Students Leading Students Conference on April 27th and 28th

The Rainbow District School Board Student Senate will host the Students Leading Students Conference on Tuesday, April 27th and Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 from 9 am to 2 pm. Secondary school students will gather at the Alumni Hall at Laurentian University to participate in a variety of activities aimed at nurturing leadership in young people. Entitled “Live, Laugh, Lead”, the conference will focus on healthy schools and explore a number of themes, including growth, potential, empowerment, courage, unity, and school improvement.

“The Students Leading Students conference will foster open dialogue, create opportunities for empowerment, and nurture leadership skills,” says Director of Education Jean Hanson. “Students will be role models for their peers.”

She adds: “The conference will celebrate the student voice and let students know that they have an important role to play. When we enable students to be heard, we engage them in building healthy school environments where all young people feel like they belong. We inspire young people to reach their full potential and achieve success.”

The first day of the conference will bring together four students from each secondary school. The day has been designed to engage a core group of individuals to focus on identifying and solving challenges facing schools.

Ten students from each school will participate in the second day of the conference, including the four students from the first day along with six additional ambassadors and a teacher representative. The second day of the conference will feature Andy Thibodeau, a renowned inspirational speaker, on “Making Care Contagious” as well as workshops, roundtable discussions and team building exercises. Students will work together to create goals for their respective school improvement plans.

Director Hanson commended Rainbow District School Board’s Student Senate for organizing and presenting this year’s Students Leading Students Conference, a key component of the Ministry of Education’s Student Success Initiative.

Chaired by Student Trustee Billy Mekers of Lasalle Secondary School, the Student Senate provides a regular forum for students to come together to network and share ideas. The Student Senate includes Haritha Popuri and Vanessa DiFeo of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, Billy Mekers and Jillian Ashick-Stinson of Lasalle Secondary School, Sloan Boyd and Lyndsay Moggy of Sudbury Secondary School, Chris MacCullough of Lockerby Composite School, Angele Sweeney and Taylor Scully of Espanola High School, Elyse Labelle of Manitoulin Secondary School, Colleen Ballagh and Jacquie Villeneuve of Confederation Secondary School, Kelsey Weist of Lively District Secondary School, and Amy Ouimet and Kaity Gervais of Chelmsford Valley District Composite School.

“The Student Senate welcomes this opportunity to bring students from Rainbow secondary schools together to develop leadership skills in a fun and friendly setting,” said Billy Mekers. “We will learn from each other, gain communications and leadership skills, and build on our creative energy to make our schools even greater places to be for all students. We thank Rainbow District School Board for giving students a forum to share their ideas and let their voices be heard.”

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,

Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,

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