UFV students showcase community research at networking event
Sometimes a school assignment is just an assignment, something you do for a grade before quickly moving on to something else. But sometimes, it’s so much more.
When Amanda Minchau participated in a CityStudio Hubbub like the ones coming up in early April — Chilliwack City Hall on April 7 from 10 am to noon, and Abbotsford City Hall on April 9 from 10:30 am to 12:45 pm — she didn’t know what to expect.
A partnership between the City of Abbotsford and UFV, CityStudio Hubbub challenges students to tackle civic issues and provide prototype solutions.
Amanda, who was enrolled in Children’s Literature: Diversity & Accessibility and has extensive experience as an educational assistant working with children with special needs, identified a deficiency in learning materials for students with sensory disabilities (like blindness), or reading challenges (like dyslexia/dysphasia).
Some children, she notes, are kinesthetic learners who process information best by touching, doing, or creating as opposed to just listening. Amanda thought about how teaching materials could be adapted for the science curriculum, specifically on the topic of clouds. She decided to create a tactile book.
“I put sandpaper on the nimbus or storm cloud page so they can feel that it’s dark and rough, and I put cotton balls on the cumulus cloud page because they’re fluffy and soft,” Amanda explains. “Stratus clouds are low-lying, long, and layered, and I represented those with different layers of ribbons near the bottom of the page.”
Amanda says the reactions at the 2024 spring Hubbub at Abbotsford City Hall were great. She met Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens along with several city officials and other guests who were delighted by her work.
She won an individual award, and helped her English class win a team award.
“It’s funny because I created it for kids who need hands-on learning, but everyone wanted to touch this book,” she laughs. “It was interesting seeing neuro-typical adults play with the book, and have one person say to me, ‘I’ll never forget cumulus now.’
From start to finish, the experience was an eye opener for Amanda.
“I didn’t know Hubbubs could connect you in so many ways,” she says. “Whether getting your ideas out or just meeting the right people and networking and showcasing your stuff – it’s not just, ‘Hey, I’m a student and I did this thing. Isn’t it pretty?’”
Amanda suggests students aren’t always excited about doing a worksheet in class because it has no meaning for them or their life experience.
“But if the project connects to an idea or passion that they want to pursue, and they can interact with someone who also has that passion, then you have real learning and real connection,” she says. “And isn’t university about that? Isn’t it about meeting and networking, seeing your ideas come to fruition and discovering what you want to do?”
Amanda recalls a peer who was interested in how many languages were present in the Abbotsford region. She discovered more than a hundred and had a speaker of each language record themselves saying hello. She then created a visually impressive Hubbub presentation where visitors were able to press buttons and hear hello spoken in all those languages.
“After that, she wanted to do a deeper dive to explore how we can get literature to these people, get them more involved in our community, and how can we reach out to them and incorporate their cultures?” Amanda says. “It was a really cool idea, and she got a grant for it.”
“When you’re preparing for the Hubbub and getting your project ready, you don’t yet see the full picture. You’re not sure why you’re doing it and where it’s going. You know it’s bigger than you, but you can’t quite see it. Then afterwards, it’s ‘Aha! I get it now.’”
Larissa Horne, Experiential Education Coordinator, knows more students will have the positive experience that Amanda had.
“These Hubbubs provide another opportunity for UFV students to meet decision makers in local government, and network with people they’d otherwise not have the chance to interact with,” she says. “Our students have wonderful ideas to address many of the civic issues that municipal governments grapple with, and it’s exciting to see them presenting their ideas to the people who can help bring them to fruition.”
