank to address food insecurity, gender-inclusive washroom signage, and free menstrual product dispensers on all campuses. Similarly, at the University of British Columbia, learners can become Sustainability Ambassadors who engage their community in sustainability and climate related opportunities and work directly with community partners to advance these goals. Sustainability Ambassadors develop competencies of self-awareness, systems awareness, integration, interpersonal skills, and collaboration. Check out UBC Sustainability to learn more.