[h2]SMASH (Strength, Masculinities, And Sexual Health)[/h2]
FOXY is pleased to present SMASH, our long-awaited parallel program designed to meet the unique demands of young men around the Northwest Territories. SMASH (Strength, Masculinities, And Sexual Health) is the result of collaboration with teachers, artists, youth, and community leaders from around the Northwest Territories, responding to needs identified in over 60 interviews, focus groups, and discussions that have taken place over the last year.
In early May 2016, FOXY facilitators met with a large group of men from all regions of the Northwest Territories to lay the foundation for a parallel program that will teach sexual health, consent, healthy relationships, and positive masculinity through school-based workshops and a Peer Leader Retreat program.
In July 2016 the first ever SMASH Peer Leader Retreat was held out at Blachford Lake Lodge, NWT and was a smashing success! We are looking forward to hosting the second SMASH Peer Leader Retreat this coming summer.
SMASH has also traveled to several NWT communities during the 2016/2017 school year to deliver SMASH workshops to young men.
What does SMASH do?
SMASH is a program that educates young men about defining their own masculinity – what does it mean to be a man, and how to be a good man. It includes practical, realistic discussions about sexual health and relationships, and straight-forward strategies for communication, consent, and discussions of boundaries. SMASH encourages Northern youth to become exceptional leaders in their own communities, identifying both problems and solutions, and acting as role models in all facets of their lives. In SMASH workshops and Retreats, participants learn about individual and team achievement, being a positive part of a healthy community, and modelling great decision making for others.
What does SMASH mean?
Participants in this program will SMASH patriarchal, colonialist ideas that define men as inherently unfeeling or violent. They will SMASH the concept that a man’s strength exists only in his physique, or in his ability to not show emotion. Together, we will SMASH the notion that unhealthy relationships have a place in our society, and we will prove that men and women can work together to make our communities better, healthier places.
When can we get SMASHed?
Young men from around the Northwest Territories can watch for SMASH workshops coming to their schools!
The SMASH Peer Leader Retreat is held at Blachford Lake Lodge and there is no cost involved for the participants. At this Retreat, participants will learn about digital storytelling, sexual health, and Northern games, participate in discussions about healthy relationships and masculinity, and design Community Projects that they will do once they return home after the Retreat.
SMASH Peer Leader Retreat applications for summer 2017 will be available in May!
For more information about SMASH, please contact Candice Lys at 867-444-9108, or smash@arcticfoxy.com.
Smash Peer Leader Retreat
FOXY is pleased to present SMASH, our long-awaited parallel program designed to meet the unique demands of young men around the Northwest Territories. SMASH (Strength, Masculinities, And Sexual Health) is the result of collaboration with teachers, artists, youth, and community leaders from around the Northwest Territories, responding to needs identified in over 60 interviews, focus groups, and discussions that have taken place over the last year.
The 2017 SMASH Peer Leader Retreat for young men will be taking place July 24th to August 2nd!
All expenses for participants, including travel from their home communities to Yellowknife are covered through the generous support of the Arctic Inspiration Prize and our other sponsors. There is no charge to anyone who participates in the SMASH Peer Leader Program.
What does SMASH do?
SMASH is a program that educates young men about defining their own masculinity – what does it mean to be a man, and how to be a good man. It includes practical, realistic discussions about sexual health and relationships, and straight-forward strategies for communication, consent, and discussions of boundaries. SMASH encourages Northern youth to become exceptional leaders in their own communities, identifying both problems and solutions, and acting as role models in all facets of their lives. In SMASH workshops and Retreats, participants learn about individual and team achievement, being a positive part of a healthy community, and modelling great decision making for others.
What does SMASH mean?
Participants in this program will SMASH patriarchal, colonialist ideas that define men as inherently unfeeling or violent. They will SMASH the concept that a man’s strength exists only in his physique, or in his ability to not show emotion. Together, we will SMASH the notion that unhealthy relationships have a place in our society, and we will prove that men and women can work together to make our communities better, healthier places.
***Application forms will be made available in May 2017***
(subject to change):
[h4]SMASH Peer Leader Retreat: 2017 dates are July 24-August 2!
[/h4]
[h4]Day 1[/h4]
- Participants arrive in Yellowknife from their home communities
- Participants and facilitators spend the night at a team sleepover at the Yellowknife Ski Club
[h4]Day 2[/h4]
- Participants and facilitators leave for Blachford Lake Lodge at 9am via float planes
- Participants arrive at Blachford, get settled, and eat lunch before doing an orientation and getting started on camp activities!
[h4]Day 2 – Day 4[/h4]
- • Participants take part in video production, Inuit & Dene games, outdoor activities, sexual health education and empowerment exercises, enjoying wonderful hospitality from the Blachford Lake Lodge staff, and planning their Community Projects
[h4]Day 5[/h4]
- Participants spend the morning presenting their community project plans to the group
- After lunch, everyone packs and gets ready to leave
- Over supper, we give out our Camp Awards
- At 7pm, we get onto the planes and return to Yellowknife
- All participants and facilitators go to Yellowknife Ski Club for a team sleepover
[h4]Day 6[/h4]
- Participants all return to their home communities. We’ll miss you!
This is a suggested packing list, but remember that all of our accommodations will be shared, and you’ll be responsible for keeping track of all of your belongings. Most of what you need (such as bedding, pillows, and towels) will be provided while at Blachford.
Please pack light! Make sure that your baggage is within the weight limit of your flights to Blachford/Yellowknife (around 30lbs).
IF YOU DON’T HAVE EVERYTHING ON THE LIST, DON’T WORRY! CONTACT CANDICE – YOU CAN PROBABLY BORROW SOMETHING FROM US!
Even though it will be summertime, please remember that it can get chilly at night!
- T-shirts
- Jeans/outdoor-appropriate pants
- Light waterproof jacket (in case it rains)
- Shorts
- Sunhat/ball cap
- Hoodie
- Underwear
- Socks
- Pyjamas
- Bathing suit
- Shoes
- Sandals
- Runners or light hiking shoes
- Toiletries (eg. Shampoo/conditioner/soap, toothbrush & toothpaste, hair brush & comb, lip balm, glass (if needed), contacts/contact solution/case (if needed)
- Sunglasses
- Camera and battery charger (don’t worry if you don’t have one – SMASH has lots you can borrow!
- Daypack/backpack
- Water bottle (reusable and marked with your name!)
- Flashlight or headlamp
- A book
- Sleeping bag, pillow, and an optional small foamie or air mattress for the sleepovers in Yellowknife (these will get stored in Yellowknife when we go out to Blachford – so pack them separately from the rest of your gear!)
- Any prescription medications in their original containers (this is to be given to the Retreat First Aider on the first day for safe keeping – she will give it back to you at the end!)
- At Blachford, you will be sharing a room with at least one other person. If you have any concerns about this, or would like to make any special requests, please contact us in advance.
- At the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat, smoking, drinking and drugs are strictly prohibited. Please leave these items at home so they don’t get confiscated and jeopardize your chance to stay at the Retreat.
- We will make all attempts to accommodate special medical, nutritional, and personal needs. Please be honest about your needs and we will work with you as much as possible to make sure that you have the best time at the Retreat!
- During the two evenings we are spending in Yellowknife, all participants and facilitators must remain at Yellowknife Ski Club for the duration of the sleepovers as these are team-building activities that are central to the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat. There will be no exceptions made.
- Please be honest and thorough with your health form. It allows us to prepare for all possibilities while at the Retreat.
- During our time at Blachford Lake Lodge, participants will not be able to leave for any reason outside of an emergency. If a participant must be removed from the site for disciplinary reasons, the cost of the flight charter will be forwarded on to the participant’s family.
- All successful participants in the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat will receive 2 Grade 10-level credits in the NWT school system. The Peer Leader Community Projects are worth 2 Grade 11-level credits when they’re completed!
- SMASH strongly discourages you from bringing your phone or device to the Retreat – we don’t have cell service anyway, and the limited wireless Internet is exclusively for the use of the Blachford Lake Lodge staff. If you are concerned about your device getting lost or damaged, please leave it at home. We’ll be super busy anyway doing fun things, and many participants in previous years found that they enjoyed being free from their electronic devices during the Retreat! Don’t worry if you don’t own a camera – we have a bunch of really awesome professional cameras that you will learn how to use and are free to pick up anytime to take photos of your Retreat fun (and we’ll make sure you get to take all your photos home with you)!
[toggle style=”light” title=”What is SMASH all about?”]
SMASH (Strength, Masculinities, And Sexual Health) is the result of collaboration with teachers, artists, youth, and community leaders from around the Northwest Territories, responding to needs identified in over 60 interviews, focus groups, and discussions that have taken place over the last year.
[toggle style=”light” title=”Where did SMASH come from?”]
The FOXY team has been delivering sexual health workshops for young women in the NWT since early 2012. Everywhere they went, men were asking to get involved in FOXY, to come to the workshops, and join the fun.
In the 2015/16 school year, facilitators held over 60 focus groups and interviews with people in communities across the Northwest Territories. Teachers, teenagers, Elders, artists, RCMP, parents, social workers, and community leaders all contributed to what this program should look like, and how it can address the needs of young men growing up in the NWT. Over 150 individuals from every region in the NWT told us what they thought SMASH should look like.
In early May 2016, FOXY facilitators met with a large group of men from all regions of the Northwest Territories to lay the foundation for a parallel program that will teach sexual health, consent, healthy relationships, and positive masculinity through school-based workshops and a Peer Leader Retreat program.[/toggle]
Participants in this program will SMASH patriarchal, colonialist ideas that define men as inherently unfeeling or violent. They will SMASH the concept that a man’s strength exists only in his physique, or in his ability to not show emotion. Together, we will SMASH the notion that unhealthy relationships have a place in our society, and we will prove that men and women can work together to make our communities better, healthier places.[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Doesn’t SMASH mean… something else?”]
Like every word, SMASH can be used in a positive way, or a negative way. The SMASH program is going to empower young men to SMASH the harmful ideas around them, the ideas and beliefs that hurt young men and women, and prevent communities from moving forward. Together, we’re going to reclaim the word, and attach positive implications to it: leadership, confidence, knowledge, and standing up for what’s right. We will SMASH the things that separate us, hold us back, and keep us from reaching our full potential.[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Why SMASH? Wasn’t FOXY good enough?”]
FOXY is an amazingly successful program, and it’s not going anywhere! Since beginning FOXY, it’s been really clear that guys want this type of education too. They’re struggling with different problems than young women, and they deserve a chance to learn too. We think that every Northern teenager deserves realistic, practical, healthy, and empowering sexual health education, and we’re so excited to finally be able to deliver.
[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”What kind of ‘art’ do guys do at SMASH?”]
Lots of time, when we think of “art,” we think of painting, or dancing, or weird sculptures in strange galleries – but art is huge! Art can be anything, and we listened to guys across the NWT to make some choices about what kind of art we’d use. Participants in SMASH can look forward to experimenting with Inuit and Dene games, film-making, and digital storytelling, and new forms of visual art. No dainty landscapes here – just real opportunities to learn about, and express yourself, and how great you are. [/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”When can we get SMASHed?”]
Young men from around the Northwest Territories will start getting introduced to SMASH in July 2016 at the pilot SMASH Peer Leader Retreat to be held at no cost to participants at Blachford Lake Lodge. At this Retreat, participants will learn about digital storytelling, sexual health, and Northern games, participate in discussions about healthy relationships and masculinity, and design Community Projects that they will do once they return home after the Retreat.[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Is SMASH just for Indigenous guys?”]
SMASH is open to all young men in the NWT between the ages of 13 and 17. We’re open to all backgrounds, sexual orientations, cultures, and beliefs. Everybody who participates in SMASH contributes their own unique perspective, and that’s what makes our program so strong. [/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”What’s next for SMASH?”]
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for our new website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and logo! We’ll be available to answer lots of questions in the meantime.
We are busily preparing to host the second SMASH Peer Leader Retreat this summer and are planning to visit as many communities as possible during the next school year! [/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Who pays for SMASH?”]
FOXY and SMASH are very happy to have the generous support of the Arctic Inspiration Prize for the development and pilot testing of SMASH that has allowed us to keep this program free for all participants. We’re grateful to have found partners across the Northwest Territories in schools, youth centres, and community agencies that have invited us to come and work with them. We are also very thankful to have the support of Blachford Lake Lodge, Air North, Northwestern Air Lease, Dominion Diamond Corporation, and the Government of the Northwest Territories to help us reach girls in as many communities as possible. FOXY and SMASH is always looking to expand our list of community partners, and would love to hear from anyone or any organization interested in being part of our family! [/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Is there a cost to attend the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat?”]
There is no cost to participants for attending the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat. All costs will be covered by our main funder, the Arctic Inspiration Prize, as well as the generous support of our other sponsors. We are happy to work with many awesome Northern airlines to ensure that we can fly guys from even the most remote communities to Yellowknife to attend the Retreat, and Blachford Lake Lodge, to offer our Retreat in a world-class location.
[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”Who can apply for the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat?”]
All guys living in the Northwest Territories who are between the ages of 13 (on July 3, 2017) and 17 are encouraged to apply for the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat.
[/toggle]
[toggle style=”light” title=”How do I apply for the SMASH Peer Leader Retreat?”]
Please complete an application (available for download on our website!) or by emailing smash@arcticfoxy.com. Applications can be faxed or emailed in.
[/toggle]