Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/318918
BIZ 'peg MAY 2014 16 | CLASS ACTION: Students engage in animated discussions during the High School BOLD Conference. Photos by Darcy Finley high school BOLD I t's a common complaint among adolescents the world over: Regardless of age, intelligence or ambition, they still can't get adults to listen — or take them seriously. But the same can't be said of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, whose members have in recent years begun turning to civic-minded teens for suggestions on how to improve the world we live in. This spring, the chamber welcomed just such a group of students to a High School BOLD Conference on how to make a better tomorrow for young Manitobans. Held April 16 at Red River College, the event drew 122 students from schools throughout Winnipeg to discuss and develop strategies for positive change. "In order to solve worker shortages, we have to keep our students here, rather than having them go elsewhere when they graduate," says Wendy Stephenson, director of strategic initiatives for the chamber. "We want to explore what would make them want to stay … We're giving students a voice, which is really important. They're the ones who will have to live with our decisions, so it's very important that we're listening." TEEN SPIRIT STUDENTS SHARE IDEAS FOR A BOLD NEW WORLD by David Schmeichel The process behind the event encourages collaboration and creativity. High schools are invited to select two student panelists, who then meet with their classmates, student councils and project groups to brainstorm a bold idea — unfettered by budgetary or logistical concerns. At the conference, students are given fi ve minutes in which to present their ideas, followed by opportunities for further discussion with their peers. Past sessions have resulted in a range of outside-the-box proposals, relating to everything from social justice to bus and bicycle routes, environmental efforts to affordable housing. Natasha Flett, a Grade 12 student from Elmwood High School, spoke at the April conference on the potential for reducing crime rates in Winnipeg — by opening up more single-unit and duplex Manitoba Housing options, and by distributing those properties throughout different parts of the city instead of clustering them in the same areas. "Right now there are a lot of housing projects concentrated in lower-income neighbourhoods," Flett says. "If they were better dispersed, you wouldn't be able to tell and I think people would be more proud to go home. There would be more confi dence and pride in where you're from." Prior to their panel discussions, students also heard presentations from a series of keynote speakers, including Tara Miller, a visually impaired photographer and founder of 100 Acre Woods Photography; Chris Warwaruk, co-founder of Neepawa-based Farmery Estate Brewery, and Brian Bowman, mayoral candidate and past co-chair of the chamber's BOLD initiative. "The idea behind the keynotes is to be inspiring and to show students they can overcome challenges — that they can do things and they can make things happen," Stephenson says. "In order for businesses to thrive, we've got to have a thriving community. The whole emphasis of this event is on trying to make a better community." Stephenson says she's been hugely impressed with the ideas and discussions brought forward through the initiative, noting many of the resulting suggestions will be incorporated into a larger BOLD strategy that will hopefully help to shape platforms in the upcoming civic election. For their part, the students involved say they're happy to have been given a voice. "We're defi nitely the exception to the rule," says Garvey Regis, a Grade 10 student from Miles Macdonnell Collegiate who pitched an eventual moratorium on plastic bags. "Most of us aren't really looking into these kinds of ideas unless we're pushed. But when we are pushed, we will fi nd a great idea."