THUNDER BAY — Students from the Lakehead District School Board and the Superior Greenstone District School Board gathered in Thunder Bay for a student leadership conference.
For the two-day summit, 121 students were specially selected to attend, which focuses on recognizing biases and challenging social constructs to create respectful, inclusive environments.
Students were given the opportunity to share their own experiences at school. They were also asked to
Nicole Morden-Cormier, the director of education for the Superior-Greenstone District School Board, said this conference is about empowering students.
"These students today are really digging into what it means to be accepting, to be inclusive, to appreciate and understand diversity and to ensure that schools are increasing in places where everyone feels that they are, they belong, and they are included," she said.
The Superior-Greenstone board has previously held the conferences, but it's their first year partnering with the Lakehead Board and focusing on these subjects specifically.
"This is why it is so important for us to have their voice driving this change. The students are the future for us. And so we need to give them the power, the voice to be the change, that we need to see in our society," Morden-Cormier said.
Emeraude Hunter, a Grade 12 student and a student trustee for the Superior-Greenstone board, said she really values how people have been sharing.
"I've noticed that people have been pretty open. We've had breakout sessions, and I felt like it was nice to be with other individuals who care about equity and diversity."
She said since she's a high school student, she's enjoyed seeing elementary school students being open and sharing during the conference.
Molly Onchulenko, a Grade 11 student at Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Thunder Bay, noted that she's enjoyed her time at the conference and wants to pass along the knowledge to younger students.
"I would like to see more younger people be here and learn. I want the opportunity for other students so that we can just build our community and I can get more help and support."
Facilitating the conference is a group called Harmony Movement. According to their website, they provide interactive diversity and equity education programs to empower and inspire youth, educators and those in the social service sector to develop an equity lens, empathy, respect, and leadership skills as leaders for social change.
