Saugeen District Secondary School will be featured as part of Bluewater District School Board's Education Week, May 2 to 6. Photo submitted
Bluewater District School Board is recognizing the shared commitment to student excellence by many within its school communities during Education Week, May 2 to 6, and Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS) is part of the celebrations.
The hard work and dedication of board staff, trustees, students, parents and guardians; and other education partners to ensure the best possible educational outcomes and successes for students is something for which our community can be thankful and of which we can be proud.
This year's theme for Education Week, "Achieving Excellence: Promoting Well-Being", is reflective of ensuring the well-being of students and staff in a safe, supportive environment for teaching, learning and working, something that was laid out as a priority in the Board’s Strategic Plan.
A lot of in-depth work and effort continues to take place in Bluewater to broaden awareness, supports and resources in this critically important priority area.
To better demonstrate this trend, a different example of Bluewater's ongoing commitment to promoting well-being will be highlighted each day during Education Week.
On Monday, May 2, SDSS will be the Board’s Daily Feature Stories - on April 8, SDSS’s Student Mental Health Advisory Committee hosted its Student Voice Forum at the Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre near Wiarton. Students from grades 9 through 12 were among several different peer groups who took part in this inspiring day, which focused on mental health and wellness within the school.
The forum consisted of team-building and ice-breaking activities in the morning to help create an accepting atmosphere where students could share openly and honestly with each other. During the discussions, some key topics that were covered included managing stress, creating a welcoming school, combatting racism and homophobia, self-image as well as impacts of social media.
Students shared many feelings, opinions and stories. The information gathered is being shared with the school’s administration and staff, as well as the Safe Schools Committee, in the hope of building initiatives within the school that are based on the forum’s outcomes.
Overall, students felt empowered and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Participants expressed the desire for more opportunities to share their voices, and requested that this type of initiative be expanded to include even more students.
This and other special stories from across the Board, will be posted to the BWDSB’s website and Twitter feed using the hashtag, #EdWeekBWDSB.
Other schools to be featured are Arran-Tara Elementary School (May 3), Chesley District Community School (May 4), Spruce Ridge Community School (May 5) and Bayview Public School (May 6).
Others are invited to join in. Whether it is an example of a caring educator, school initiative or student accomplishment, anyone with similar Bluewater success stories is encouraged to share these on their social networks during Education Week using #EdWeekBWDSB.
