Pasta for Playground was the name of the event held on February 26 to fundraise for a new playground for both, J.D. Hodgson Elementary School and Stuart Baker Elementary School. Hosted by the Parent Councils of these schools, the fundraising served dinner to approximately 200 people and raised a total of $10,707.63!

Many thanks to Haliburton Highlands Secondary School for opening their doors for the community to enjoy a spaghetti dinner. The dinner was offered over two seatings, with all food prepared and served by the secondary school’s hospitality class, and help from the Haliburton local Lions Club.

“This was a huge undertaking for our school councils,” explained SBES school council chair, Lauren Adelson. “I want to thank everyone who volunteered their time and energy to help make it happen. I also want to thank everyone who came out and donated to help us raise money for a new playground. I personally think this event was a huge success and look forward to it becoming an annual event.”

Attendees also enjoyed musical entertainment provided by Canoe FM Radio host Drew Allen, and the Haliburton Our Pop Choir. They also took part in games, raffles, and a silent auction.

The new playground will be completed over three phases — the first being a Grade 1 to 8 structure, the second being a Kindergarten climbing structure, and the third being soccer nets.
Stay tuned for more fundraising efforts!

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This will mark the third census for the Board, which follows the Ontario government established Data Standards for the Identification and Monitoring of Systemic Racism, also known as Ontario’s Anti-Racism Data Standards (ARDS).

“This initiative will gather important identity-based demographic information, aligning with the Board’s ongoing commitment to equity and inclusion for all,” said TLDSB director of education, Wes Hahn. “The data collected is crucial for providing the school system with valuable information that will be used to enhance strategic planning, programming, and services, ultimately improving student achievement and engagement.”

For students in Kindergarten to Grade 6, one census per student is to be completed by parents/guardians with their child online or on paper (available upon request at the school). Grade 7 to 12 students will have the opportunity to complete the census in class on census day.

The Student Census is confidential and voluntary, but not anonymous. Individual responses, and all personal student and family information will remain strictly confidential protected under the freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation.

You can learn more about the census by visiting the Student Census page on the Board’s website.

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Key factors that contributed to the surplus include:

• Higher student enrolment compared to the enrolment number used to create the budget
• Greater-than-budgeted interest income
• Higher recoveries in transportation costs
• Increase in administration grant funding

“Finishing the 2024-2025 school year in a strong financial situation places the Board in a favourable position for future endeavours,” commented TLDSB director of education, Wes Hahn. “The statements attest to the sound financial stewardship demonstrated by staff, and the continued responsibility of public funds for furthering student achievement.”

Trustees moved to approve the 2024-2025 audited statements, and further approved the allocation of $2 million of surplus funds for an operating contingency reserve. The contingency reserve is the Board’s strategy to address unforeseen, non-recurring operational, or emergency expenditures.

“The establishment of an operating contingency reserve represents a prudent and responsible financial measure intended to enhance the Board’s financial stability and resilience,” shared superintendent of Business Services, Nicole Britton. “Its core objective is to provide funding for unanticipated financial pressures that cannot be accommodated within the annual operating budget, thus ensuring the continuity of essential services and student-focused initiatives.”

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For a number of years now, Haliburton Highlands Secondary School (HHSS) has kicked off Pride Month by hosting a Pride Week and organizing a number of activities for students to take part in.

The activities are run by the school’s leadership classes, with an overall goal of promoting inclusivity and helping two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual plus (2SLGBTQIA+) students feel represented and welcomed within the school.

“I’m incredibly proud of our leadership students and staff who took the lead in organizing this year’s Pride Week events as one of the many things they do throughout the year. Their thoughtful planning, compassion, and excitement for the events were noticeable and reflects the spirit of our school,” said HHSS principal, Jennifer Mills. “I am also deeply thankful to everyone who took part – staff, students, and our communities. Being kind and welcoming to everyone is a core value here, and it’s important to me that every person in our school community knows they belong.”

This year’s celebrations took place the first week of June and included:

Theme days

Students were invited to wear specific coloured clothing throughout the week via a different theme on each day, including Rainbow Day, Be Bold Day, Favourite Colour Day, and Show Your Pride Day. The leadership classes sold HHSS designed pride t-shirts prior to the week for students and staff to purchase.

Dramatic Reading and Coffee House

On June 3, the school hosted a Dramatic Reading of the play She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. The initiative invited students from all Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) secondary schools to audition, and also attend the show.

She Kills Monsters follows the story of sisters Agnes and Tilly. After Tilly’s death, Agnes finds Tilly’s journal, which was written in the format of a Dungeons and Dragons quest and uses it to learn more about her sister. Through magical quests and battling monsters, Agnes learns the side of Tilly she never knew, and everyone learns ways to accept themselves in 90s America.

The production had a great turn out, with students attending from Fenelon Falls Secondary School, HHSS, I.E. Weldon Secondary School, and the Virtual Learning Centre.

“This initiative gave students the opportunity to express themselves fully on stage, knowing that it was a safe space,” said HHSS teacher lead, Christine Carr. “They could play roles that reflected themselves and see it normalized. They also saw the acceptance that is out there — from TLDSB, the students from other secondary schools, and to hear the laughs and positive responses from the audience members. Pride Week at HHSS is not only about promoting Pride, but about creating a safe space for students of all genders and sexualities, and this helped make that goal visible.”

“This was an amazing experience and it was an honour to be included. It felt very welcoming and we all had the ability to just be ourselves,” explained HHSS student, Spencer Zumpano, who played Chuck. “I wish there were more opportunities like this out there for queer youth to be themselves and not feel like you’re being shunned from the light of day.”

“Working on She Kills Monsters was a really great way to dip my toes into the dramatic arts, and I have now found that I love working on these types of projects. It sparked a passion for acting and collaboration that I didn’t know I had, and I’m excited to keep exploring theatre and performance in the future,” said Virtual Learning Centre student, Emily Austin-Ward, who played Orcus.

The reading was followed by a coffee house, which offered snacks and drinks to students, and also invited them to an open mic session where they sang and played instruments.

Queer Youth BBQ

In collaboration with the Haliburton County Youth Wellness Hub and Pride in the Highlands, the school hosted an after school BBQ on June 5 that invited all students and their families to come, eat, socialize, play video games, and celebrate pride.

Annual Colour Run

To end the week, the school held their annual Colour Run on June 6! Students were invited by the schools leadership classes to take part in an array of activities, including running/walking around the track, painting, an inflatable slide, button making, bubble blowing, tattooing, spike ball, parachuting, tug-a-war, and corn-hole. A number of community partners were also present to speak with students about services available in the community.

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Muskoka Beechgrove Public School (MBPS) students and staff recently visited local senior homes in Gravenhurst to hand-deliver a Valentine’s Day surprise!

The school-wide initiative invited all students, staff, and families to make Valentine’s Day-themed cards. Then, on February 14, students visited three local retirement homes, The Manor at Gravenhurst Retirement Residence, Granite Ridge Retirement Residence, and the Muskoka Shores Care Community, to deliver the cards and an individually wrapped cookie to each resident thanks to Boston Pizza Gravenhurst for the donated cookies.

In total, 380 cards were delivered to seniors!

“The school has always had a partnership with The Manor, where students and staff make special things for the residents on occasions/holidays. We always make Valentine’s cards, and then thought maybe we could go bigger and have cards sent to all seniors in Gravenhurst,” explained MBPS administrative assistant, Katrina MacDonald. “My overall goal is to create community relationships with our senior homes, and hopefully put a smile on their face. Our focus has been kindness and this is a perfect way for students and staff to help spread kindness in the community.”

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TORONTO, May 29, 2024 /CNW/ – Seven additional schools and boards have joined the lawsuit against tech giants Meta, Snapchat, and TikTok for disrupting student learning and the education system. These schools and boards join four of Ontario’s largest school boards who initially launched the suit in March. The lawsuits filed by these boards and schools claim social media products, intentionally designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn and educators within these boards/schools have been left to manage the fallout.

The new schools to join the lawsuit include public and Catholic school boards:

• Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board (DPCDSB)
• York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB)
• Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB)
• Ottawa Catholic District School Board (OCSB)
• District School Board of Niagara (DSBN)
• and private schools Holy Name of Mary College School and Eitz Chaim

The mix of public and Catholic school boards, and private schools in both urban and rural regions of Ontario demonstrate this is a universal issue that affects those from diverse cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The addictive properties of the products designed by social media giants have compromised all students’ ability to learn, disrupted classrooms and created a student population that suffers from increasing mental health harms. As a result, social media companies have forced school boards to divert significant resources including personnel, hours, funds, and attention to combat the growing crisis caused by their products.

The lawsuit, led by Toronto-based boutique litigation firm Neinstein LLP, calls on social media giants to redesign their products to keep students safe. These changes will result in a reduction in mental health harms to youth and disruptions to the education system. The lawsuit also seeks compensation on behalf of school boards for the losses related to tackling the crisis social media has created in our schools. School boards will not be responsible for any costs related to the lawsuit unless a successful outcome is reached.

While the use of devices in schools is one piece of the puzzle, this is a multifaceted problem. The announcement, coupled with the provincial government’s recent policies limiting cell phone use in schools, highlights concerns surrounding social media products. These lawsuits address the compulsive social media use happening both during school hours and outside the classroom, which continues to permeate the education system, impacting student learning and well-being.

To learn more about the lawsuit and to follow developments, please visit the Schools for Social Media Change Alliance at https://schoolboardsforchange.ca.

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