Your Voice Is Power: A new curriculum and competition combining computer science, Indigenous music, and social justice.

Today, Amazon Canada and TakingITGlobal are launching Your Voice is Power, a new middle and high school curriculum that entices students to learn to code by teaching them to create their own song with music stems from Indigenous artists.  

The curriculum is available at no cost to teachers and students.  It was built by TakingITGlobal, after extensive collaborations with and review by Indigenous educators and artists, with input from a select group of UBC Indigenous students and alumni, as well as faculty and staff volunteers.  The ultimate goal of this program is to increase Indigenous representation in coding professions.

The modules teach the basics of coding while engaging students in discussions about the experience of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in Canada, including challenging topics like Residential Schools, the Sixties Scoop, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. Students will remix music from Indigenous artists Jayli Wolf, Dakota Bear, and Samian using EarSketch, an online code editor developed at Georgia Tech.  Both the curriculum and EarSketch are available in English, French, Ojibwe, and Inuktitut. 

All participants will be encouraged to submit their remixes to a competition in which two winners – one Indigenous, one identifying as an ally – will receive $5,000 (CAD) scholarships, donated by Amazon Music.  There is an additional prize for an outstanding teacher.

The contest runs from now until the end of May, with prizes awarded in June.  It will run again in the fall.