REQUEST FOR CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS
OVERVIEW OF BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CANADA
Many children in Canada are facing adversities in their daily lives such as poverty, family violence, school disengagement or identity challenges. These circumstances have nothing to do with the value of who they are or who they can become, but because of these adversities, Canadian children and youth are at risk of not reaching their full potential.
With the guidance and support of a mentor, these risks can be reduced or even avoided, and youth are encouraged to realize their full potential. This is the work of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC): enabling life-changing mentoring relationships that ignite the power and potential of young people.
For over 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) has been matching mentors and mentees in 1-to-1 and group mentoring programs. Our 102 member agencies run a variety of mentoring programs in 1,100 communities across Canada. Every year, together with 21,000 volunteer mentors who log over 1.7 million volunteer hours, we intentionally invest in the lives of 41,000 Canadian youth, the lives of their families, and the communities in which they live.
OVERVIEW OF PROJECT
Since 2019, the CIBC Foundation has supported the ongoing work of activating, testing, and scaling-up best- practice learnings across our members of nearly 100 BBBSC sites, of which 73% report serving rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. Through this funding, BBBS of Canada has become better positioned to reach and enrich the lives of children and families living in underserved communities.
In 2022-2023, the CIBC Strengthening Reach Project is working to address learning loss and close relational gaps left by the COVID pandemic. Cultural misalignment of remote learning practices and systemic inequalities, such as precarious employment, workplace discrimination, and single-parent households, have led some students to be more isolated and less resourced than other students throughout the pandemic.
“The Igniting Learning Potential in Rural, Remote & Indigenous Communities” aims to support in-school adult mentors as they work to address the learning loss and barriers marginalized children face as they return to in-person learning environments.
THE OPPORTUNITY
With CIBC’s support, BBBS agencies will leverage the strength of the in-school-mentoring program across rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. We seek to create an interactive, timely and innovative adult mentor training resource for in-school mentors in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities that prepares them to understand pandemic learning loss and to help reconnect students to their learning journeys.
We are seeking passionate speakers who can contribute to this training resource. We are asking for self-recorded video content that helps us address the two questions our training will address:
- What is pandemic learning loss (PLL)?
- How can mentors help support recovery from pandemic learning loss?
Below, is a list of knowledge and skills that we want our training to achieve. If you could add value, share an experience or speak from research that helps us unpack these skills and/or knowledge, we are asking for your help!
Can we count on you to add your voice and insights to this important resource?
The above should provide the scope of the training however you can add anything related to the topic. If you could speak for anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes, we would appreciate it!
We will be stringing together a collection of Content Contributors (like yourself) into a national webinar product that will be available to our BBBS Network and partners. We will require you to sign a Media Consent form if you choose to participate. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mentoring Coordinator, Chantal Desmarchais (chantal.desmarchais@bigbrothersbigsisters.ca | 519.485.1801).
*All submissions must be received by March 23, 2023*
