Speak Up

Student Voice


SpeakUp Launch

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Minister Kathleen Wynne:

It is wonderful to be here. You guys are awesome!

My belief has always been that kids are so ready to talk about things that are relevant to their education and relevant to their future lives.

I'm not talking about the kid who's involved in everything. I'm not talking necessarily about the student who has got a resume that is to die for by the time she is or he is 15 or 16. You know I'm looking for, we're looking for, students from all backgrounds and all abilities, and I believe that they all have something to contribute.

First, we're going to be seeking advice from students through the creation of the Minister's Student Advisory Council. And 60 students in grades 7 to 12, from across the province, will be part of the council to advise me on education topics.

Second thing that we're doing is we're accepting applications for grants of up to $1,500 to support student projects. And in addition, student councils will get $300 to $800 dollars to develop their own projects.

We're going to bring together students in the regions around the province to, again, share their ideas about what's working, what's not working, what are the ways that we could get more kids involved, how could we improve the school experience to get their feedback.

So those three things: the grants, the regional forums and the Minister's Advisory Council. That's our plan. The applications are online on Ontario.ca/speakup.

We really need to give kids an opportunity to develop a sense of who they are so they can question us – because, you know, if we had all the answers the world would look way different, right? So you guys really have to help us out here on the future thinking. So I'm very excited about this. I hope that it gives students across the province an opportunity to speak up. Thank you very much.