Kenny Yeung
Committee member, CBE CARES (Collaboration for Anti-Racism and Equity Supports)
Committee member, ATA Status of Racialized Teachers Working Group
Executive chair, Calgary Middle and Junior High Athletic Association
Volunteer, Calgary Drop In and Rehab Centre Society
System principal Kenny Yeung embraces his lived experience as he advocates for equitable access to supports and extracurriculars for students.
Yeung grew up in a low socioeconomic area of Calgary. His parents were immigrants who worked multiple jobs to ensure his needs were met. They had no time to ask about his hopes and dreams, no thought of extracurriculars. But this was okay. There was school.
“School became my place where the adults, the teachers became my coaches, my people,” Yeung says, “These were the people who really molded and shaped who I was.”
Yeung became involved in sports at school, and encouraged by his teacher coaches, soon knew he wanted to be a physical education teacher. He was
passionate about sports, of course, but as he grew up, he became increasingly focused on ensuring everyone had an opportunity to play — just like he did.
After spending his first years teaching in more affluent areas, Yeung made an intentional move back to his old neighbourhood. He took on a school leadership role at a school that had limited extracurricular sports, no trips and no band program. Yeung changed this. Through relentless grant-writing, creative partnerships and systemwide supports, he was able to provide his students access to rich extracurricular experiences, regardless
of their socioeconomic status.
He fondly recalls bringing a group of students to their first soccer tournament.
“They wore shin pads with no socks and mismatched t-shirts, but the kids loved every minute of it. This was like the World Cup to us.”
For subsequent years, Yeung ensured funding was in place for proper soccer socks and matching jerseys, which students wore with great pride.
Moments like this — a student’s first sports tournament, first camping trip, first time holding a violin — keep Yeung pushing forward in his advocacy for equitable supports for schools and students in low socioeconomic contexts.
Yeung has recently shifted gears from school leadership to system principalship, and he revels in being able to champion equity for even more students.
“I’m now in a position where I am having a voice and being an advocate
for equity for not only one community and one school, but for 38 schools now,” he says. “Start small, the voice grows, the impact gets bigger.”
Got an idea?Unsung Hero is a space dedicated to honouring ATA members past and present who have had notable achievements, either in the ATA or in their private lives. If you know of a member whom you feel should be recognized, please contact section editor Lindsay Yakimyshyn at lindsay.yakimyshyn@ata.ab.ca. |
