Empowering students to make grassroots change in their schools, school boards, and local communities.

JEDI Champions.

 
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JEDI Champions identify an issue they want to address, then receive tailored support to advocate for local change.

The JEDI Champions Program (short for Justice, Equity, Decolonization, and Inclusion) is a program that allows for students to obtain up to a total of 40 community involvement hours as part of the requirements for graduation.

This volunteering program is completely remote and self-paced within a timeline, and available to all secondary or CÉGEP students in Canada.

The overall goal of the JEDI program is to provide students with the opportunity to gain crucial skills required in their academic careers, with an end objective for students to develop a project proposal relating to a world issue

The program aims to create grassroots advocates in local schools, school boards, and communities across Canada. JEDI Champions undergo a comprehensive online learning module to orient themselves to critical social justice theory and approaches before making concrete changes in their local community.

Examples of project proposals that JEDI Champions can complete include the creation of a gender-neutral washroom at their school, or working towards the implementation of a transgender inclusion policy in their school board.

How it works.

 

Step 1.

Apply & learn.

Any secondary student attending an accredited school in Canada can apply to join the JEDI Champions Program. After being accepted into the JEDI Champions Program, participants will be required to complete remote and self paced  learning modules that introduce them to the theory and practice of social justice, equity, decolonization, inclusion, and mutual aid.

The FCSS-FESC provides access to these virtual learning modules only to accepted participants in the JEDI Champions Program. Coaching and mentorship is provided to participants who wish to engage with the content more thoroughly.

 

Step 2.

Identify an issue.

JEDI Champions students then have to identify an issue they want to address. This could be an issue in their:

  • school (e.g., lack of gender neutral washroom);

  • school board (e.g., lack of transgender washroom policy); or

  • wider local community (e.g., lack of 2SLGBTQ+ support services for students and families)

 

Step 3.

Plan of action.

Once an issue has been identified, the student develops a plan of action in collaboration with our JEDI Champions team. We encourage participants to think about their ideal outcome(s), as well as ways to achieve it. This includes planning for possible contingencies if the initial grassroots efforts fail or are rejected by decision-makers.

During Step 3, the FCSS-FESC provides guidance on how to take a multi-step approach to enacting social and policy change depending on the context.

 

Step 4.

Research and writing.

With a plan of action in place, the participant begins researching the issue to consider academic, scholarly, public policy, and comparator evidence that can be used to make a persuasive argument in support of their position. They then draft a project proposal to their principal or school board trustees, or to a mayor and city council.

Throughout Step 4, the FCSS-FESC provides research assistance, resources, information on comparator contexts, and writing advice based on our years of education policy advocacy experience.

 

Step 5.

Completion and certificate.

Once the participant’s proposal has been completed, whether it is a policy change or the creation of a new program, service, or opportunity by their school, school board, or local community, the participant is welcomed to carry out their project after the completion of the module.. The participant provides feedback on their experience, and the FCSS-FESC provides further opportunities.

Successful completion of Step 5 means the participant will receive a completion certificate, designating them as a JEDI Champion. Participants can also claim up to 40 volunteer or community service hours to be used towards the requirements of their secondary school diploma, CAS, The Duke of Edinburgh Award, or for another purpose.

Course overview.

This course is composed of three units, with the specific breakdown for each unit below:

Unit 1 - Introduction and Onboarding

  • Part 1.0: Introduction to FCSS-FESC

  • Part 1.1: Introduction & Expectations

  • Part 1.2: Module Overview

  • Part 1.3: Mandatory Human Rights and Equity Modules

Unit 2 - Academic Research

  • Part 2.1: Familiarization with Academic Research and Methodology

  • Part 2.2: Reading Scholarly Articles

  • Part 2.3: Creating a Research Question

  • Part 2.4: Introduction to APA Citations

Unit 3 - Introduction to Program Proposal Writing

  • Part 3.1: Introduction to Project Proposals

  • Part 3.2: Introduction to Final Assignment

  • Part 3.3: Taking Action (Optional Lesson)

  • Part 3.4: Optional Assignment

 

Benefits of joining.

There are many benefits of getting involved in this program! You can...

  • Earn up to 40 volunteer hours to fulfill the secondary school graduation requirement

  • Learn to conduct academic research and write a project proposal

  • Gain the skills required to make changes in your community through your own initiative

  • Understand current social justice issues around you and how to contribute to the solutions as a high school student

  • Connect with people across Canada

 

Application process.

Please use the link below to fill out the application form. We will send out acceptance emails on an ongoing basis.

 

FAQs.

  • You can receive up to 40 community involvement hours.

  • The sign-up form will be open starting from February 12, 2022 and close on March 11, 2022.

  • After you pass all the quizzes and finish the final assignment, you can claim your hours from your volunteer coordinators. If you chose to complete the optional assignment, you can claim extra volunteer hours.

  • Although this course is completely self-paced, we are asking candidates to finish the course by May 30, 2022.

  • There is no live component in this course because it is entirely self-paced. Your volunteer coordinators may occasionally host live check-in sessions to help you stay on track and provide any help if needed.

  • Absolutely! Whenever you are struggling with anything or need help, simply email your volunteer coordinators. We are more than happy to help you! Check-in sessions are also a good opportunity for you to receive some help.

  • We are looking for committed volunteers as we are training advocates and leaders in local communities across Canada. If you leave the course, we will provide you with a letter confirming the completion of volunteer hours up to that point.

  • Please reach out to jedi-champions@fcss-fesc.ca.