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What do we do?

Pass-It-On Program for Boys and Girls

Pass-It-On (cis, trans and non-binary inclusive) is an afterschool program that provides both structured and individual mentorship between high school youth and Grade 8 students throughout the academic year. Community connections are made by bringing in adults who serve as important mentors and role models. There is a Pass-It-On Girls and a Pass-It-On Boys program.

This is a prevention program that focuses on growing social-emotional and leadership skills. It supports overall well-being and long-term positive outcomes of our youth and our community. Through the program, boys and girls aged 13−17 form relationships that will be of benefit to them in their immediate lives and in their future. Grade 8s get the benefit of the program aiding their transition to the high school. High school students gain opportunities to develop their leadership capacity through skills training and the chance to organize youth-driven initiatives such as SparkFest.

Peace Kids

Peace Kids is a 12-session (4 sessions per grade) program intended to be delivered over 3 years to children in Grades 3, 4 and 5. Peace Kids helps elementary students build social and emotional learning skills to support their mental health and social well-being.

Peace Kids is delivered in 8 weekly sessions, 45 minutes long, exploring such topics as emotional regulation, conflict resolution and bullying prevention. Our goal is to begin equipping students with some of the knowledge and skills that can help them navigate the challenges that they’ll inevitably face as they get older.

Respect Project

Respect Project is a violence prevention workshop series offered in classrooms. Through mentorship, modelling, class discussions and creative projects, youth have the opportunity to learn and practice healthy relationship skills.

The goal of the Respect Project is to give youth the tools to:

  1. Assess the health of their relationships;
  2. Discuss their needs, wants and feelings with friends, family and community — as the fundamental principal and practice of consent;
  3. Foster healthy relationships in their friendships & families and their classrooms & communities.

This program is designed to support youth in building awareness and skills in each of these areas.

youth facilitation training

Training: Key Components to Facilitation with Youth

Facilitation is part of what makes our programs successful. Our facilitators strive to build relationships with youth, which allows us to explore “heavy” topics with a playful tone. Our focus is on giving youth the skills to develop their own insights around these topics. Rather than teaching them right or wrong, we guide them to think critically about the topics and what they mean for them.

In this 7.5-hr live, virtual course, you’ll receive a companion guidebook and gain knowledge and practice with the signature facilitation tools and techniques that we use in our youth programs:

  • setting the tone
  • creating the ideal session structure
  • using games and improv activities to engage youth
  • developing group agreements
  • using practices like the circle to create shared accountability

SWOVA runs the training whenever a group of 6 to 8 people are interested, so be sure to let us know you’re interested!

Community Events and Awareness

Each year, SWOVA facilitates a community candlelight vigil to remember the 14 women killed in Montreal on December 6th, 2020, as part of the broader acknowledgment of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. This annual event engages our youth, our partners and the broader community and is well attended. Every March, SWOVA celebrates International Women’s Day with a community event aimed at recognizing the importance of this day. 

SWOVA organizes educational events for the community with films, speakers and entertainment and presents educational display booths at community events.