Extra Curricular Activities: Raising Awareness

The following is a list of projects that you can initiate in your school as a whole, in the classroom, or as part of the student council’s agenda for the year. These ideas are meant to educate you and to motivate you. We encourage you to expand upon the list provided!

School Priorities: a human rights agenda for your school

Human Rights Mandate

 Write a "Human Rights Code" for your school; ask students and teachers what rights are important to them and display your "Human Rights Code" in a prominent place in the school and in every classroom; make sure copies are available for students, teachers, and parents.

‚ Distribute copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in your school; encourage others to learn about their rights.

ƒ Dedicate your yearbook to the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; highlight human rights achievements in your school or community.

„ Contact the United Nations Association in Canada and request information about the UN; make a display to inform students and teachers about human rights and keep the new material in your library.

… Encourage curriculum reform and anti-racism education in your school; critique classroom resources and textbooks to see whether or not they reflect a multicultural, gender neutral, or anti-racist theme; bring your concerns to department heads, guidance counselors, and principals; organize a student committee for curriculum reform.

† Set up a suggestion box where students can recommend additional human rights-oriented activities that will be used by student council, students themselves, and classrooms.

Daily/Monthly Practices:

ΠOver a one month period, read one of the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights each day along with announcements related to human rights issues, on the intercom system; inform students with facts and let them know how they can get involved.

 Create a bulletin board to display information about human rights issues; cover different topics or a different country each month; post a current events section with newspaper clippings. Set up a progress chart of the school’s human rights achievements.

Ž Have free movie nights at school (monthly, bi-monthly) and show movies related to human rights issues (e.g. Schindler’s List, Cry Freedom, The Power of One) or different cultures (e.g Baraka). Try to generate a group discussion on the themes raised in the film.

 

"Helping others, that’s
the main thing. The only way to help ourselves is to help others and to listen to each other’s stories."

Eli Wiesel

Committees, Clubs and Associations - Speakers and Sharing About Human Rights

 Establish a human rights committee at your school to monitor human rights and to organize human rights related activities; write a human rights mission statement for your committee.

‚ Start a human rights discussion group at your school and invite human rights activists in your community to give brief presentations and to lead discussions.

ƒ Start a model United Nations club at your school or for youth in your community. Major model UN conferences are held every year for high school and university students at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. You are able to practice the procedures and discuss the key issues to prepare yourself as a delegate to a conference, or to attend one as an observer. They are a fun and interesting way to learn more about international relations (see Case Study #3 for more details).

„ If you already have a model United Nations at your school, try to incorporate human rights issues into your agenda: for example, include Human Rights Commission or UNICEF activities.

… Organize your own branch of a human rights organization whose mandate reflects a human rights issue that interests you and members of your school or community.

Forms of Artistic Expresion - Portraying Human Rights to the School and the Community

ΠOrganize a human rights arts festival at your school: encourage students to submit works of art in all mediums (e.g. painting, photography, sculpture, multimedia, literature, drama, music) and hold an open house event to present the entries to the public.

 Create a competition among students and teachers for the best mural, motto, logo, cheer, photo, song, poem, poster, chalk drawing, etc., in commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ŽSponsor an essay competition in your school; choose a popular issue in human rights and have students write their thoughts or suggestions for ways of improving human rights in your school, community, or country; send the winning essay(s) to a regional, federal, or international authority (they are always very interested in what young people have to say!)

 Invite guest speakers to discuss human rights issues; create a "Speaker Week" where a presentation is made each night, or have speakers once or twice a month.

 Create a giant hand print mural: use different colours of finger paint and have students imprint their hand as a statement against racism and in support of diversity.

‘ Create a banner in support of human rights; have everyone in the school sign it and display it in a prominent area where it will be noticed.

’ Create a "Diversity Quilt": each square of the quilt could depict a different theme on diversity or human rights; encourage local celebrities to contribute, and get as many students and teachers involved as you can (the more people that participate, the more diverse your final product will be); have the quilt tour your community upon completion.

Learning Through Diversity - Ways of Expresing the Multicultural Element of Human Rights:

 Have a Multicultural Festival: invite different cultural groups to your school to set up fun and interactive information displays and activities so students can learn about different cultures; combine many different events and make the Multicultural Festival a week long celebration of cultural diversity.

‚ Hold an "international foods of the world" fair to raise awareness about the different cultures in your school and community; encourage people to dress in traditional clothing.

ƒ Create a "Diversity Map" in your school where students and teachers can mark the countries and places from which their families originate; include information and articles on immigration and refugees alongside of the Diversity Map.

Campaigns, Speakers aand Public Outreach

Œ Coordinate a mass letter-writing campaign to express your concern about human rights violations in Canada or internationally; Amnesty International is a good resource for addresses and letter formats; have a lunch hour or after school ‘sit-in’ in the cafeteria or lobby of your school and encourage others to sign letters and petitions.

 Write to the editors of your local newspapers to express concerns about human rights issues; include articles on human rights in your school newspaper.

Ž Have a food or clothing drive and deliver donations to a local organization.

 Suggest that youth leadership conferences include a component on the importance of human rights and commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 Organize a "Hunger Dinner" to learn about the impact of world food security issues for different countries around the world (see Case Study #1 for more details).

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