Local students get advice from Justin Trudeau, Al Gore, Martin Sheen
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 by: Brad Coccimiglio
The Algoma District School Board Accessibility Plan for 2012-13 was officially distributed at the board’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday night.
The plan is updated annually to reflect the needs of the board and is prepared by the ADSB Accessibility Committee.
The current plan includes a commitment to:
- Maintaining a Steering Committee;
- Ensuring school board policies and procedures are consistent with the principles of accessibility;
- Addressing children’s rehabilitation through accessibility;
- Consulting with people with disabilities in the development and review of its annual accessibility plans;
- Improving access to facilities, policies, programs, practices and services for students
The intent of the Accessibility Plan is to describe the measures that the ADSB has taken in the past and the measures the board will take during the year to “identify, remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities.”
Also on Tuesday, the board met students from Northern Heights Public School along with teacher Davey Taylor who participated in We Day in Toronto at the end of September (pictured).
The students were among 41 ADSB students that represented 25 different schools at the annual event which was held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The event featured a number of speakers including Justin Trudeau, Romeo Dellaire, Spencer West, Al Gore and Martin Sheen as well as musical guests such as K’Naan, Jennifer Hudson, Nelly Furtado and Hedley.
We Day is used as a way to help students become more locally active and globally aware.
Many students will take part in a canned food drive called We Scare Hunger.
The students are encouraged to trick or treat for non-perishable food items on Halloween instead of candy which will then be passed on to the local food banks.
The students will continue their activities throughout the school year.
Algoma District School Board students attend “We Day” event in Toronto and are ready to inspire their schools to “Be The Change”
Grade 7/8 teacher Davey Taylor from Northern Heights Public School shared information with trustees at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, October 9 about an event that was recently held in Toronto called “We Day”.
Forty-one students representing 25 Algoma District School Board schools attended We Day on September 28.
We Day is an annual youth empowerment event launched by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger as a way to encourage students to take up social issues.
Craig and Marc are also the co-founders of Free the Children and Me to We.
ADSB students joined 20,000 others from across Ontario at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and were inspired by messages from the likes of Roméo Dallaire, Justin Trudeau, Spencer West, Al Gore, Martin Sheen and the Kielburger brothers.
Speakers spoke passionately about their own social causes - from the importance of protecting the environment and sustaining clean drinking water, to overcoming the physical and mental challenges in order to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Students were reminded how important it is to be aware of social issues, to find out what they are passionate about and to take the first steps to becoming involved in making changes large and small.
Musical celebrities were also part of the day and students heard performances by The Tenors, Shawn Desman, Hedley, Nelly Furtado, K’Naan and Jennifer Hudson, who provided the audience with words of encouragement to keep up the great work.
Mr. Taylor was joined at the board meeting by a number of his students who shared their thoughts on and experiences from the day.
Students have been encouraged to bring home the messages shared at this event and to begin thinking about initiatives that could help causes from both a local and global perspective.
ADSB students had t-shirts designed with the motivational messages “We are busy making the impossible possible” and “Me to We with ADSB”.
These shirts were presented to the Board’s trustees and senior administration.
We Day organizers have provided excellent resources for students and schools to become locally active and globally aware.
Many of the schools who had students attend the event in Toronto will be taking part in a canned food drive called We Scare Hunger.
Students are encouraged to trick-or-treat for non-perishable food items instead of candy or collect canned goods to support local food banks.
For more information about We Day and for ideas about how to get involved, go to www.weday.com.
We Day events are being held in cities across the country including Vancouver on Thursday, October 18.
The We Day team of ADSB students will continue to keep the Board up to date on their activities over the year.
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