By: Kacy Bao (HDSB Student Trustee)

Photo credits: Student Trustee Adam Morgenstern

As a Grade 12 student from MDHS, I am honoured to be one of the two HDSB student trustees during the 2021/2022 school year. I, along with my co-student trustee Vandy Widyalankara, attended the Student Trustee Conference earlier this month in Toronto.

The annual Fall General Meeting was organized by the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association. Student trustees participated in workshops about boardroom basics and understanding school board policies and finances, heard from keynote speakers, and networked with other student trustees and OSTA-AECO partners from across Ontario. 

The conference was held at the Delta Hotel located in downtown Toronto. After conference hours, participants explored the many delights of the city; from the one-of-a-kind restaurants to the mesmerizing art galleries, there were so many things to see and places to be!

Photo credits: Student Trustee Adam Morgenstern

Deputy Minister Nancy Nayllr spoke about the importance of student voice and our role in amplifying it. When discussing our education system, she had this to say: “Learn. Disrupt. Rebuild.” We got to ask her several questions regarding our education system (for example, learning models, the effects of COVID-19 on education, extracurriculars, sports, and more).

Photo credits: Student Trustee Adam Morgenstern

We also got to hear from the amazing guest speaker Palwashah Ali from Bleed the North, a youth-led non-profit organization committed to ending period poverty and stigma by providing menstrual products to people in need across Ontario. She spoke passionately about period poverty and advocacy. She discussed the recent news of the Ontario Government’s plans to distribute six million free menstrual products per year to school boards under their new partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart and expanded on how initiatives can be more equitable for ALL menstruators, not just women with periods.

Photo credits: Student Trustee Adam Morgenstern

On the second night of the conference, everyone participated in a friendly karaoke battle/costume contest. Our coterminous student trustees at the Halton Catholic District School Board won the costume contest with their epic recreation of ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’. 

It was such an incredible experience getting to meet all of the fellow student trustees across Ontario and Vandy and I can’t wait to reconnect with them at BCCs in February in Ottawa!