The GECDSB has selected 2 new Student Trustees to serve on the Board of Trustees for the 2020-21 school year and chair the Board's Student Senate. Their term will begin August 1, 2020.
Arabella Soave, a Grade 12 student at
Walkerville Collegiate Institute, is an enthusiastic and dedicated leader who
strives to ensure that students feel safe and valued at school. She is an active member of Walkerville’s Student Council, where she
organizes school activities and takes part in the can drive committee. Arabella
is also involved in Walkerville’s eco-team and a member of the WCCA wind
ensemble.
Within the community, Arabella
volunteers part-time, assisting and instructing children’s karate, while
continuing her training as a junior black belt. In 2019, she volunteered at a
local Mosque teaching young women self-defence during a summer day camp. She
also works part-time as a server at a banquet facility. Through her community
service and employment, she has learned the importance of a welcoming
environment in which everyone is free to be themselves. Arabella looks forward
to continuing to advocate for schools to be a safe and positive experience for
all students.
Arabella is excited to meet and
collaborate with students across the GECDSB, and to use her leadership skills
and passion for student voice, to ensure that students are heard and
represented.
Isabel
Unger is a Grade 12 International Baccalaureate student
from Leamington District Secondary School and a leader
seeking positive, tangible change and advocacy and opportunity for all
students.
Isabel
has always been drawn to leadership opportunities. From the time she was in elementary school she has
been committed to being a voice for her peers and pursuing ambitious and
innovative projects to better her school community. Throughout high
school, Isabel has been assertive in seeking out and creating community partnerships , including homework help for the
Children’s Aid Society, participation as chairperson of
the Leamington Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee, establishment of
a school Coffee Club for ESL students seeking conversational
English help, organization of the “SleepingOut at the Bridge” initiative
to raise awareness about Leamington youth homelessness and
consistent action in her Student Parliament, church and local
community.
Isabel is passionate about students engaging in not only
their neighbourhoods and towns, but with the global
community, involving themselves in social and political movements to
bring about change. She is devoted to abolishing ignorance and equipping
students to be heard in the present and prepared for their futures.