December 22nd, 2023

By: Zoey and Sofia, students at Northlake Woods Public School

As we walked through our school foyer, we discussed how the space could be used to celebrate the upcoming holiday season. We talked with our language teacher, who always encouraged us to use our voices and learn more about the world.

We connected with our classmates, and there was a shared interest in having a tree or greenery with lights in our school. Our teacher encouraged us to consider how our wish for a tree fit with a community with many different customs and traditions. We worked with our teacher to write to Director jeewan chanicka about how we could celebrate in a way that includes everyone.

We were excited to receive a reply encouraging us to learn more about other traditions and to consider what else should go in our school foyer with a tree. We met with our principal and shared our hopes with her. She helped us identify other significant days throughout the school year, and we committed to learning more about them.

With our new learning, we worked with our student leadership group to paint a Hanukkah banner that we hung above our Week of Giving food collection table. We also worked with our teacher to center books, information and symbols of winter customs in the display case at our school entry.

This included a tree, a menorah, advent candles, Diwali lights, and a Kwanzaa candle set. Our principal has heard from several community members how much the effort to enrich and include everyone is appreciated. Our efforts and learning will be ongoing.

This experience taught us that people care about student voices and that it is important that we work as hard for others as we do for the things we hold precious.

#StudentVoice Series

These articles are written by a WRDSB student and are part of the Student Agency and Voice program. Student journalists embody WRDSB’s commitment to creating space for students to tell their stories. They are ambassadors for their peers as they share their personal experiences and stories about their schools and communities in their unique voices.

Read more #StudentVoice stories.