Read articles written by SET-BC Olympic and Paralympic Journalists about their Olympic Inspirations.
January 20th, 2010
"My name is Grace. I am 13 years old and I have a condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita Amyoplasia. My best friend Katie Gibbs and I are going to be reporters and official torch bearers for the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver BC. I am reporting on Sledge Hockey and Katie is reporting on Alpine Skiing. We are very excited to be reporters. In Katie’s words, “it is going to be very emotional to see what disabled people can do”.
Jan14, 2010
Deacon Jones, a Vancouver student who is visually impaired and who is a reporter for SET-BC’s Virtual Voices Village interviews Jay Stiteley. Jay is the Outreach Specialist with The Seeing Eye in Morristown, New Jersey and internationally recognized for his expertise in Orientation and Mobility(O and M). In this interview Jay addresses the importance of basic O and M competencies for a blind person, what guide dogs can and can’t do and some of the potential advantages in using a GPS system.
Jan 10, 2010
Trevor Hirschfield, a graduate from Ballenas Secondary School and a former SET-BC student, is also an accomplished paralympic athlete. He plays on our National Wheelchair Rugby Team and is known for his offensive strength.
He helped his team win a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. Wheelchair Rugby is an aggressive, strategic, fast moving, and hard hitting sport - click to see a picture of his team and to learn more about rugby.
Learn more about how Trevor came to play Wheelchair Rugby.
Dec 15, 2009
Through the talents of Victoria animator Ken Leslie and his friends, Timmy Technology comes to life. SET-BC is pleased to host this animation of Timmy visiting a SET-BC student in a remote location.
Dec 4, 2009
Region 4 SETBC students, Kate Gibbs and Grace Brulotte, were invited by CanAssist to participate in National Child’s Day celebrations in Ottawa November 23. The girls made short speeches and showed off their technology to an audience of 300 students in the nation’s senate.
Dec 01, 2009
Thanks to Conner, Jordan, and Brandon for their writing presentations on the Olympic Torch - maybe Brandon will report on the Olympic Torch when it travels through his home town, Kelowna, at the end of January! Prizes for their hard work are on their way…
Nov 22, 2009
Matthew Grace, a Grade 12 student attending Golden Secondary School, shares information on the types of technology that can help students who have physical access challenges. He created and narrated his presentation on PowerPoint – have a look at his fine work!
Nov 19, 2009
In Steven's words...
Oh man, where to begin? I guess I’ll start with Day 1.
When I rolled into the Terry Fox Canadian Youth Centre, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. There were about 100 name tags on a table, for the people who hadn’t gotten there yet... more
Oct 30, 2009
In Steven's words ....
It was Friday October 9th and I had no idea what would be happening. The plan was this: Go to school, leave at 11:30, go to a demo for some new camera. Well, when me and my mom went down to West Hastings for the demo, it felt like it might be the first day of a whole new life. To begin with, the first thing they told me was that I was accepted to the Olympic Student Reporters program. That means that I will be going to Ottawa to participate in Encounters With Canada! If that didn't blow me away, ... read more
Oct 29, 2009
Brandon, Thomas, Brennan and Pavi submitted scary ghost stories for our October Challenge.
Oct 2009
Here is an essay by Kyle about his interest in Web design. His interest was developed in elementary school and carried onto highschool where he is currently taking Web Design 11.
September 2009, Excerpt from the article.
"Cancer, alcoholism, suicide, and heart problems are all taking their toll on Sliammon, a small First Nations community near Powell River. How better to remember the many lost souls by creating a totem pole in their honor. The chief of Sliammon had the idea to let people submit designs for a totem pole. Jackie Timothy had the best design and was asked to create his design. He said yes." read more
September 2009
"It was the day of the Cancer Head-Shave at my high-school, Burnaby Mountain Secondary School. I was going to get my head shaved for cancer. The main reason for this is because my grandfather died of cancer." read more
June 2009
Opportunity for SET-BC students to attend the Olympic or Paralympic Winter games with Historica - Encounters with Canada as student reporters.
SET-BC and 2010 Legacies Now, with support from 3M, have been working with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) to find Games-time reporting opportunities for SET-BC students who participate in Virtual Voices Village (vvvillage.org). This is an wonderful opportunity for our students.
Read more about the experience and the criteria for participation:
June 2009
Virtual Voices Village would like to congratulate the winners of our Community Reporting Contest. All of the entries were exceptional, and the judges had a difficult time coming to their decisions. All winners and participants will receive official notification, prizes and certificates of participation by mail through their schools.
Once again, thank you all for making this contest a success!
Apr 2009
Encounters with Canada is a Youth program that invites between 120-138 teens from across Canada to meet up in Ottawa. There they learn more about Canada by getting to know the people and languages that make up the country.
Spencer describes his eye opening trip, where he shared stories with many interesting people. As well he had the opportunity to practice his French. Read Spencer's report on his experience with Encounters with Canada.
Read about Aizlyn Auckland featured on Terrace's Local News
"Nothing holds her back Grade 11 student takes advantage of program to help her join school club
AIZLYN AUCKLAND isn't a typical Grade 11 student.
She does go to Caledonia Senior Secondary and has classes with her peers like other students."
Feb, 2009
CanAssist engineer, Darcy Lane, visited SETBC's Region 4 (Kootenays) February 16-17, 09 to outfit student reporters Kate and Grace with new media gear. Both girls are now equipped with high quality Sony video cameras mounted to their power chairs, along with protective (and stylish!) umbrellas to shield them and their equipment from the elements. Kate and Grace can easily operate their cameras from a push-button console on their laps. Darcy visited both students in October to assess their needs, and then returned to the University of Victoria campus headquarters to custom build these accessible media systems. Check out the smiles in these photos to see how Kate and Grace feel about their new gear.
Stay tuned to VVV for news about the completion of their next reporting project due the end of May 09!
Funding for the cameras and adaptations was provided by a grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Jan 20, 2009
The Honourable Shirley Bond, Minister of Education celebrated SET-BC's 20'th anniversary in this video. She mentioned Clayton's story about his trip to Cathedral Lakes. Way to go Clayton!!!
Oct 9, 2008
In the spring of 2008, the Virtual Voices Village website ran a contest asking BC students with disabilities to design a mascot for the website, and Timmy Technology was the winning entry by Rebecca from Delta BC.
Rebecca’s imagination and sense of humour combined to invent a charming character who is now a resident of Virtual Voices Village. Timmy has all of the attributes we could wish for in a Mascot representing BC students with disabilities.
View Video
July 2008
Frank shares with us the people and places of Egypt, - full of history and unexpected humour!
July 2008
Two crews, the USS Constantinople and the USS Denver, bravely met their challenge of colonizing the planet Marshmallium.
Read more about their adventure on the Teen Tech camp blog.
The campers had a riot as they performed, clapped, told jokes and sang the evening away. Watch these talented presenters in action on the Teen Tech Blog.
June 2008
John from Vancouver is a SET-BC student and BC's 2008 Champion Child for the Children's Miracle Network Champions across Canada presented by Wal-Mart. He talks about his experience here for VVV.
June 2008
Rebecca's Entry:
I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine. His name is Timmy Technology. He lives at Virtual Voices Village. Sometimes he really blows my mind because he is so great at using technology to help me out . . .
View Entry
Jonathan's Entry:
Mr. Mc Mole is interested in technology (DISLIKE DIGGING!!!) because he can not see well or talk at all. He uses Kurzweil to do typing and to talk around the world . . .
View Entry
May 2008
Students from schools in the lower mainland met at the SET-BC Provincial Centre for a two day “camp”. Students worked in pairs to create a demonstration on an aspect of the program of their choice.
Contest Winners Announcement for "Vancouver 2010" Digital Publishing Contest!April 2008
In the participation category the winners are:
Bronze: Jay - Coquitlam
Silver: Wyatt - Merritt
Gold: Trevor – Campbell River
In the K – 7 category the winners are:
Bronze: Hunter - Vancouver
Silver: Dusty – Millet, Alberta
Gold: John from Vancouver
In the 8 – 12 category the winners are:
Bronze: Ideen - Coquitlam
Silver: Roshni - Burnaby
Gold: Pamela - Victoria
March 11th 2008,
The March 11th Virtual Voices Village / SET-BC / 2010 Legacies Now / 3M Canada official launch event was a great success. We had coverage from three lower mainland TV stations, the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province, Metro News and World Journal Chinese Language newspaper. We gratefully acknowledge the support of 2010 Legacies now and 3M Canada. Deacon reports on the event for Virtual Voices Village. Play Video.
March 2008
Deacon interviews Multi-Medalist Donovan Tildesley March 2008
March 2008
Thank you to those who have participated in the "2010 Winter Olympics" contest. The contest is now closed. The winners will be announced soon. Many of the entries are posted. For more information on the contest ciick here.
Read articles written by SET-BC Olympic Journalists about their Olympic Inspirations.
