May 31, 2023 • Issue #46

Learning opportunities and initiatives demonstrating commitment to Thames Valley's Strategic Priorities and Operational Goals

On May 17, Pride flags were flown at all schools and administrative buildings across Thames Valley in recognition of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. TVDSB recognizes the Pride flag as a symbol of equity and inclusion and flies it during May 17 and Pride Month to reinforce our commitment to ensuring that all students feel valued, accepted, and safe when at school.

At the Education Centre, a special reception and flag raising ceremony was hosted by the TVDSB Equity team, with special guests in attendance including:

• Dr. Immaculate Kizito Namukasa, Associate Dean of Graduate Education at the University of Western Ontario; 
• Dr. Wayne Martino and Jenny Kassen from Western’s Faculty of Education;
• Teacher Candidates from the Faculty of Education’s Queer-Straight Alliance;
• Dr. Mohammed Baobaid from the Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration; and
• members of the True Equity Alliance at A.B. Lucas Secondary School.

“Today, we raised the Pride flag to signify our unwavering solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. All students, staff, families and members of the community are welcomed and accepted at TVDSB,” said Director of Education Mark Fisher. “I am proud to lead a district where equity, diversity and inclusion are celebrated.”

June 1 marks the beginning of Pride Month. Throughout the month, the Pride flag will be flown at all Thames Valley schools and administrative buildings to celebrate Pride Month and affirm 2SLGBTQIA+ identities.

In early May, over 40 TVDSB students arrived in Toronto to compete in a showdown of skilled trades and technologies. Skills Ontario is an annual competition that pits students enrolled in trade and technology programs against other students from across Ontario in building challenges. All the competitors at Skills Ontario have won regional contests and are representing their school district at the provincial level.

Every skilled trade and technology is represented as a category and includes full-sized work areas to accommodate competitions such as car painting, welding, woodworking, plumbing, aircraft maintenance, hairstyling and cooking. With approximately 60 different events, Skills Ontario is truly a special event for all who are invited to compete.

The competition is an excellent opportunity for students to demonstrate knowledge in their field and impress potential employers.

While each student from Thames Valley performed well in their respective events, five students were awarded medals for their work. Carter Aarts, from Ingersoll DCI was awarded first place in the category of Precision Machining and will be moving on to the national competition in Winnipeg. Austin Douglas from College Avenue SS was awarded first place in the Refrigeration category, Katelyn Malinek from Strathroy DCI won a bronze medal for Architectural Design, and Cayden Mitchell and Mathew Gosse, also from College Avenue SS, were awarded silver and bronze respectively in the category of Heating System Technician.

Congratulations to all Skills Ontario competitors, and good luck to Carter Aarts at the Skills Canada Competition!

On May 11, Thames Valley celebrated many of the outstanding individuals who have made significant contributions to student achievement and well-being at the annual Awards of Distinction ceremony.

This year, 15 people were recognized for their outstanding service in support of the staff and students of Thames Valley.

A list of award recipients and nominees are available on the Thames Valley website at www.tvdsb.ca/AOD.

Congratulations to all who were nominated for an Award of Distinction! Thank you for all that you do in support of student achievement and well-being.

Monthly Highlights

• Above Right: Trustee Hopkins visited Springbank Public School with Trustee Cripps (behind the camera). They enjoyed meeting Rhys, who has some big ideas for his school!
• Above Left: Trustees Mai and Moore enjoyed a guided tour from grade 7 students and school administrators at Lambeth Public School in London. They appreciated seeing the many ways staff are providing students with targeted and meaningful learning opportunities.
• Take Your MPP to School Day – During the week of May 22, trustees hosted local Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) at school visits throughout the board. This opportunity allowed us to share successes and areas of need with MPPs.
• Bill 98: Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 - Trustees have submitted a response to Bill 98, which proposes significant changes to the Education Act. As your representatives, we oppose several measures within Bill 98 that could erode or remove locally elected representation and local advocacy for the needs of our communities. For our full response, visit the Trustee Correspondence webpage.

Meet Trustee Marianne Larsen

Greetings! I am one of the two new trustees elected in October 2022 to represent London Wards 2,3,4,5 and 6. My thirty-plus year educational journey has taken me to many different countries where I’ve been a student and a teacher. (You can find out more about my educational experience and 20 years as a professor on my TVDSB webpage.) 

I am a mother and god-mother of TVDSB students, and have been actively involved in school councils, safe-school teams, and as a volunteer in TVDSB schools. I view my position as a trustee as an act of servant leadership. I believe it is important to give back to one’s community, and I hope that my background and knowledge about education, as well as my commitment to working collaboratively with others, will help me serve my constituents and the students of wards 2-6 in London, the city I call home. 

Your voice matters to us – Please feel free contact your local Trustee.

At Jeanne Sauvé French Immersion Public School, there are over 30 different languages spoken among the 300 students who attend the school.

Naieb is a Grade 2 student at Jeanne Sauvé. He first discovered dual language books in the library and enjoys bringing them home to read with his family. This helps him build literacy skills and also helps his parents learn English as they read together as a family.

Thanks to Thames Valley's Inclusive Libraries project, schools can expand their collections to include more resources for students like Naieb.

Thames Valley was proud to host a Black Excellence Student Leadership Conference on May 9, where more than 400 Black-identifying secondary students gathered to connect, collaborate and celebrate Black excellence.

The day was full of relationship-building and impactful conversation, including a powerful keynote address by Asante Haughton as well as panel discussions facilitated by Alexander Legwegoh, System Staff Development Specialist, and featuring an inspiring range of panelists:

·      Asante Haughton – activist, mental health advocate and rapper

·      Isaac Campbell – Thames Valley student

·      Timna Habta – Wilfrid Laurier University student

·      Saidat – community leader, motivational speaker and entertainer

In the afternoon, students took part in school improvement and equity planning, sharing their living experiences, honest feedback and ideas to make their Thames Valley secondary school a more inclusive and equitable place to learn. We are grateful to the many secondary students in attendance as well as all panelists and invited guests for sharing their insights with the board.

On April 27, over 170 Grade 7 and 8 students gathered at Fanshawe Pioneer Village to celebrate the Thames Valley Regional Heritage Fair. This annual event is a showcase of winning projects from school-based heritage fairs, where students present their inquiry-based projects in the hopes to move on to the provincial level later this month. 

Heritage fair participants spent the morning exploring local history in workshops hosted by museums and community partners. In the afternoon, contestants presented their projects to a panel of judges, who then awarded regional and provincial awards for various categories. To qualify for the heritage fair, students were required to create a project on their choice of topic relating to Canada’s national and local heritage and history. There were many categories to choose from, including social issues, sense of place, history of sport, Indigenous history and arts and culture.

Students could choose any method to present their topics. Many created poster boards, dioramas and digital projects, while one student chose to perform a spoken word poem.



At the end of the day, six students were selected as regional winners to represent Thames Valley at the Provincial Heritage Fair in Toronto on May 27, 2023.

The Thames Valley Regional Heritage Fair would not have been possible without the partnership of Museum London, Woodstock Museum National Historic Site, Gay-Lea Dairy Heritage Museum and Ska-Nah-Doht Village and Museum. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum, Eldon House Heritage Site and Gardens, Fanshawe Pioneer Village and the Museum of Ontario Archaeology were also instrumental in creating an engaging, immersive learning experience for all.

Thames Valley District School Board is pleased to introduce a unique initiative designed to bring students closer to math found in real-life context within communities across the district. Math on the Move is a video series that helps to answer the question, "how will I use math in my everyday life?"

In each video, TVDSB Math Learning Coordinators Kristin Methot and Hana Jamieson visit local organizations and businesses to explore how math is used in settings like a kitchen, an auto-mechanic’s garage, a news station and even an airplane.  

By connecting with community partners and highlighting the real-world applications of math, students are inspired to recognize that what they learn today will impact their tomorrow. 

We invite you to view our Math on the Move playlist with your students to show them how math is used each day in communities throughout Thames Valley.

Many young Sikh males wear a head covering called the Patka. But when a student’s Patka comes untied at school, who can help them re-tie it? That’s where the Patka Box comes in.

Created by entrepreneur Rosey Kaur, the Patka Box is a helpful tool that contains resources to develop awareness and teach educators how to tie the Patka, so that they can better support Sikh students at school. Each box contains two Patkas, a story about the Patka, manuals, a step-by-step guide and a wooden craft.

Thames Valley is proud to have a Patka Box at all 161 schools in the District, so that every Sikh student can feel welcome in their school community. The board was also pleased to host Rosey at a Sikh Heritage Reception last month in collaboration with the Sikh community, where her Patka Boxes were proudly displayed.

Watch the video to take a peek inside the Patka Box and learn more about Rosey’s inspiration.

On June 3, the Thames Valley Education Foundation will be hosting the annual Run for the FUNd fundraising event, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Caring Fund to help students in need.

The event will be held at Prince Charles Public School and features a beautiful 5 km route and participants can choose to walk or run at their own pace. 

Registration is open now! Sign-up and get some exercise for this great cause.

Visit www.tvdsb.ca/TVEF for more information on the Run for the FUNd and to register for the event.

On April 27, more than 700 students in 21 different ensembles from across Thames Valley came together to perform an in-person concert at Budweiser Gardens.

The “Variety Is” Showcase Concert was an exciting evening that featured concert bands, jazz bands, choirs, guitar ensembles and orchestras from Thames Valley secondary schools were featured on the Budweiser Garden stage for the first time since 2019.

The evening featured music that spanned several decades and styles, including cultural and movie music, pop, rock, as well as a mix of contemporary and traditional concert band and orchestral repertoire.

A special feature of the performance included a guitar collaboration with 45 musicians from five different secondary schools.

During the last week of April, elementary and secondary students were welcomed back to the TVDSB Education Centre for the 43^rd Thames Valley Dance Festival. This year marked the first time that the annual tradition was held in-person since 2019.

The Dance Festival is a non-competitive annual program celebrating dance by inviting schools from across the board to share choreographed dances with other schools, staff and parents. After a 3-year hiatus, the festival had 60 schools participate and over 3100 students perform throughout the week.

Students from Kindergarten all the way to Grade 12 presented a variety of dances in the Thames Room of the TVDSB Education Centre to the delight of a packed audience of families.