School Programs

YOUNG
WATER
SPEAKS

Young Water Speaks is a national youth storytelling project.

Youth will get inspired by local waterscapes, culture and history through pre-workshop activities in engaging videos and workbooks, and online storytelling workshops led by Waterlution’s trained Youth Advisory Board volunteers. Canadian youth participating in storytelling training workshops will also be invited to engaging sessions with experienced and emerging storytellers.

Learn More

Get
Involved
!

Stay tuned for future events!

School,
Teachers
& Youth
Clubs

  • Online Storytelling Training (via videos and online workshops)
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  • Storytelling Special Events
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  • Visit the Young Water Speaks Traveling Exhibit
MEET THE 2021-2022 VOLUNTEERS

In the FIRST YEAR OF

YOUNG
WATER
SPEAKS

Young Water Speaks connected with over 2500 youth across Canada through these storytelling workshops and special events with diverse storytelling artists such as Kalvonix, Rosemary Hu, Grandmother Kim Wheatley, Allie Rougeot, and many others. Youth submitted stories for the YWS contest as videos, songs, short These stories are being featured in traveling exhibits across Canada from July 2021 to February 2022.

Winners

The 8 winners of the Second Year of Young Water Speaks Storytelling Contest are:

Grade 3-5 Winners:

  • “Water Story ” by Ava Hickey at Whitbourne Elementary (NL)
  • “Earth Pal” by Nyah Solla, Zoe Cross, Emmanuel Beyenne & Angelo Granados at St. Mary’s Elementary School (BC)

Grade 6-8 Winners:

  • “Water Speaks” by Shelby at Chief Whitecap School (SK)
  • “Water Speaks” by Khaston at Chief Whitecap School (SK)
  • “Sacred Water” by Kaycee Richter (SK)
  • “Larry’s Lifeguard Dreams ” by Lulu at Brookside Junior High (NS)
Tour Schedule

THE TEXTILE INSTALLATION SERIES

VIRTUAL
WORKSHOPS

Virtual workshops run between 1.5 hours for grades 3-8 and 2.5 hours for grades 9-12. They will be led by a Youth Advisor who will help students learn about different elements of storytelling including generating story ideas based on family or cultural history, and developing a main character. The workshop will also showcase different ways students can write or create their own stories.

EXPLORE WORKSHOP ACTIVITIES
PAST STORYTELLING EVENTS
Diverse storytellers are inspiring and supporting youth in creating their water stories!
Storytellers will connect via training videos and Canada-wide interactive events.
MEET THE STORYTELLERS
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FAQ

  • Once you book an online workshop with a Youth Advisor via our website, you’ll gain access to Waterlution’s google classroom with pre-workshop activities & original training videos from the storytellers & volunteers.
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  • During the workshop, students learn to generate ideas inspired by water, create a main character, choose a creative storytelling avenue, and create their storyboard.
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  • After the workshop, students will have one month to create and submit their stories.
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  • Story formats can be a creatively written story, an oral story, a short film, a painting, a sculpture, a dance, a song or another creative method.
  • All workshops are free and there is no cost to submit stories to the contest at the end – expect for postage if you are submitting via mail instead of google classroom.
  • Evaluation Process: stories can be fiction, nonfiction or a combination of the two!  They must be centred around water and inspired by a real Canadian waterway. Extra points if your story is also inspired by your family’s culture or a real event in Canadian history.
  • Winners will be announced in March 2022.
  • Prizes are awarded within 4 different regions in Canada. Within each region, a separate prize is awarded for different age groups: 7-10, 11-13 and 14-18. A total of 12 prizes will be awarded in March 2022.
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Sponsor

PARTNERS

Actua, Alberta Lake Management Society, Anishinabek Nation, Bow River Basin Council, Cariboo Regional Library – Williams Lake Branch, Ecology North, Educational News CAN, Environnement Jeunesse, Fredericton Arts Alliance, Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Center Edmonton, Inside Education, Lesser Slave Watershed Council, LUSH, Milk River Watershed Council, OwlCrate, Patagonia Toronto, Red Deer River Watershed, Safe Drinking Water Foundation, Shaw Centre for Salish Sea, Stephen Leacock Foundation, Sustainable Youth Canada (Montreal), World Youth Parliament for Water, & Youth Fusion

VENUE PARTNERS

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, Port Moody Arts Centre, Yukon Arts Centre, Lesser Slave Watershed Council, Lakeland Industry and Community Association, Edmonton Heritage Festival Association, Southern Alberta Institute of Technologies, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Science North, THE MUSEUM Kitchener

COVID-19 ADAPTATION UPDATE

September 7, 2021 – All Training/Workshops will be hosted via online video conference until at least December 31, 2021. The next COVID-19 adaptation update will be released on January 1, 2022.

UPCOMING
EVENTS

Stay Tuned