May 2 to 6
Education Week is an annual event celebrated by public school boards and schools across Ontario. OPSBA’s member boards and school authorities take time during the week to highlight and honour staff, student and community excellence in education. Real examples of this year`s theme, Achieving Excellence: Promoting Well-Being, can be seen throughout the province.
As our President Michael Barrett states in the video below, our education system leads the world. It isn’t just the high levels of academic performance that makes our students stand out; it is a remarkable record of successful outcomes for all students.
May 2 to 6 is also Children’s Mental Health Week, a time to increase awareness, eliminate stigma and recognize that help is available and treatment can work. Through our work on the Ontario Coalition on Children and Youth Mental Health, we are uniting education, mental health, community and health sectors in a movement to promote the priority of social and emotional well-being as a part of healthy child development in Ontario and to make it a priority that drives integrated public policy in the province.
Our members, the trustees on Ontario’s public school boards, make decisions that affect more than a million students. They help shape the education experience, the school environment and the future of our children, communities, and the face of Ontario. Locally elected school trustees put the “public” in public education. They are the connectors who bring community voices to the table and make democracy meaningful. They influence children’s experiences today and expand their opportunities for the future.
So, this Education Week, let’s all thank the educators, trustees and school staff who truly make a difference in the lives of our children and youth. They know their job is to make great things happen for students and to reach every child who comes through the doors of a school.
To find out what’s happening in your local school board or school, check their website or give them a call!