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Students to showcase human rights projects at CMHR

5th annual Upstander Showcase empowers students to use their strengths to create change

Six black students in a museum hall present proudly their work on posters and on a table. Partially obscured.

Photo: CMHR, Andrew Sikorsky

News release details

An interactive project that studies racist mascots in North American sports by students from École Howden. A creative visual presentation that explores the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act by students from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute. A guitar group from J.H. Bruns Collegiate performing music of resistance and change. A book on children’s rights written and illustrated by Grade 3 students from École South Pointe School.

These are some of the projects to be presented by over 100 students today at the 5th annual Upstander Showcase at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). The event will open with a welcome ceremony and dance performance by students from Elwick Community School on Level 3 in the Stuart Clark Garden of Contemplation. Then at 1 p.m. all students will disperse through 5 levels of the CMHR to present their Upstander projects to Museum visitors.

What’s an upstander? Someone who recognizes injustice, knows their personal strengths and uses those strengths to create change.

This annual event highlights Manitoba students in Grades 3–12 who learn about an important human rights issue in the classroom and then take action to make a difference.

Over 10,000 students across Canada have participated in the Be an Upstander program since 2018. The annual Upstander showcase has been growing year over year with this year’s showcase being the largest group of students yet.

WHAT: Upstander Showcase
WHEN: Thursday, May 22, 2025
12:30 p.m. kick‐off with musical student performances on Level 3
WHERE: CMHR, 85 Israel Asper Way, Levels 3–7

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Amanda Gaudes (she/her)

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