April 29: Student Senate hosts Stand Up for Equity and Inclusion Virtual Conference

The Rainbow District School Board Student Senate will host the Stand Up for Equity and Inclusion Virtual Conference on Thursday, April 29, 2021. Students from all secondary schools will participate in the full-day event.

The conference will build on results from a student survey completed in the current school year. “Everyone wants to feel welcome, accepted and included,” says Ava Lafrance, Student Trustee for Rainbow Schools. “Our hope is to help students recognize their internalized ideas and find ways to implement those ideas in their respective school communities.”

She adds: “We have speakers with the ability to actively engage students, and start those sometimes difficult conversations that can spark real change.”

The day will begin with a land acknowledgement from Rainbow District School Board Trustee Ogimaa Kwe (Chief) Linda Debassige followed by a keynote address on Critical Thinking by Design with unlearn.

Students will then participate in online breakout sessions and workshops that will cover a variety of equity topics: Disrupting injustice – Human rights, Social Justice & Equity with unlearn.; Female Empowerment with Katlyn Koitla; Gender Equity with Vincent Bolt; Poverty with Principal Kristina Rivard Gobbo; Inclusivity with Get REAL; and Through the Eyes of a Newcomer: Understanding, Supporting and Growing our Cultural Awareness with Vice-Principal Melanie Bertrand.

A second keynote address will begin at 12:30 pm, where Anthony Johnson, a two-spirited and diversity expert, will discuss equity issues within LGBTQ2+ and Indigenous communities.
Anthony is a project consultant and coordinator at Kehewin Health Services in Edmonton. Anthony and his partner were crowned winners of the Amazing Race Canada Season 7 and have become internationally recognized for their advocacy efforts.

The conference will culminate with the sharing of ideas by schools about ways to bring the information back to their peers.

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Media Contact:
Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171 ext. 7217