March 24: National speaker on Building Inclusive Schools & Communities

Rainbow District School Board and Sudbury Catholic District School Board invite parents/guardians and community members to a special evening presentation on Building Inclusive Schools and Communities. This interactive workshop will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2011 from 6:30 pm to 8 pm at the Holiday Inn on Regent Street. The presentation is free and everyone is welcome.

Christopher D’Souza is a passionate advocate for the eradication of discrimination. He has presented over 2500 lectures and workshops with a focus on human rights and inclusion to educators, law enforcement officials and health care professionals across Canada.

D’Souza has taught at the elementary, secondary and university levels. He is currently teaching at the Faculty of Education, York University. D’Souza is the author of “Empowerism: A lifestyle Guide to Environmental Ethics” and a children’s book entitled “Why are all the Taxi Drivers…?”

D’Souza illustrates his message with stories from his own experiences with racism and dealing with stereotypes. He challenges the audience to look at situations that are unfair and determine what they could do to make a difference and bring about change. “I want children to grow up in a world where there is no discrimination, a world that realizes that there is just one race – the human race,” he says.

During his presentation in Sudbury, numerous case studies will be provided to demonstrate how trustees, administrators and educators, parents/guardians and community members can continue to build on good current practices to make schools more inclusive. Other factors impacting school boards will also be explored, such as immigration trends and poverty as well as closing the achievement gap by creating inclusive curriculum.

Rainbow District School Board and Sudbury Catholic District School Board are implementing Equity and Inclusive Education policies in accordance with Ministry of Education guidelines.

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Media Contacts:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,

Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,

Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217

[email protected]

Gina Tullio

Communications Officer

Sudbury Catholic District School Board

705-673-5620, ext. 244

[email protected]