DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP GRADUATION AWARD

Registrations for DCGA 2024-2025 are now OPEN!

Nominate outstanding Canadian high school and CÉGEP graduates for the STEM Fellowship’s Digital Citizenship Graduation Award. Recognizing students who use technology to champion inclusivity, democracy, and civic responsibility, this award offers mentorship opportunities through RBC Future Launch and LinkedIn Learning. Join us in shaping the future — register your school today!

Exciting News: New Digital Citizenship Award Badges Are Here!

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new Leitenat Govenour of Ontario Digital Citizenship Graduation Award badges!

For Students

Celebrate your achievement and showcase your exceptional digital leadership. Students will receive their badge along with their certificate.

For Teachers and Education Workers

Recognize your role in empowering young digital leaders. Badges are awarded when you nominate students and will reflect consecutive nominations for continued participation.

For Schools

Highlight your commitment to fostering responsible, inclusive, and ethical digital citizenship. Schools will be recognized after nominating students, with badges reflecting consecutive participation in the Digital Citizenship Graduation Award Program.

These badges can be shared online through your social media and added to your digital profiles proudly showcasing your dedication to digital citizenship and leadership. They’re a symbol of excellence and a way to inspire others to create safer and more inclusive online spaces.

Nominate your school’s Digital Citizenship Leaders here and contribute to building a stronger Canadian Digital Society.

What is DCGA?

The STEM Fellowship’s Digital Citizenship Graduation Award (DCGA) recognizes the unique contributions made by the digital leaders and influencers of tomorrow who use technology not just as a tool but as a force for positive change. This award looks at the collective to determine what characterizes responsible digital citizenship. This way, the award can keep evolving with the ever-changing digital world. Recipients of this award will have mentorship and coaching opportunities through RBC Future Launch and full access to Linkedin Learning’s various tools.

The DCGA recognizes students that have demonstrated responsibility, innovation, and creativity in the digital world throughout their high school years. These students go beyond academics as they succeed at learning about 21st-century tools through their classes or by themselves. Their projects or contributions demonstrate leadership in their school or their community at large.

Organized by STEM Fellowship – Made possible by RBC Future Launch – In partnership with LinkedIn Learning

For more details about the Digital Citizenship Graduation Award, please read the document below.

Eligibility

Who and Where?

The DCGA will be open to all graduating Canadian high school and CÉGEP students. Each school may nominate up to two students for the DCGA. The DCGA Awards will be handed out by the schools at their graduation ceremony.

Canada

All graduating students in Canada are eligible for the Digital Citizenship Graduation Award. These students will receive a STEM Fellowship certificate, along with recognition from our partners RBC Future Launch and LinkedIn Learning. A virtual or hybrid graduation ceremony may be organized for award recipients.

Ontario

Students nominated for the Digital Citizenship Graduation Award in Ontario will receive an additional recognition from our Honorary Patron, The Hon. Edith Dumont, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Alberta

Students nominated for the Digital Citizenship Graduation Award in Alberta will receive an additional recognition from our Honourary Patron, The Hon. Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Application Process and Evaluation

How?

In order to register your school for DCGA Accreditation please complete the following Google Form. Following the registration, establish a committee at your school to determine the criteria for this award. At the most basic level, criteria should measure the positive digital footprint and influence created by the award candidates. Schools can decide to engage in partnerships with the various members of the school community to deliberate on the potential nominees.

Step 1:

All Canadian secondary schools and CÉGEP are invited to register for DCGA accreditation by filling out the following form, School Registration Form. One teacher or education worker should be chosen as the contact for the award nomination process.

Step 2:

Upon completion of the form a confirmation email will be sent to the schools confirming their DCGA accreditation.

Step 3:

The school has complete control over the evaluation process and will use their own discretion to select students for the award either by committee or teacher nomination. Our team is available to assist your school if you want help crafting your nomination process.

Step 4:

A form will be forwarded to your school’s DCGA accreditation representative. It is through this person that the award certificates and scholarships will be sent to the award recipients.

Past Winners

Testimonials

As a chapter head at my high school, my chapter’s executive team and I worked on creating programs that would help students interested in STEM every month. This included mentorship programs, which were especially helpful for students who were looking to apply to competitive STEM programs to gain experience, or for students applying to university. In addition to helping high schoolers, my team and I worked towards engaging middle school students in STEM to prepare them for high school studies. In this program, high school students would work with middle school classes to show kids experiments and host workshops in topics related to STEM. This allowed middle schoolers to explore the topics more and ease their anxiety around high school STEM, as well as gave high school students a teaching opportunity for their resumes. Other programs were also created with the goal of helping students in STEM, such as a database of opportunities that students could explore based on their interest (e.g. biology, technology, physics, etc), monthly newsletters with announcements for larger opportunities, and weekly Instagram posts of 20-30 programs for students to apply to. At the end of the year, my team and I also held a STEM Speaker Series, in which four speakers of various academic backgrounds spoke to different STEM topics based on student interest.
Freeha Anjum, Graduated from Westmount Charter School, Calgary, Alberta. Attending University of Calgary, Neuroscience (Honours)

As the president of my school’s robotics club, I led a team of 15 students in designing, building, and programming a robot to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition. We worked tirelessly for 6 months, meeting several times a week, to overcome technical challenges and design limitations. Our robot placed 2nd in the regional competition, earning us a spot at the state championship.

Emily Johnson, Westmount Charter School in Calgary, Alberta

As the captain of my high school’s varsity debate team, I led our team to the state championship tournament for 2 consecutive years. I individually placed in the top 10 speakers at the state competition both years. Through this experience, I developed strong public speaking, critical thinking, and research skills that have been invaluable in my academic pursuits.

Aiden Nguyen, Centennial High School in Vancouver, British Columbia

I founded and led an environmental club at my high school focused on sustainability and conservation efforts. We organized school-wide recycling drives, planted a vegetable garden on campus, and hosted educational workshops on renewable energy. The club grew from 8 members to over 30 by the time I graduated, demonstrating my ability to inspire others and build a thriving organization.

Samantha Lee, Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge, Alberta

Support the

Digital Citizenship Graduation Award

As a federal charity, we rely on the generous support of our sponsors to sustain the work we do for Canadian youth. Funds that are donated to STEM Fellowship are appreciated and will be used to support STEM programs, which provide students across the country with unique, inquiry-based, experiential learning opportunities.

Any questions can be directed via email to [email protected]