“Share our Spirit”

The Share Our Spirit Program is a collaborative project between UNITY Charity, and BluePrintForLife. This pilot project will provide personal growth to youth in the Peel region of Ontario (Toronto), and the Arctic (Nunavut and Nunavik) regions. By engaging them in positive leadership and learning opportunities we will facilitate greater cultural understanding and interaction, which will allow youth in these areas to become role models to their peers and achieve increased success inside and outside of school. It is our hope that with the many short term goals and activities in this program, hiphop clubs will be more easily sustained, as there is always something to look forward to. Share Our Spirit will select ten to twenty youths from each of our school partners and introduce them to the programs unique cultural exchange Activity Manual, with ongoing support directly from UNITY and BluePrintForLife. This will eventually build towards a cultural exchange between four initial Toronto schools and four initial Arctic schools. A technology package (laptop computer, audio recorder, camera and speaker phone) will be provided to each club to assist with the cultural exchanges between the Toronto and Arctic youth.

“Share Our Spirit” Program Activities:

• Conference calls for all sessions.
• Photo introduction of all youth.
• Photography battle competition.
• Dance choreography challenge.
• Exchange of mailed gift packages.
• Cooking challenge.
• Beat creation challenge.
• Create and share public service announcements on youth issues.
• Rap (musical) competition .
• (focused on preconceived notions/stereotypes of each others culture)
• Discussion of joint business ventures between the clubs through trade
• Leads up to final physical exchange.

Program Structure
(year 1):

We hope to recruit 4 schools from both Peel communities and Arctic communities to launch the first round of this project. The initial Peel UNITY Club and Blueprint Arctic Hip-Hop Club meetings will occur bi-weekly for the remainder of the school year after four weeks of introduction sessions. The bi-weekly exchange sessions will be followed by continuous content creation and posting for the “Share Our Spirit Blog” which will document the progression of the clubs activities to the general public.

Physical Exchange
(year 2):

This project will culminate in a physical exchange of four Inuit youth that will assist in conducting cultural presentations in at least four Peel schools and the training and preparation of four

Peel youth leaders from UNITY Clubs for exchange to Arctic communities where they will fully participate in an intensive BluePrintForLife program learning advanced teaching techniques while in the Arctic. The physical exchange component of the project will provide in depth learning of each others communities, teaching techniques, artistic skills, and presentation skills. The Unity Clubs and Blueprint Arctic Hip-Hop Clubs will each act as hosts for guest youth presenters, developing organizational, communication, and event planning skills locally.

It is our hope that not only will north south friendships develop, but also a deeper and more caring understanding of each others lives. With challenges being worked towards and shared every two weeks, there will also be a growing bond and commitment to each other. Such activity will help build the sustainability of the Hiphop clubs