“It’s important to think.. how do we fight racism, how do we fight discrimination, and address biases towards minorities.”
Purveen Skinner is the superintendent of student achievements for the Thames Valley District School Board, but new to her role is the separate portfolio of equity. That entitles working to remove barriers for students, holding a focus on those who identify as black, indigenous, LGBTQ plus, students with disabilities, those with special education needs, and racialized newcomers to Canada.
Earlier this year, TVDSB launched the Every Student Belongs Survey, a major step in the Ontario Education Equity Action Plan Skinner describes as ‘a blueprint for how to identify and eliminate inequities within the education system’ all while promoting the well being of students and staff.
This survey is available for students in kindergarten to grade 12.
“Students deserve to have every opportunity to reach their full potential and succeed both personally and academically, and have access to rich learning experiences that provide that strong foundation, as well as confidence so that they can continue to grow throughout their lives.” Skinner adds.
STUDENTS: Have you filled out the Every Student Belongs survey yet? Don't miss the opportunity to add your voice and have an IMPACT. Check your #TVDSB email for the link or go to https://t.co/CcjLWRbeov for info. pic.twitter.com/MpFS5fl3fa
— Thames Valley DSB (@TVDSB) February 26, 2021
Grade 7 to 12 students were able to have access to complete the voluntary survey first, even having designated school time to do so. Encouraged through the Ontario action plan, questions are asked considering race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, languages first spoken and more. The data being collected in the hopes of creating equitable environments for all of those within Thames Valley.
Children in kindergarten to grade 6 now have the option to take part in this survey, as well as those from grades seven to twelve who did not complete the survey before.
“We need to understand who those students are in our school so that we can better support them and learn about how we can better serve them,” says Skinner.
But this understanding and support doesn’t just come after the data is collected. Skinner added that the survey is translated into six most common languages within Thames Valley, that being Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Korean and Spanish.
(Nkenck/Instagram)
Nick Estepa, a grade 11 student from Central Elgin Colligate Institute describes his thoughts and thanks towards Thames Valley’s promotion of equity and even safety within classrooms. Classifying it as a ‘good step forward’ towards creating equitable school environments.
Nick was a soul feature in an audio documentary titled Moving Forward: Nicks Story, about his own severe experience with racial discrimination, bringing to light an incident that occurred between Mark Phillips and the Estepa family.
Back in December of 2018, Phillips took a metal bat, swinging it at Nick and his family in the middle of the Elgin Mall parking lot in St. Thomas, Ont. This video recorded by 13-year old Nick shows Phillips verbally and physically attacking his family. Leaving Nick’s father, Sergio Estepa, with two broken ribs while yelling about terrorists and ISIS.
WARNING GRAFIC CONTENT
But after three years, Nick opens up about his experience, sharing that raising awareness is the first step in combatting racial discrimination and inequity.
“I think you have to raise awareness about what’s going on but also bring more of those people [minorities] to light.”
Nick is now apart of his school’s own equity and inclusion initiative and has also taken the Every Student Belongs survey. In this video, Nick reacts to the documentary about his story while implementing some of the ways he believes equity can be achieved in schools.
“It’s up to us to identify those [racial discrimination] and figure out ways to solve them,” Nicks describes in the video.
Superintendent Skinner says it will take until approximately next year to have a full understanding of the data collected and that the results will further inform the work Thames Valley does as a school board.
To find more information about where you or your child can fill out the Every Student Belongs Survey, click here.
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