November 4, 2018- Elementary student leaders from across the TCDSB meet at the CEC’s Quigley Hall for ECSLIT’s second meeting of the year.

 

To begin the second E-CSLIT meeting of the year, CSLIT’s Faith Ambassador Gabriella Davies opened with a prayer focused on the virtue of the month for November which is peace.    

Following the Eco-friendly theme of the meeting, Michael Consul presented students with a TED Talk video: “Weekday Vegetarian.” Did you know meat agriculture is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases, is the biggest consumer of water, and the main reason for the clear cutting of the rainforest?!!! Hence going vegetarian for a few days out of the week truly promotes environmental stewardship!

Next, TCDSB’s Associate Director of Academic Services, Dan Koenig, spoke to the Elementary Student Leadership Impact Team about the four C’s of Catholic Student Leadership. “Competence, Character, Commitment, Compassion”, these are all four aspects that create a successful student leader.

After Mr. Koenig, our lively keynote speaker of the evening, Derek Forgie, spoke about being Eco-Allies. This means that we, as Catholic Student Leaders, must be responsible citizens of our Earth. By eliminating the use of plastic water bottles, eating less meat, and reusing/recycling, Student Leaders learned how to help the earth by changing little habits in their daily lives.

Derek gave advice about tackling big issues, encouraging ECSLIT leaders to try to focus on one thing, on one issue, and on one step at a time. “You can’t do it all, so take a piece of it.”

A monthly feature at each meeting is a teacher best practice sharing. Ms. Merle Gonsalvez from St. Martin de Porres shared with us her “Little Bears Leadership” program, a student leadership initiative for primary students, led by intermediate students!

Last month, student were asked to comment on the October ECSLIT blog post. One lucky winner was selected from the comments, and won one of 3 random prizes! For a chance to win next month, make sure to comment on this blog post below!

The results are in! Last month, the Directors of Elementary Affairs Chloe Panganiban and Kyla Tan asked the Elementary Student Leaders to vote from 7 topics. Your responses were compiled and the 3 topics of focus, will be used by us to structure 2018-2019 ECSLIT Meetings in addition to other Catholic Student Leadership elementary events. 

ECSLIT’s 3 Pillars of Focus of 2018-2019 are:

1. Creating Safe and Inclusive Schools (How to build positivity, encouragement, and support in our schools)

      2. Inclusion and Belonging (Focusing on the marginalized students in our communities)

      3. Environmental Stewardship (Learning how to be responsible citizens of our Earth)

Later on that night, the Directors of Elementary Affairs presented their report to the Board of Trustees and Senior Staff. 

While enjoying their slices of cheese pizza (NO pepperoni, to reduce our meat intake as environmentally conscious citizens) the Elementary Student Leaders tested out their Newspaper Chairs – this months school challenge! 

Congratulations to St. Maria Goretti for winning this months challenge!

Teachers also had a challenge this month, Cookie Face! Representing their schools, they had to get the cookie from their forehead into their mouth. Congratulations to Mr. Choe from St. Victor, who won tickets for his leaders to attend the Angel Foundation for Learning Gala! Check out the teacher challenge below:

Challenge time!  Actually, we have 2 challenges this month!!

Challenge #1

Leaders! We are asking that you please save any left over Halloween candy! In December, Mike Consul will be taking a group of High School leaders overseas to the Philippines for a service trip. We ask that you bring any leftover candy to the December meeting, so Mike can take it to the Philippines for the kids there to enjoy! Thank you for your generosity.

Challenge #2

What’s an E-CSLIT Meeting without a team-building challenge? Here are the rules for this months challenge:

**If more than 1 egg survives, the school who used the least amount of material wins!!

Bring to next month’s meeting:

1. Candy for kids in the Philippines
2. Egg drop structure
3. Wifi device (phone, tablet) – We will be playing an online game.

 

Excited to see you on December 6th, 2018, 4:30-6:30 in Quigley Hall

for the last meeting of 2018!

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@ecslit_tcdsb