Inspiring youth to create and implement projects focused on kindness in their schools and communities. The Canadian Kindness Leaders program provides children and youth in schools with the training, toolkits & resources to accomplish their very own kindness projects. CKL is delivered by the WITS Programs Foundation.
Featured Projects in 2021 & 2022
CKL was piloted from 2020 to 2022 in 35 schools in BC, Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. See their amazing ideas and projects below.
Teacher Resources
Looking to launch a Kindness based project at your school?
Developing Canadian Kindness Leaders Projects through Design Thinking
Implementing Canadian Kindness Leaders in schools
Available at witsprogram.ca, CKL Modules include a resource guide includes implementation guidelines and links to many activities from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Adolescent Kit for Innovation and Expression (see below).
The Adolescent Kit is a global resource designed specifically for young people to learn about themselves and their peers, explore issues important to them, and create arts-based and action-oriented projects.
Facilitators Guide
The Facilitators Guidance provides guidance and tools for facilitators using the resources in the Adolescent Kit for Expression and Innovation (Adolescent Kit) in programmes and interventions in humanitarian situations. It explains how facilitators can use and adapt the resources in the Adolescent Kit to lead activities for adolescents that support their psychosocial well being, learning and positive engagement with the world around them.
2.) Agreeing to Group Rules (PDF 1000kb)
3.) Animal, Insect, Bird Stories (PDF 111kb)
4.) Brainstorming Solutions, Possibilities and Project Ideas (PDF 74kb)
5.) Choosing a Challenge Topic (PDF 72kb)
6.) Collaborative Decision Making (PDF 72kb)
7.) Community Dialogue (PDF 72kb)
8.) Compromise Chart (PDF 19kb)
9.) Create a Pitch (PDF 75kb)
10.) Forming Problem and Opportunity Statements (PDF 69kb)
12.) Household, Friend and Community Dialogue (PDF 117kb)
13.) Humans of our Household (PDF 100kb)
14.) I Am, I Have, I Can – Online (PDF 103kb)
15.) I Am, I Have, I Can (PDF 69kb)
16.) Imagine a Better Place (PDF 23kb)
17.) Imagine an Invention (PDF 26kb)
18.) Insight Statements (PDF 73kb)
19.) Learning and Mood Post-Check (PDF 980kb)
20.) Learning and Mood Pre-Check (PDF 967kb)
22.) Our Environment – Online(PDF 178kb)
23.) Our Environment (PDF 74kb)
24.) Ourselves on the Inside and Outside – Online (PDF 108kb)
25.) Ourselves on the Inside and Outside (PDF 70kb)
26.) Plan a Project (PDF 72kb)
27.) Practicing Interviewing Skills (PDF 110kb)
28.) Project Plan Template (PDF 15kb)
29.) Project Timeline Tree (PDF 71kb)
30.) Prototyping (PDF 74kb)
32.) Road Map (PDF 75kb)
33.) Seeing from Different Perspectives (PDF 77kb)
34.) Ten Key Approaches (PDF 322kb)
35.) Ten Key Competencies (PDF 76kb)
Videos
Check out what the WITS and LEADS programs are all about!
Eligibility
You must meet the criteria…
- You are in a Canadian school
- You have students who are between 9 and 14 years old
Your project will be judged using the following four metrics.
Your project must…
Focus on Kindness
Does the project focus on how people can be kind to one another?
Feature Community Involvement
Does the project involve your whole class, school, or community?
Be Inclusive and Accepting of Diversity
Does your project include everyone in the class, school, or community no matter what their differences or abilities are?
Connect with being Canadian
Does the project encourage Canadians to be kinder, inclusive, and more accepting of one another?
Involve Your School
What are the requirements in order to participate?
Get Started!
About Us
The WITS Program Foundation is excited to continue with Canadian Kindness Leaders!
Canadian Kindness Leaders (CKL) engages Canadian youth with projects of kindness and inclusion in provinces across Canada. In phase 1, we train youth in the evidence-based WITS LEADS curriculum in conjunction with exploring an all-encompassing theme of kindness. In phase 2, we encourage and facilitate youth-led social action micro-projects that promote the values of lateral kindness, empathy, and inclusion.
Participating schools received:
- WITS LEADS materials including books, lesson plans, posters, bookmarks, and pencils
- Year long online subscription to the WITS Programs Foundation
- Funding to help with costs of social action micro-projects
- Featured on our platform for sharing kids’ kindness projects and initiatives
- Follow up support as needed
Brought to you by WITS Programs Foundation
The WITS™ group of programs brings together schools, families and community members to help children learn effective strategies to deal with peer victimization. We partner with Pink Shirt Day, celebrated annually on the last Wednesday of February. The WITS Programs Foundation is a nonprofit society and registered Canadian Charity.
COVID-19
CKL will operate according to the health guidelines of the respective provinces involved. Please contact us if you need more details.