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PDG Nancy introduced our co-speakers – Elsie Morden and Sarah Steward. Elsie Morden (born in Charleswood) is a 25 year old singer, songwriter and motivational speaker. As a national ambassador for “Kids Help Phone” and the founder and CEO of “No Time for That” - a registered Canadian charity that works with performers and motivational speakers to develop and deliver powerful presentations mainly to school-age children and youth about bullying prevention, mental health awareness, and youth empowerment. Elsie has visited over six hundred schools across Canada free of charge, speaking about bullying prevention, mental health awareness, LGBTQ+ visibility and youth empowerment - directly impacting over one hundred and fifty thousand students. This year, she was recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s “Top 30 Under 30” by Atlantic Business Magazine. Sarah Steward is a third-year student studying International Development and History at Dalhousie University. Sarah was first introduced to Rotary through her grandfather David Smith, a proud Tsawwassen Rotary member. Her time spent taking part in Rotary programs like RYLA (in BC), a short term exchange, a Rotary scholarship and volunteering at Rotary events influenced her to study International Development. By getting hands-on experience volunteering for a Canadian Charity called “No Time For That” through the International Development program, Sarah is learning the inner workings of a Canadian charity both in theory and in practice. She hopes one day to take this knowledge to run her own charity or non-profit organization. Elsie began the presentation by indicating that her family moved many times throughout different provinces. She was always the new girl in school and that resulted in her being bullied – being called names, forced to eat sand, being left out, being called “The Mop” because of her curly hair. When attending a small school in rural Manitoba (right after having attended a big city school in BC), she found everything was very different and that she had to purposely do poorly in school to be accepted – leave answers blank on tests, not hand in assignments, drop out of band and sports teams (because they weren’t “cool”) – and as a result her mental health really deteriorated – depression, anxiety and ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder). After having been punched in the face by a teenager from a neighbouring town when she was in Grade 11, Elsie couldn’t understand how people could be so cruel and how people seeing what was happening didn’t do anything about it. Fortunately, she found music, (her Dad’s guitar, that she learned to play on her own) which was her escape as her notes about what she felt turned into songs. She found that music was so healing, so powerful and so relatable, that she wanted her music to help other youth. While in Grade 12, she emailed schools in rural Manitoba, offering to visit schools with her music. A response from Treherne Elementary School had her perform her songs and share some of her story. Students came up to her afterwards and told her that she was their inspiration and that they didn’t realize how hurtful some of their behaviours were and that they weren’t going to “pick on that kid anymore”. Following this, Elsie home-schooled herself for the rest of Grade 12 and began travelling across Manitoba, visiting close to 100 schools. After graduating from high school she branched out to schools outside of Manitoba and formed a registered Canadian charity called “No Time For That”. She worked with over 600 schools free of charge across Canada and empowering youth. With the pandemic over the past year, travel to schools has been halted and the presentations have been converted into virtual programming for staff and students, consisting of a pre-recorded presentation component (which includes story and song) and then a virtual live question and answer period where the students in the class can interact with the presenter. This virtual aspect means that there is no more need to travel and that the presentations can take place in several different schools in several different provinces on the same day. Sarah addressed the difficulties in having a community of school friends when education is being largely delivered virtually during the pandemic. The answer is to build a virtual community of people who feel the same way or struggle the same way and are willing to talk about it. The “No Time For That” (NTFT) charity’s virtual tool is very easy to access, is user friendly and is offered free of charge to schools. Because it is free of charge, the charity relies on donations and other sources of funding to get this program out to schools. There are several ways that a Rotary club can help this charity – connect it with schools, tell friends about NTFT (www.ntft.ca) and the important work the charity does, connect it to companies that could sponsor or partner with the charity, provide personal donations, follow and share on social media @ntftcanada, and/or purchase merchandise that consists of socks, shirts, keychains, bracelets and necklaces that share the message of never giving up. In the questions and answers that followed the presentation, we learned the following: - There are different programs that are presented to elementary, junior high and high schools. The messaging connects to all ages, including communities and adults and the public in general.
- A key message that applies to bullied persons of all ages – “Other peoples’ opinions don’t define you”. Sometimes you can’t change negative people or negative situations but can change the way you are affected by them. Focus on positive things in your life that make you feel hopeful.
- Bullying doesn’t discriminate – gender doesn’t make a difference,
- Saskatoon Rotary has anti-bullying programs for high schools in their area and PDG Ed can connect NTFT with that program.
- As a bullied person, Elsie was very good at covering up what was happening from the teachers because she was so embarrassed and ashamed of what was happening. Most of the time the bullying occurred in the absence of adults. In some situations, the teachers believed the bully because they had known them a lot longer than they knew Elsie. She didn’t talk about the bullying until she was halfway through Grade 11.
- Elsie Morden is a stage name – her grandmother’s name is Elsie and she lives in Morden.
- Elsie’s music features in the school presentations – including the song called “Outsiders” which Darvin heard on a CTV program and which he was quite taken with. “Music has the incredible ability to heal.”
- Elsie’s experience has led her to what she is doing now, which she enjoys very much. She now views her ADHD as one of her greatest strengths.
- A comment by PDG Nancy’s granddaughter Sarah (at Oak Park High) pointed out that it was refreshing to hear of a more current anti-bullying organization that is based on the current situation in schools.
- PDG Nancy indicated that she would talk to the principal at Oak Park about having the NTFT program there (since she and husband Dave have known the principal since he was a teenager).
- To book a NTFT presentation for a school, bookings@ntft.ca
- Costs to run the program include equipment for broadcasting, tour coordinator, technical assistant, promotion to schools, development, materials and resources.
- Elsie’s album can be ordered online from the NTFT website.
PDG Nancy thanked Elsie and Sarah for taking the time to share their information with us. |
