Filipino Talks
Over 1200 Filipino-Canadian students surveyed
Consistently rated “The best professional development we’ve ever had” by school staff
Featured speaker at Celebrating Linguistic Diversity, Canada’s largest gathering for educators of English language learners
Official Partner of the Toronto District School Board
Guest lecturer at universities worldwide
Featured on CBC Metro Morning
After serving her community as a school settlement worker and community-based researcher in school boards across the Greater Toronto Area, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio founded Filipino Talks— an initiative that builds bridges between Filipino families and Canadian educators.
Since 2016, Filipino Talks has become a key part of professional development for thousands of school administrators, curriculum consultants, and support staff.
“I laughed, I cried, I empathized. I’ve been teaching Filipino students for years, but this presentation showed me that I knew so much less about this community than I’d realized. And in her funny, brilliant, and warm-hearted way, Jennilee showed me how to be a better educator not only for Filipinos, but for ALL of my diverse students. ”
Creating a memorable experience for teachers to better understand their Filipino students and parents at the Halton Catholic District School Board.
Filipino Talks Includes:
1) Student Survey - Created with educators to address each school’s unique needs, this anonymous survey is distributed to Filipino students by school staff.
Surveys often include questions on family separation, community involvement, and post-secondary aspirations. These results are used as a guide for presentations to educators and Filipino students.
2) Professional Development for Teachers - Consistently rated as “the best PD we’ve ever had,” this 2.5-hour professional development session encompasses a spectrum of topics:
immigration contexts that set Filipinos apart from other groups
cultural issues that may impact student and parent success
pronunciation tips for Filipino names
a virtual tour of a school and neighbourhood in the Philippines
success strategies that have worked in Canadian schools
a spectrum of Filipino guest speaker profiles, curriculum pieces, and book recommendations from the Filipino diaspora
Throughout the presentation, school-specific survey data is highlighted to create an engaging, emotional, and memorable experience for staff.
3) Filipino Curriculum Explorations - As a follow-up to the staff professional development Session, this is an engaging 1-hour session for English and History teachers to dive deeper into Filipino novels and poetry for their classrooms. The resources will cover literature by both Filipinos in the diaspora and in the Philippines. Best suited for English, ESL, and History teachers teaching secondary or middle grades.
4) Three After-School Workshops for Filipino Students - Using the survey data to determine topics and activities, three after-school sessions are developed for Filipino youth:
Role Models Talk Show- Participants meet Filipino-Canadian professionals in the careers of interest that they had chosen in their surveys. Past talk show panelists have included Filipinos in medicine, the arts, academia, social work, law, engineering, and more.
Community Partners Talk Show - Participants meet frontline community workers who will encourage youth to join a variety of free programs: cooking, basketball, music, leadership, and settlement programming both in the school and the community. This ensures transformative change in a sustainable way, and combats the social isolation which impacts so many Filipino youth in Canadian schools.
Separation and Reunification- Participants meet young Filipino leaders who share their own experiences with reunification, community involvement and student leadership. Session culminates in the development of the Letters to Mama video (see below).
5) Letters to Mama Video - This video is completely written by students and is used to start discussions about the hardships of family reunification that many newcomer Filipino students face upon arriving in Canada. After it is shown to the participants, it is used as a key piece of staff professional development. Bring tissues!
Documentary feature by Dual Citizen.
Reviews from School Staff
“My colleagues and I all agree, this was, by far, THE BEST PD WE HAVE EVER HAD.
So detailed to our students’ needs and filled with numerous solutions that we’ll definitely be implementing, from books to newcomer events to guest speakers to outreach strategies. Jennilee’s presentation will positively impact not only our Filipino students, but our entire BIPOC population. VERY recommended!”
““Jennilee is a great presenter... lovely, funny and extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her community.””
“I learned so much. Especially about the history of the culture. Jennilee was absolutely engaging. (I didn’t even feel like I needed to sneak in any marking.) This was the best PD speaker we’ve ever had.”
“Excellent! You opened my eyes to the home life of the Filipinos. I couldn’t help but start bawling— but in a good way. Your presentation helped me to see my students beyond being ‘students’ but as sons and daughters. Thank you!”
“Thank you for bringing this community to life for us. Discovering the secret lives of these students is a very beneficial exercise for us. I especially appreciate the insights into the mentality and the need for career counselling. Please keep bringing this message to schools across Toronto. Salamat (thank you)!”
“Jennilee, you have put together an amazing presentation about your community. Your vibrant, effervescent personality makes listening about it so much more enjoyable. Your enthusiasm and love for your community certainly shines in your delivery. The videos you created were so touching.”
“Touching, inspiring, heartwarming & heartbreaking presentation by a lady as full of information and practicality as warmth and hope. Best presentation I’ve seen in a LONG time. Thank you so much for sharing all this with us.”
Creating a space for Filipino students to talk about reunification, remittances, and more at the Toronto District School Board.
Reviews From Students
“The project was an amazing experience, it felt like home. I never thought that most kids felt the way I felt.
Thank you!”
“In this program I learned that as teenagers and newcomers, we need to have fun too, and we don’t have to take all of the weight on our shoulders just yet. I needed to hear that.”
“The program is very useful and to help me learn things that can help me to achieve my goals and to learn more about the Filipino programs especially when I don’t know much about them.”
“Excellently excellent. I couldn’t ask for more; it was full package and amazingly amazing. Just so WOW. HANDS-UP :) KUDOS! :)”
Letters to Mama
The Letters to Mama video is always a Filipino Talks highlight. This version was written by Filipino students at the Toronto District School Board for Project 40’s Diasporasian Mythologies project. As children of caregivers, the students were asked to write a letter to their mothers, and then reply to themselves while pretending to be their mothers.
With a line out of every student's letter, this Letters to Mama video is a tribute to the difficulties of being reunited with a mother who has worked abroad for years, while showing students the strength of shared community experiences.
