🌟MEET OUR STAR MENTOR — SOPHIA ETUHUBE🌟🎥 With over a decade of experience across journalism, television, digital media, filmmaking, photography, and video production, Sophia Etuhube will be taking our Skills2Stars participants behind the camera and introducing them to the world of videography and visual storytelling. And this session is especially close to her heart because Sophia isn’t only one of our mentors — she is the Founder of Skills2Stars Foundation.❤️ Hi, I’m Sophia👋🏽 Thank you for following the Skills2Stars vision for the past five weeks.🙏 My beliefs for Skills2Stars are simple: “Every child deserves to leave childhood with at least one practical skill.” And… “It has never been the absence of potential, but the absence of enough mentors willing to pour into the next generation.” This first season was only possible because of the 10 amazing professionals who said YES to sharing their skills, experiences, time, and knowledge with young people in our community.❤️ This weekend, we are wrapping up Season 1 with our final two sessions, and it is such a great honour for me to personally take our participants through visual storytelling and videography. I’ll be introducing them to the basics of using a camera and framing a shot, then taking them through storytelling, filming, and the possibilities that exist within the creative industry. More importantly, this session is about helping their young minds realize that one skill can open doors they haven’t even imagined yet... just as it did for me. 🎥 Our stars aren’t just going to learn about event decoration or filmmaking this final week. They’re going to CREATE with their hands. 🎥💐🌟 What a beautiful way to wrap up Season 1🎉🎉🎉 See you in Season two✌️😉💪 @livingwithsophia_ #skills2stars #everychilddeservesaskill #youthempowerment #videography #visualstorytelling

Season 2 is HERE🎉🌟 Skills2Stars Foundation, in collaboration with the Fredericton Public Library, is bringing our FREE Skills Empowerment Program to children ages 9–13❤️ Dates: September 12–13, 2026 📸 Photography 🎧 DJ Skills 💇🏽 Hairmaking 🎥 Videography FOR REGISTRATION: Call 506-460-2806 or email EnfantsBiblioFrederictonLibraryChildrens@gnb.ca Spaces are limited, so register early!📌 Season 1 was just the beginning… now it’s time for our younger stars to shine too🌟🥳 Every Child Deserves to leave childhood with one practical skill… #skills2stars #season2 #youthempowerment

🌟MEET OUR STAR MENTOR: BRIDGET IBUKUN🌟 For Week 5, we are introducing our participants to the creative world of event planning, floral design and decoration with Bridget Ibukun, Owner and Lead Planner of Elegance Events and Weddings @eleganceeventsandweddings 🎉💐 Bridget is a multidimensional professional with experience spanning banking, human resources, entrepreneurship and professional event planning. Beyond building beautiful experiences through events, she is passionate about youth skills development, supporting small businesses and helping others turn what they know into opportunities. She is also no stranger to community impact and has received multiple Community Development Awards for her contributions. During this practical, hands-on workshop, Bridget will introduce our young stars to the creativity and planning that happen behind beautiful event decor. They will explore the basics of event decoration and floral arrangement, learn how different elements come together to transform a space, and discover that event planning and decoration can become more than a hobby; they can become valuable, income-generating skills. This is exactly what Skills2Stars is about: exposure. We don’t expect every participant to become an event planner, photographer, DJ, author, baker or makeup artist. We simply want them to experience enough possibilities to discover the one skill that makes them say, “I think I can do this.” 🌟 Thank you, Bridget Ibukun, for being willing to transfer your knowledge to the next generation and joining us as a Skills2Stars Star Mentor. #meetthementor #skills2stars #week5 #youthempowerment

“What about the younger children?” 🤷🏽‍♀️ Well… we heard you, and we were working on something even better and bigger for them.🎉🎉🎉 In collaboration with the Fredericton Public Library, Skills2Stars will now be bringing our skill-building experience to younger children ages 9–13📌🌟 We are wrapping up Season 1 and jumping straight into Season 2 because YOU ASKED. And our founder Sophia, @livingwithsophia_ didn’t only hear you… the City of Fredericton heard you too.🥹❤️ We are so excited to create another opportunity for younger children in our community to learn practical skills, discover their interests, meet mentors, and experience what they are capable of. This session will be limited to a specific number of participants, so parents, please be ready to register once the official registration details drop tomorrow! 📌 Season 1 showed us what is possible. Season 2… here we come ready to make more stars🌟🎉🌟 Because…Every Child Deserves to Leave Childhood with a Practical Skill.📌 Thank you City of Fredericton Public Library❤️ #skills2stars #season2 #communitypartnership #fredericton

Our S2S season one participants will be visiting a radio station🎉🌟 And yes…they’ll be going ON AIR🎙️🎉 They’ll have the chance to talk about their Skills2Stars experience, the skills they’ve been learning, and what this summer has meant to them. They will also get a chance to experience radio broadcasting and see what happens behind the scenes at a radio station. So save the date and tune into CHSR 97.9 FM between 11 am and 12 noon on September 3, 2026. From photography to videography, writing, publishing, cooking, beekeeping, volunteering, and now RADIO! We are thrilled and grateful for how the community has welcomed this program. We said Every Child Deserves a Skill, and the people of Fredericton fully support it. Thank you CHSR 97.9 FM🙏 #skills2star #everychilddeservesaskill #youthempowerment #radiotour #chsr979fm

🌟MEET OUR STAR MENTOR: DJ RESPO🌟🎧🎶 DJ skills? Why not😎 We are excited to welcome @djrespo as our DJ Skills Star Mentor at the Skills2Stars Free Summer Academy!🌟 With more than 12 years of experience, 150+ events and performances across three countries, DJ Respo brings a wealth of real-world experience to our young people. His journey has taken him from festivals and clubs to private events, with appearances including NBAFroFest, The CAP in Fredericton, African Canada Festival and many more. An open format DJ, his musical range stretches across Afrobeats, hip hop, dancehall, reggae, R&B, amapiano, soca, pop, techno, disco and more. 🎵 But this session is about more than playing music.📌 Our participants will get an introduction to the skill and craft behind DJing, from mixing and blending music to understanding equipment, transitions, timing and one of DJ Respo’s greatest strengths: reading the room. And this is exactly why Skills2Stars exists. A young person may love music today without realizing there is an entire creative industry behind that interest. Sometimes all it takes is exposure to someone already doing it to turn curiosity into a skill. We are especially grateful to DJ Respo for choosing to share more than a decade of experience with the next generation. Welcome to Skills2Stars, DJ Respo! 🎧🌟 We are ready to turn the tables and let our young stars take over the decks! 🔥🎶 Empowering Young People for Life, One Practical Skill at a Time.📌 #skills2stars #youthempowerment #dj #freesummer #program

Stills from our hands-on cooking workshop @deesng_kitchen 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 #skills2stars #youthempowerment

🌟MEET OUR COOKING STAR MENTOR: DAYO AGBAJE👩🏾‍🍳🌟 What happens when a skill you learned in your family kitchen becomes a business, a connection to home, and an opportunity to serve an entire community? Meet Dayo Agbaje, entrepreneur, Business Analyst and founder of Dee’s Kitchen, who will be joining Skills2Stars as our Cooking & Restaurant Business Star Mentor.🎉🎉 Dayo’s journey with food began long before she became a business owner. Growing up in Nigeria, she developed her cooking skills in her family kitchen. After immigrating to Canada, she found herself missing the familiar flavours and foods that reminded her of home. Instead of simply wishing those flavours were more accessible, she created what she couldn’t find. That desire became Dee’s Kitchen, a growing African food and catering business serving Fredericton and communities across New Brunswick with dishes including jollof rice, egusi soup, plantain and her popular Friday Amala and Ewedu. But Dayo’s story isn’t only about food. She is also a Business Analyst and NBCC graduate who has learned to navigate entrepreneurship, supply chains, marketing and the realities of building a business as an immigrant in Canada. She also uses food as a way to build community, hosting cooking classes and cultural experiences that introduce people to Nigerian cuisine and culture. And that’s exactly the kind of real-world experience we want our Skills2Stars participants exposed to. Our young people will have the opportunity to learn not only how to cook, but to see how a practical skill can become a business, a career, a source of income and a way to build community. Dayo’s journey is another reminder of why we believe so deeply in skills. You never know where the skill you learn today will take you tomorrow. Welcome to Skills2Stars, Dayo Agbaje🌟👩🏾‍🍳 We can’t wait for our young people to learn from your kitchen, your business and your journey. Empowering Young People for Life, One Skill at a Time. 🌟 #skills2starsfoundation #starmentor #youthempowerment #cookingskills #enterprenuership