Stories over Statistics campaign
In late 2020, during the months of September, October and November, many youth leaders and changemakers from various organizations in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean joined us in the Stories over Statistics Campaign where they utilized their social media pages to share their School Story about 3 Life Lessons Learned in School through video format or written. By doing this, we advocated for students' school stories to be the main focus around exam results season rather than the statistics of their exam results.
The inspiration for this campaign came while watching Michelle Obama's movie "Becoming" where she said that we live in a world where we focus too much on statistics and not on stories. This led me to partner with several national and regional organizations to join in for this initiative to bring about real cultural change and impact throughout the Caribbean region with the hope to give students a better experience during exam results season and beyond.
The 5 main objectives for the campaign were to:
• Reduce the anxiety that students face around results time
• Empower students to know that they are more than a grade, the school they pass for, or any award
• Help students practice self-love by reminding them to not attach their identity to their results
• Emphasize to students that their results do not define who they are or who they will become in life
• Encourage students to embrace and share their school story so they can share it with the world
Campaign Reach of Engagement and Impact
The Stories over Statistics campaign reached students, parents and teachers within countries throughout the Caribbean including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St Lucia, Guyana, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.
1. The Petition
Through the petition, we obtained over 900 signatures from persons throughout the Caribbean who believed in our mission: http://chng.it/Q6xqsgRGyL
2. Interviews
Morning Edition Interview
With Kareem Ryce - Peace Ambassador of Global Peace Challenge 2020 and Dawsher Charles - Founder of Survival Scholars
Recap on TV 6 News
TTT ~ The Now Morning Show Interview
With Christette Benjamin - Founder of I Believe in Success Foundation, Aruna Hosein - Member of the Survival Scholars Society - UWI Chapter and Dawsher Charles Founder of Survival Scholars
3. Storytelling - 50 + stories
We couldn't have achieved the goals of this campaign without the help and support from partnering with the amazing and inspiring individuals from various youth organizations which helped us achieve greater social impact where the stories went viral on social media with over 1500 shares and over 6000 engagements on Instagram and Facebook from students ages 10 to 17 years and the parents and teachers caring for these students.
Each story is unique with new learning lessons from each individual's school journey. Please join us and enjoy the lessons and stories presented below!
Click each name to read their story or simply view the collective body of stories in the magazine.
4. The Stories over Statistics Song
Creatively Crafted by Kareem Ryce - Peace Ambassador of Global Peace Challenge 2020
5. Inspirational Quotes - Click here to view
6. Survey Lessons Learned in School (Anonymous) Click Here
Sustainability and Way Forward
The valuable content from the Stories over Statistics Campaign will be used as a tool in our education system to share with all teachers and students especially students who are about to sit exams so they can learn various life lessons, know that statistics do not define who they are which assists with achieving the objectives of the campaign. Additionally, the content from the campaign will be used as an advisory tool to our Ministers and Policy-Makers in the Education system to bring about real cultural change.
The Stories over Statistics Campaign will continue throughout the years
Check out all the impactful organizations that joined us to achieve the objectives of the Campaign
The campaign was conducted in an effort to achieve Survival Scholars' main goal of assisting students with having a balance between their mental health and wellness with their academic achievements.
Thank you so much to everyone who joined us in this campaign, we appreciate your efforts towards creating change in our education system throughout the Caribbean.