April 7th, 2017

Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI) received the Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning for their Crossing Borders program.

Crossing Borders is a performance group of Grade 9-12 Canadian-born and newcomer students. The performance aims to raise awareness of the challenges that refugee, immigrant and international students face each day by sharing their stories through dramatic performances, such as spoken word, film, drama, dance and music.

Lynn Schultze, an ESL teacher at WCI, started the Crossing Borders program as a way for newcomer students to share their experiences and stories with their peers and broader school community.

With 100 performances in the past two years, Crossing Borders continues to receive a positive reaction from everyone who sees the performance. The program is responsible for helping students make meaningful community connections and creating a sense of self-worth and resiliency in themselves.

Congratulations on receiving the Ken Spencer Award and for creating a program that supports our newcomer students feel welcome and make important connections within their school community.

About the Ken Spencer Award

The Canadian Education Association started the Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning thanks to the contribution of Dr Ken Spencer to recognize innovative work, to encourage a focus on transformative change in schools and to provide a profile for classroom innovation.