Celebrating Diversity in the Award

The Award framework equips young people with the necessary skills and experiences to take control of their lives and futures. We believe that this can be applied to any and all youth and stand behind our guiding principle that any young person can do the Award regardless of ability, gender, background, or socioeconomic status. As such, we would like to highlight a group of exceptional Award Achievers who have demonstrated how the Award framework helped them gain employable skills.

The Chilliwack Society for Community Living (CSCL) is a charitable organization located in Chilliwack, British Columbia, dedicated to providing innovative services to youth and adults with developmental disabilities. In 2020, the CSCL BRIDGE youth employment program saw 4 of their youth achieve their Bronze Award and gain valuable employable skills.

Earning their Bronze Award amidst Covid-19 challenges

Covid-19 presented challenges for youth across the country in finding ways to keep Award activities going as usual. This group of achievers took the challenges presented by Covid-19 in stride by finding ways to stay active at home and partaking in the newly launched Virtual Bronze Exploration in place of the typical format for the Adventurous Journey. Overcoming the challenges presented by Covid-19 in the past year, each youth walked away with a Bronze certificate in hand, and a wealth of skills and experiences under their belt.

One of the groups’ Award Leaders, Susan, said “the participants enjoyed learning new skills and the social aspect of the Adventurous Journey. My favourite part of the Award was watching the participants learn from all their hard work.”

One Bronze Achiever from the group at CSCL, Megan, volunteered at a farm and kept up with her physical fitness by hiking.

“My favourite parts of the Award were getting out on the hikes (because I like getting out of my house and into nature) and receiving my Award certificate (because it made me feel happy to accomplish another thing along with getting my first job).”
Megan

For the Skill section of her Bronze Award, Megan focused on improving her accounting skills by practicing counting change, learning how to operate a cash register, and doing exercises to improve her analytical and problem-solving skills. For Megan, one of the big takeaways from her Award experience was improving her decision making. She says, “during the completion of this Award, I learned a little bit of what it’s like to make decisions independently.”

Gaining confidence through the Award

For Adam, it was a newfound confidence and employable skills that he took away from his Award experience.

“I had to go apply for jobs and I gained confidence doing that, saying hi to people, and I got a little less shy after a while.”
Adam

Throughout his Award, Adam kept active by swimming, developed his money management skills, and gave back to his community by volunteering at a not-for-profit thrift shop and helping the elderly in his community. The highlight for Adam was finally earning his Award and receiving his certificate when he was finished. “I felt really proud of myself when I was done” he says.

While completing his Bronze Award, Lukas worked on improving his employable skills such as money management, kept active by cycling, and volunteered at a local not-for-profit thrift shop.

The Service section struck a chord for Lukas. His Award Leader, Susan wrote “Lukas enjoyed helping out and learning new skills. He said the experience made him feel better about himself and he will continue on volunteering.”

For her Award activities, Sara chose to volunteer for two not-for-profit organizations, keep active by cycling, and improve her money management skills by learning how to operate a cash register, count change, and practicing analytical exercises.

When reflecting on this group’s experience, their Award Leader, Elizabeth said “my favorite part of the award was teaching the participants how to conduct research, gather data and put it into a format that is easily understood and to which they can meaningfully connect the information to their everyday lives.”

From Award Holder to Award Leader

In previous years we saw great achievements from another group from CSCL previously led by K.P, an Award Alumnus herself. As a teenager, she earned her Bronze and Silver Award and remembers how proud she felt and how many connections she made in the community. This was something she wanted to share.

“THERE IS A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY AND BEING PART OF THE COMMUNITY. THIS AWARD PROGRAM NURTURES PARTICIPATION, INCLUSION, AND TRULY BEING OF THE COMMUNITY. THERE ISN’T MUCH THAT’S MORE VALUABLE THAN THAT!”

A participant in K.P’s group, Jack, a Bronze Achiever moving on to Silver, went on a service trip to Mexico, joined a softball team, and developed employment skills. Jack says “Best thing was going to Mexico to build a house for a family with 3 kids and a mom and a dad. I painted and hammered nails. And I played with the kids. It was a bit sad but then people were happy.”

“Its an experience! Doing new things, it’s not easy. Feel happy, excited, want to keep going.”
Jack

These outstanding youth have accomplished what many strive for; they have taken charge of their lives and gained the relevant skills and experience to excel in their futures. With the impact of Covid, now more than ever youth are facing unprecedented challenges. Through the Award framework, young Canadians, no matter their circumstance can have the opportunity to find their passion, purpose, and place in today’s world.

Learn how you can support youth through the Award.

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