With all that goes on during a school year, it would be hard to encapsulate the highlights of one that is drawing to a close.
But Heather Loney, Upper Grand District School Board’s communications and community engagement officer, was willing to try.
“One of the things that really stood out this year was the incredible growth and popularity of initiatives and projects that really allowed students to express their voice, showcase their skills, and take the lead in the planning and execution of the events,” she said in a telephone interview on Friday.
There were several examples of that during the 2016-17 school years. “Upper Grand Can Unite” was one such initiative, involving a number of schools and board offices. A massive food drive to support local food banks, it was started and run by two brothers at Kortright Hills Public School in Guelph.
“It was pretty incredible,” Loney said. “It started as this big idea, and we thought, wow, it would be awesome if we could do it. And they actually did it.”
A creative aspect of the project was a “build challenge,” where the food collected at individual schools and offices was used to build something that represented their school or workplace.
At the board office on Victoria Road North in Guelph, a massive bridge structure was constructed from all the food collected there, while at Kortright Hills they built a cobra structure, representative of the school’s mascot.
Another highlight of the year, she said, was the massive Empowerment Day event in May at the Sleeman Centre. It brought about 5,000 Grade 6 to 8 students together for a day of inspiration and motivation.
The event has been held for a few years now, beginning on a smaller scale in Drayton Heights Public School and growing every year since. The Sleeman Centre was filled to capacity.
The event theme this year was “Change your thoughts, change your world.” Student organized and student run, it filled students with an energy and inspiration to make a change in the world, an energy that was taken back to individual schools, Loney said.
“That again was something that was started by students at Drayton Heights, when a couple members of student council decided to do this day,” she said. “Seeing how amazing it was for their student population, they wanted to open it up for all UGDSB schools. Now it is something that every school with Grade 6 to 8 students participates in. It was a pretty powerful day.”
The annual Rainbow Coalition Conference, held at the University of Guelph, was the best attended so far, Loney said. The conference is for LGBTQ youth and their allies, and celebrates, supports, and provides resources for Grade 7 to 12 students. There were 250 students from 25 different Upper Grand students – capacity attendance for the venue.
Important workshops on topics like gender binary expressions and identity, mental wellness, and on becoming an affective ally, were held.
The end of any school year is a time of both excitement and disruption, Loney indicated. There is excitement for the coming summer and the break that comes with it. But it is also a disruption in routine, and routine is important for so many.
“It’s not always a happy thing to have the school year coming to an end,” she said. “But it’s always nice to look back and reflect on all the things that have happened, and to look forward to the next year.”
