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UGDSB reflects on Pride Month celebrations

June 24, 2021 

GUELPH, Ontario – During the month of June, the Upper Grand District School Board celebrated Pride Month as a school community.  

To kick-off Pride Month, the UGDSB raised the Pride Flag on June 1 as a sign of support and celebration. The flag-raising ceremony at the Guelph Board Office saw many staff in attendance and included staff and student guest speakers discussing Pride and the Pride Flag. This ceremony can be viewed on the board’s YouTube page.  

Earlier this month, it was announced that a student in the Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) group was promoting Pride this month through a series of informative videos. To view more about Viktoria’s work this month, visit the board website.  

The CCVI GSA was one of many school groups who continued their Pride work this year. At Centre Dufferin District High School, the GSA has been running virtually throughout the school year. The school has 4-6 active members and the students have been doing a lot of work to uplift the voices and experiences of their school’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community. This group created a resource website for teachers to use to help support 2SLGBTQIA+ students. They also put together a welcome package for new teachers entering the school which includes helpful tips and quick access resources. The CDDHS GSA can be followed on social media using the Twitter handle @cddhsgsa. 

This year at Kortright Hills Public School, the school started the Rainbow Alliance, Pride+, and Pride Pals groups. The groups worked on library book recommendations, created safer spaces, and created Pride pins and a 2SLGBTQIA+ playlist that students could access. One Kortright Hills PS student said that, “This club means so much to me. Whether you are a part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community or an ally, it’s a safe place to be, and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of it.” To enhance the work they had already done, during the month of June, they made video morning announcements, which were shared with the school. 

The John F. Ross Collegiate Vocational Institute Equity Committee was also hard at work this month. Students and staff at John F. Ross CVI heard from guest speaker Teddy Syrette who shared a 30 minute presentation and then a Q&A session where all staff and students were invited to participate. The equity committee also launched a Pride flag petition and shared several posts through they equity Instagram page.

Toward the end of Pride Month, students and staff were invited to submit their Pride artwork. Some examples of these are pieces can be viewed below:

Sidewalk Pride Art 2021

The UGDSB remains committed to supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, by providing schools with intentional learning resources that centre on the contributions of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and address homophobia, transphobia, biphobia and other forms of oppression. 

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