Students who entered the 2015 Youth Storyboard Contest highlighted the importance of healthy relationships among families and friends, says Doug Currie, Minister of Family and Human Services.
“The Youth Story Board Contest provides Island students with an opportunity to depict in a creative manner what a healthy relationship looks like,” said Minister Currie. “It is vitally important that we engage young people in efforts to prevent family violence and encourage life-long healthy relationships with others.”
This year’s contest winners were Sana Dehbozorgi and Ava Washington. Sana Dehbozorgi is a grade six student in Amy McKinnon’s class at St. Jean Elementary, and Ava Washington is a grade seven student in Sarah McIntosh’s class at Montague Intermediate. Each student won $250 for her classroom.
Last fall, the Premier’s Action Committee on Family Violence Prevention Youth Engagement Working Group invited Island students in grades four to six and seven to nine to support the theme: “What is a healthy relationship?” This is the third year of the contest, with 122 entries submitted, the largest number to date. The winning entries were selected based on relevance to theme, attractiveness of design and creativity from entries submitted by students across the province.
“Developing a storyboard gives students an opportunity to reflect on their own relationships with friends and family,” said Ann Sherman, chair of the Premier's Action Committee on Family Violence Prevention. “It also helps them begin to define for themselves what a healthy relationship looks like,”
“I want to thank all of the teachers who engaged with students on this project and all of the students who submitted a storyboard,” said Minister Currie. “While it is not possible to capture all of the components of a healthy relationship in a single storyboard, these entries together highlight many important aspects of these relationships.”
Minister Currie announced the winning entries in the Legislative Assembly today, on behalf of Premier Wade MacLauchlan, Ann Sherman and The Premier's Action Committee on Family Violence Prevention Youth Engagement Working Group. The winning submissions along with the other thoughtful entries can be viewed on the Premier’s Action Committee website at www.stopfamilyviolence.pe.ca.