Community projects
As part of program completion, student participants were asked to create a group project that focused on an issue particular to East Asian communities in Canada. The following is a list of students’ community group projects from 2017:
LGBTQ Asians from a Newcomer’s Perspective
Project Type: Video (interviews)
Project Description: This video features four newcomer youth who share their personal experiences with LGBTQ communities in both Canada and Asia, and discuss ways to support LGBTQ Asians.
Student Group: Betty, Fira, Linda, Stephen (Thornlea S.S.)
Racism and Discrimination against East Asian students
Project Type: Arts (posters)
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Poster 1: Recognizing diversity is one way to build a more inclusive and respectful community. The hands in a heart shape symbolize this message, as it acknowledges the different East Asian nations.
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Poster 2: The colours that represent people should be recognized for its beauty, not as a separation between people. Anti-discriminatory practices need to be considered not only for East Asian youth but also for everyone.
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Poster 3: It is important to recognize that a significant number of East Asian students face racism and discrimination. This poster is intended to raise awareness on this issue, as well as remind East Asian students to reach out for support.
Student Group: Da-heh, Jenny, Louis (Thornlea S.S.)
"Comfort Women" of the Asia Pacific War
Project Type: Social Media (website, Twitter, Instagram)
Project Description: This website is to bring awareness to the ongoing issue and situation of “comfort women”. Through “The Lily Project”, people will hopefully become more informed of the atrocities that women faced during and after the Asia Pacific war.
Website: thelilyproject.wixsite.com/home
Twitter: @thelilyproject8
Instagram: thelilyproject.ss
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Student Group: Hannah, Cathy Michael (Thornlea S.S.)
Newcomer and Immigrant Student Experiences
Project Type: Video (interviews)
Project Description: This brief and introspective documentary-style video explores the experiences of East Asian youth in Canada. All the interviewees arrived in Canada from East Asia at different times, giving them a unique perspective on the Asian Canadian identity. Their stories serve as reminders to us all about the importance of diversity and the struggle of finding yourself.
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You can view the video trailer on the left or the full video here.
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Student Group: Clara, Jiale, Wendy (Thornhill S.S.)
Lack of Proper East Asian Representation in Western Media
Project Type: Arts (art display)
Project Description: The “Where are our Asians” wall (title pending) is a display that highlights the lack of proper representation of East Asians in Western media, while using the few good representations Asian characters to inspire people to do the same. Among images of Asian characters are statistics, quotes and a description on Asian representation.
Student Group: Jennifer, Joanna (Thornhill S.S.)
Racism and Discrimination Against East Asians
Project Type: Arts (interactive art project)
Project Description: The creators of this interactive art project hope to raise awareness of racism and discrimination that East Asians face and encourage people to consider addressing such issues.
Student Group: Carl, Carol, Kelly (Thornhill S.S)
Racial Discrimination in the Media
Project Type: Social media (website, Facebook)
Project Description: This website encourages people to question the representation we see in media and examine the issues around Asian characters being played by non-Asian actors. Historical and current examples of racial discrimination are provided for a more in-depth analysis of Hollywood.
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Website: https://sites.google.com/view/therealghostintheshell/home
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Real-Ghost-in-the-Shell-1649333895084414/
Student Group: Andrea, Caitlin (Thornhill S.S.)
Bamboo Ceiling
Project Type: Social media (website)
Project Description: This website explores the concept of the “bamboo ceiling,” which is a series of particular barriers that East Asians face. Possible solutions have been suggested to those experiencing such issues.
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Website: asianbambooceiling.weebly.com
(We apologize that the website is no longer available, as the domain has been discontinued.)
Student Group: Adrian, David, Jerry (Thornhill S.S.)
Mental Health amongst East Asian Youth
Project Type: Video (drama)
Project Description: This video aims to raise people’s awareness about East Asian kids’ mental health issues, and to offer various strategies in solving the difficulties that teenagers may encounter.
Student Group: Cecilia, Eric, Sabrina, Shirley (Richmond Green S.S.)
Newcomer Student Challenges
Project Type: Social media (website, Instagram)
Project Description: This website is created with the objective to provide a platform for current and former newcomers to Canada to share their stories, struggles they have faced, and how they have overcome or is in the process of overcoming such challenges. Resources and connections to organizations are provided to help newcomers seek the support they need.
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Website: https://newcomerschallenge.wixsite.com/newcomerschallenge
Instagram: @newcomerschallenge
Student Group: Amy M., Catherine, Jessica (Richmond Green S.S.)
"Comfort Women" in the Asia Pacific War
Project Type: Arts (flyer and poster)
Project Description: This poster is to bring awareness to the ongoing issue and situation of “comfort women” of the Asia Pacific war. Historical and current information about “comfort women” are provided to educate others about the atrocities that such women faced.
Student Group: Amy S., Emi, Regan, TC (Richmond Green S.S.)