The Representative for Children and Youth’s Office held its third annual Your Story, Your Voice Contest in the fall of 2017. The contest helps to raise awareness of child rights and marks National Child Day, which is celebrated every year on November 20th. The theme for this year’s contest was “the right to play” and school classes across the territory were invited to participate. Classes were asked to submit murals that reflected this year’s theme.
This year’s winners are:
K – Grade 3 category: la classe de première année de l’École des Trois-Soleils in Iqaluit
Grade 4 – 7 category: E7 Grade 6 class from Netsilik School in Taloyoak
Grade 8 – 12 category: Grade 9 class from Qiqirtaq Ilihakvik in Gjoa Haven
Winning classes choose their prize after discussion with our office. Thank you to all who participated! We look forward to next year!
To further celebrate National Child Day, the Representative for Children and Youth’s Office (RCYO) is joining several local youth on a nationwide radio broadcast initiated by CJRU 1280AM The Scope at Ryerson University. The broadcast will focus on child rights and the Nunavut segment will focus more specifically on the right to culture.
Interviews feature Ruth Kavoik, President of the National Inuit Youth Council, and David Korgak, RCYO Child and Youth Advocacy Specialist Intern, as well as the musical talents of singer/songwriter Kelly Fraser and the Inuksuk Drum Dancers.
Nunavut’s Representative for Children and Youth’s Office is excited to announce the launch of our 2017 Your Story, Your Voice Contest! We hope you and your class will join us this year in participating and learning more about child rights!
We began this contest for young people in 2015 – to raise awareness of National Child Day, child rights and our office. National Child Day is observed around the world every year on November 20th to mark the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In 2017, we are once again asking for class art submissions in the form of either murals or door decorations, where all students in a class work together to create a visual expression of this year’s theme!
Our Theme for 2017
This year’s theme is children’s right to play, found in Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
This article states children have a right to play and recognizes that free, unstructured play is a fundamental aspect of childhood. It also states governments should promote and protect this right by encouraging opportunities for children to play – through culture, art, recreation and leisure.
Contest Rules
1. The contest opens October 2, 2017 and closes at 5pm UTC (Mountain Time) on October 27, 2017.
2. The contest is open to classes in Nunavut public schools from kindergarten to grade 12.
3. There is a limit of one official entry per class.
4. For administrative purposes, classroom teachers should submit the entry on behalf of their classes.
5. Entries should be either a wall mural or class door decoration that expresses the right to play. If you would like more information on this right, please take a look at the background information and resources documents provided. Entries will be evaluated on creativity, originality and how accurately they express a child’s right to play.
6. Classes should email electronic images of their entries (either JPG or PNG files) to the RCYO at: contact@rcynu.ca.
7. Entries must include:
- Community name
- School name
- Teacher’s name
- Names of all students who participated
- Class grade
- Teacher’s contact phone number and email address
8. If the RCYO selects a class’s entry as the winner in its category, we will ask the class teacher to sign an agreement to transfer copyright to our office.
9. Entries must be emailed to the RCYO by 5pm UTC (Mountain Time) on Friday, October 27, 2017. The office’s email address is: contact@rcynu.ca.
Winning and Prizes
Our office will announce winners on November 20, 2017, National Child Day. We will award one prize for each of the categories below. Each winning classroom will receive a prize up to a value of $500 that will be decided by the class and the RCYO.
- Kindergarten to Grade 3 – classroom prize up to $500
- Grade 4 to Grade 7 – classroom prize up to $500
- Grade 8 to Grade 12 – classroom prize up to $500
Questions?
If you have any questions about the contest or this right, please don’t hesitate to contact our office either by phone at 1-855-449-8118 (toll-free) or 867-975-5090 (in Iqaluit) or email us at contact@rcynu.ca.