April 19th, 2022

April 15 to 21 is World Creativity & Innovation Week. This is an opportunity to encourage people to use new ideas, make new decisions, and take new steps towards making the world better through creativity.

April 21 is also World Creativity & Innovation Day. The day is a United Nations International Day of Observance, celebrating the use of creativity and innovation to advance the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Fostering a Culture of Innovation at the WRDSB

Living and learning in the Waterloo Region, we are surrounded by creativity and innovation. As the home of one of the world’s fastest-growing tech sectors, we strive to foster a culture of innovation at our schools. It is our goal to prepare students for the world where they will live and work.

Chromebooks for more students

One of the ways we’re doing this is by providing Chromebooks to all students in Grades 6 to 12. This gives students equitable access to technology and digital resources. Through the use of Chromebooks, students are exposed to different digital tools and are able to learn in a variety of ways.

Anytime, anyplace computer labs

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is the first school board to use Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop. The virtual desktop provides students with access to the same resources at home, as they would have at school. Students can access tools such as AutoCad, Adobe Creative Suite and the Microsoft Office Productivity Suite at home through the virtual desktop.

Celebrating Innovative Students and Staff

In addition to technology, the WRDSB is home to many creative and innovative individuals who are driving change at the board.

Award-winning innovation in physics education

For example, Ashley McCarl Palmer, a physics teacher at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, won the 2021 CAP Award for Excellence in Teaching High School/CEGEP Physics (Ontario). This award was in recognition of her innovative approaches to teaching physics, such as eliminating the use of grading in her assessments, expanding her students’ physics toolkits and adopting “thinking classroom” strategies.

Creativity in eliminating discrimination

Students are also leading social innovation at the WRDSB, by addressing important social justice issues to create more inclusive school communities. For example, Hana Adham, a Grade 12 student at Laurel Heights Secondary School. Hana was selected to take part in the Ripple Effect Education and Kindred Credit Union’s Peace Innovators Scholarship and Mentoring Program. Through this program, she has hosted an anti-racism conference and created anti-racism resources for teachers.

Share Your Creativity & Innovation With Us

We’d love to highlight the creativity and innovation of WRDSB students and staff on our social media! Please tag us on Twitter at @wrdsb or on Instagram at @wr_dsb with the hashtags #WCIW and #IAmCreative.