Student Leadership in Action

As the leader of their school’s SOGI club, Quinn* (they/she) initiated a project to review and curate a collection of French-language SOGI 123 resources, which can be used in both francophone and French immersion classrooms. Quinn started by filtering through available lesson plans and categorizing them by grade level, selecting lessons tailored to both primary (K-6) and secondary (7-12) grade levels.

Their goal? To make sure every teacher, librarian, EA, and administrator at the school had tangible tools for SOGI-inclusive teaching — all printed, organized, and ready to use — to improve SOGI-inclusion and help all students feel valued and included.

The motivation behind the project came from lived experience. “Before this, we didn’t feel quite comfortable with our queer identities at school,” Quinn explained. “We weren’t really shown that it was normal or okay to be queer. Instead, we were primarily given literature, films, and activities that only included cisgender-heterosexual people, with barely any queer representation.”

That’s why Quinn took matters into her own hands. With the support of their teacher, Quinn reviewed the available SOGI 123 lesson plans and carefully curated a collection that would be easy for teachers to implement.

“Honestly, the SOGI 123 lesson plans were absolute gems. Everything we needed was conveniently in one place. Not to mention that this will create more opportunities for staff to address the homophobia that has become so commonplace among students, allowing for some unlearning and relearning.”

To accompany the materials, Quinn and a Grade 8 peer also co-wrote a short speech for staff, highlighting the way that SOGI-inclusive lessons support student well-being and foster the development of the BC Core Competencies, like positive personal identity and critical thinking.

For Quinn, the project is about more than representation – it’s about shaping a culture of inclusion across all classrooms and grade levels. “There are clear changes that need to be made to the school system, and inclusive teaching is one of them.” Quinn shared. “Yes, it can be difficult to enact change on a large scale, but you have to keep reminding yourself of the goal, which is to help people. So don’t give up!!”

This initiative reminds us that even just one student can make a real difference in their school, and in the lives of their classmates. Way to go!