kids.now

Zhai's Story

When Zhai moved to Canada from China with her parents in May 2009, she had a difficult time fitting in at her new school. She was an ESL student, trying to adapt to a new country, understand a new culture, and make new friends. Not an easy task, especially when she only joined her grade seven class in the last few weeks of the school year. Her teachers say she was very shy and kept to herself. Zhai admits she felt isolated from her peers before starting the kids.now program in October 2009, where she was given the opportunity to meet and interact with kids beyond the classroom setting. Today, she is much more sociable and has many friends. Her teachers credit the kids.now program with building Zhai’s self-confidence. She’s now a leader within the school, and even joined the student council in her final term. Zhai’s academic performance also improved so much she made the honour role last December, and again in March. She’s now looking forward to moving on to secondary school next year, armed with a newfound confidence and new skills that will help her reach her full potential in high school and beyond.

Carey's Story

1999 program alumus shares his experience with the kids.now program

I grew up in Toronto's Jane-Finch corridor, arguably one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the city, where negative influences abound and threaten the successful development of youth. While my family life was stable and my parents were supportive and encouraging, not all my friends had that stability at home. Many of them were lured down the wrong paths and made poor choices that affect their lives to this day.

kids.now helped set me on the right path

In 1999, I had the opportunity to participate in the kids.now pilot program at my elementary school. I saw right way that this program was different. It focused on skills you don't have the opportunity to learn anywhere else in a formal way - skills such as stress-management, conflict resolution, effective communication, and most importantly, goal setting.

Although I always thought I would complete high school and go on to college or university, I didn't really know or even think about how I was going to get there, or what I wanted to do when I did. The kids.now program and my coach-mentor (Janet King, the President and Founder of kids.now) helped set me on the right path by encouraging me to set goals and understand the steps I needed to take to accomplish them. While the goals I set for myself turned out slightly different than I planned at the age of 13, I credit the kids.now program with helping me develop a "forward thinking" mentality early on, that contributed to both my academic and professional success. kids.now helped get me where I am today.

Now I'm on the road to success

In 2009, I completed my commerce and finance degree at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and have recently started my own business, Product Intelligence Inc., which provides financial analysis and risk assessments to alternative investment groups. I'm also an officer and shareholder of a commercial real estate investment company, and recently accepted a junior management role in BMO Financial Group's corporate real estate division.

My participation in the kids.now program also laid the foundation for my strong commitment to supporting community and youth development. In recent years, I have assumed two executive Board positions with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the largest student-run organization in the world, and helped initiate the Toronto Youth Legacy Program to encourage high school students to pursue technical career fields. As an executive of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) Leaders of Tomorrow Organizing Committee, I engaged in the planning and hosting of the annual Leaders of Tomorrow Conference, which included 300 high school students and over 30 corporate executives.

Recently, I reconnected with kids.now to say thanks and find out how I could give back to an organization that had given me so much at a critical period in my life. I've agreed to help recruit potential kids.now volunteer coach-mentors from my network to provide more kids with positive role models and the skills and direction they need to do great things with their lives.

Sayara's Story

Three years ago, Sayara came to Canada from Afghanistan, where she was forbidden to go school under the Taliban regime. When she started the kids.now program she was very shy and unsure of herself. Today, she's a leader among her peers. Her teacher credits the kids.now program with building her self-confidence and self-esteem.

Andrew's Story

As a wheelchair-bound student, Andrew admits that thanks to kids.now he was able to meet kids he would never have interacted with, had it not been for the program. His coach-mentor says by participating fully in the program and never letting his disability define who he is, Andrew is an inspiration to her and his newfound kids.now friends.

Junaid's Story

Junaid is your quintessential overachiever: good at school, good at sports, a star player on his basketball team. He admitted to his kids.now coach that he's under a lot of pressure to excel, and that the kids.now program has helped him "learn to say no", to the demands that many people place on his time. For Junaid, the most valuable part of the kids.now program is the stress management module, which helps him cope with the pressures that come with being smart, athletic and successful.

 

To read more on what people are saying about the kids.now program, please visit our endorsements page.