2024 High School Winners

Kyo Lee and Byeoli Chae are in the 11th and 10th grades respectively, at Laurel Heights Secondary High School in Ontario, Canada. They have been friends for eight years, and worked on the project together. Kyo has been participating in the World of 8 Billion for a couple of years and was a finalist last year. The two students chose to create a video about the connection between invasive species and wildfires because they thought that this particular focus was not well known or discussed. While they had learned about invasive species in classes and seen them in their backyards, both students were surprised to learn how invasive species can cause and exacerbate the spread of wildfires.

The process of creating their video was very collaborative. Kyo did the research and crafted the script while consulting with Byeoli on what parts to cut out. From there, Byeoli made a storyboard with thumbnails to craft the animation sequences, which was something that she had never done before. Both students enjoyed the process of writing and creating the video: Kyo said it was “such a cool way to learn more about a topic.” One of the challenging parts of the process was narrowing down the options to focus on a solution, as well as keeping on track with schedule to submit the project on time. With the animation process taking longer than expected, the team submitted their video just before the midnight deadline. Their advice to those seeking to make a video is to “just do it, start, and don’t procrastinate!”

Kyo and Byeoli are both Korean and talented creatives in their chosen crafts. Kyo is a passionate writer and has her first poetry collection coming out next year, “I Cut My Tongue on a Broken Country,” which speaks on themes of nationhood, girlhood, and love. She was the youngest person to win the CBC poetry prize in 2023 and has also been recognized with the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for her writing. In her spare time, Kyo is an editor for magazines/school newspapers and actively involved in increasing youth participation in philanthropy and local charities. She also loves peaches, oceans, and sunsets. Byeoli has been drawing and painting since before she can remember, and embodies art as a lifestyle. She does both graphic design for school newspapers and organizations as well as watercolor and pencil illustrations. When she was asked if she wanted to do an animation for the video, she was excited for the adventure of trying something new and taught herself how to do the animation by watching online tutorials. She is inspired by the number of artists online sharing their unique styles and enjoys the creative process of practicing new techniques.

Although this is their first time collaborating on a creative video project, Kyo and Byeoli are excited to work together again in the future. They are both involved in supporting Eclipse expositions, which will be the world’s largest youth-led event held in Waterloo in October 2024. Kyo plans to continue writing and possibly go into English literature, while Byeoli will continue crafting art and experimenting with new ideas.