Yukon students are heading back to school, but teachers are still needed
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CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Students receive free supplies ahead of new school year
The first annual YQG Kids Club back to school event was held on Aug. 16, 2025. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) Ahead of a return to the classroom, Windsor students had a chance to pick up much-needed supplies at the first annual YQG Kids Club back to school event. Hosted by non-profit YQG Kids, students from underprivileged neighbourhoods received free backpacks, supplies, shoes, hygiene products, and a haircut. Before the event began on Saturday afternoon, Marla Coffin, a volunteer, noted about 133 students had pre-registered to attend. 'By starting our kids off on the right foot as they go back to school this September, it's really going to propel them into positivity,' Coffin said. YQG Kids Club The first annual YQG Kids Club back to school event was held on Aug. 16, 2025. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor) The volunteer-led event is run using donations from local organizations and community members. For parents, preparing kids for school in a few short weeks can become a costly task that adds up after collecting all the necessary supplies. 'People are really surprised that their kids are getting back to school running shoes, haircuts, things that they otherwise might not get or that they'd have to really stretch to figure out,' Coffin said. YQG Kids prepared enough supplies to help about 170 students. In the event some items went unclaimed, Coffin said they would donate them to a Windsor-Essex charity to ensure they help a family in need. The non-profit plans to make the back-to-school event an annual opportunity to give back to the community.
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Land-based training helps Indigenous youth build vocational skills, lasting relationships
Social Sharing Deep in western Manitoba's rolling hills and lush forest stand a group of Indigenous youth shaping their future — not only through learning vocational skills, but also through developing relationships. The Outland Youth Employment Program, first established in 2000 to offer opportunities for Indigenous youth in Ontario's forestry sector, has now become a national network of land-based education, training and work opportunities. In Manitoba, the six-week program brings youth from across the country to one of its camps in Birch River, about 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, for training and educational opportunities. Chita Cook, a 16-year-old member of Cross Lake First Nation in northern Manitoba, came to Birch River for the six weeks as a first-year participant. She has big dreams of using the skills she learns to help others. "I want to be an electrician, a journeyman electrician, so I can support myself and then all the people around me," she said. "I already have everything I want, and I just want to help other people, because I know other people are struggling and they can use it more than I." OYEP offers 15 different training and certification programs, including heavy equipment training, wildland firefighter training and tree planting. First-year and second-year program participants are referred to as "rangers," while longer-tenured participants have the chance to become crew leaders and can go on to help run OYEP's day-to-day operations. Second-year ranger Dorothy Dorion, 18, is a member of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. She calls Flin Flon, Man., home, but said returning to the OYEP camp for her second year was something she looked forward to. "Being a second-year is kind of the same as being a first-year, but it just feels right — a lot more like home, in a sense." OYEP was a big part of helping Dorion choose her future goals. "I want to become a herbalist when I'm older, and go to college for ecology," she said. One of the guides for an OYEP trail-building course gave her the idea. That's something that Neepin Cook is very familiar with. She started her journey with OYEP in 2020 as a 16-year-old first-year ranger. The now 21-year-old is nurturing a sense of determination in others who come through OYEP's camp doors. "I've worked in every role — so that would be a ranger to a crew leader in training to a crew leader, and now a supervisor," she said. Neepin's goals within the program have changed from year to year, but one thing that remains steadfast are her goals outside the program. "Right now, I'm an undergraduate student. When I graduate with my environmental studies degree, I plan to go to law school and become an environmental lawyer," she said. The work she did through OYEP, and the connections she made, are something she celebrates. "I've made such a huge network, across provinces, and now, I'm also building my career elsewhere in environmental studies — but that ties to here, because a lot of my friends that I've made here have helped and supported me." Through the careers made and skills learned, Chita Cook, Neepin Cook and Dorothy Dorion all identified the same thing as their favourite part of OYEP. "The people," they said.
CBC
8 hours ago
- CBC
Hamilton architects' design, showing public washrooms can be essential and 'beautiful,' wins contest
Two Hamilton architects are hoping to change the way cities think about public toilets — and they've just won a Toronto design competition for doing it. Alea Reid and Petra Matar of Design Partners in Architecture and Interiors (DPAI Architecture) won first place in To the Loo!, a competition challenging designers to reimagine public washrooms as safe, inclusive and sustainable infrastructure. Their concept, Mycomorph, is on display at 401 Richmond Street in Toronto throughout the summer. Inspired by the way mushrooms grow — "clustered, resilient, and adaptable" — Mycomorph uses modular pods that can be installed as single units on a street corner or grouped together in a park. The design has curved walls for open sightlines, green roofs that collect rainwater for flushing the toilets, biodiverse concrete panels with seasonal moss and an interior concrete finish that can be hosed down for easier cleaning. It also features a built-in sound and art system, which can play music, community stories, or commissioned works, providing both a platform for local artists and a measure of auditory privacy for users. "If you put nice things in public spaces, people will treat them better," said Matar. "This is about safety, dignity, and creating a space people actually want to be around." Reid says Hamilton — like many Canadian cities — has significant gaps in public washroom access. "Our biggest parks, like Bayfront and Gage, don't have enough facilities for the number of people using them," she said. "And without that access, even our most public spaces aren't truly public." Designers out to end the 'stigma around public washrooms' Hamilton Ward 2 councillor Cameron Kroetsch says he agrees. "We really haven't invested enough in our downtown as a city. We haven't kept up with the amenities that people expect," he told CBC Hamilton. Kroetsch said he hears from his constituents the number of bathrooms and public fountains has decreased over the past 25 years. "What's happened is that our downtown has grown and become much more dense, and we have many more people living here [now]. But we haven't kept up," he said. Kroetsch said he supports not only better access to public bathrooms but also other needs like garbage cans and drinking fountains. He said these are "important to give people a sense of place" and pride. He said he's been working with staff towards placing a new public bathroom somewhere in his ward using funding already in the budget. Staff will also have to explore how to make the facility feel safe and comfortable for all, said Kroetsch. "Then, hopefully, [we'll] be able to bring something to the budget process to get ... a pilot location to try doing this downtown again. It's been long overdue," he said. "Ultimately, the goal is to get some washrooms back in Gore Park at some point, not the same underground ones that got buried... but to bring washrooms back there because, of course, it's a central part of our city." As for Reid and Matar, they hope that winning To the Loo! will spark interest from municipalities and manufacturers to bring Mycomorph from concept to reality. "This isn't about building one or two pods," Matar said. "It's about scale — creating something cost-effective enough to roll out across a city, or even across the country." For now, they say winning this competition is a chance to spark conversation and challenge assumptions.
