Black Students Adventures in Engineering
December 2021
Black Students Adventures in Engineering program highlights the TDSB's efforts to improve equity in access and reduce barriers to post-secondary education (PSE) and pathways to science and engineering for Black students. The program was evaluated in June and July 2021 using a pre-and post-evaluation survey to explore ACB students’ early exposure to and participation in PSE and science and engineering post-secondary pathways.
Focussed Conversations with African, Afro-Caribbean, Black Students, Families and Community
January 2022
In 2021, The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement conducted consultations with African, Afro-Caribbean, and Black (ACB) students, their families and community members. The consultations sought to elicit perspectives from each education partner in relation to the role of the Centre of Excellence and the TDSB as a whole.
Black Student Summer Leadership Program (BSSLP) 2021
February 2022
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement at TDSB designed and delivered its third annual Black Student Summer Leadership Program (BSSLP) in July 2021. The BSSLP is a unique program that offers leadership training and paid work experiences for self-identified Black students in secondary schools across the TDSB. This report provides an understanding of how Black students and experiential partners interacted with and benefited from the BSSLP.
Aviation
April 2023
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement partnered with the Black Aviation Professionals Network to develop a program for Black students at the TDSB wishing to pursue a career in the aviation field. The program was designed to support a key Centre of Excellence mandate, which was to provide support to Black students, identify barriers to their success, and access appropriate resources through scholarships, networking, and mentoring.
Initiated in 2022, the focus of A Day in Aviation was to engage Black students in Grades 10-12 to explore aviation as an academic and career pathway.
In the program, students have an opportunity to engage in discussions with Black professionals and learn about the roles and complexities of working in the industry.
Black Girls Book Club
April 2023
One of the mandates of the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement is to develop and facilitate culturally responsive and relevant healing practice for students. To assist in fulfilling this mandate, the Black Girls Book Club (BGBC) was initiated in 2020 for Black girls in TDSB secondary schools.
The space provided by the BGBC was an identity-affirming space that provided opportunities to counter misrepresentations, stereotypes, and discrimination which Black girls experience in school and the wider community. The BGBC was perceived as a space to inspire healthy discourse among Black girls. As a result of its success, the BGBC was expanded in 2021-2022 to include Black middle schools in Grades 6-8.
Music Industry Discovery Program with ADVANCE Canada’s Black Music Business Collective
April 2023
The TDSB’s Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement developed a partnership with the ADVANCE Canada's Black Music Business Collective. This partnership is aligned with the Centre of Excellence’s mandate to identify barriers to success, access appropriate resources (e.g., scholarships, networking, mentoring), and engage in strategic community partnerships related to education.
The core of the partnership was based on a nine-week program that aimed to increase the interest of Black students in Grades 11 and 12 in a career path in the music industry. The objectives of the program were aimed at:
- connecting Black youth with industry executives and professionals in the music business;
- providing students with mentorship opportunities through partnerships with professionals in the music industry;
- supporting the development of students’ transferable skills that will facilitate increased access to opportunities (such as communication, planning, etc.); and
- educating Black youth (Grades 11 & 12) about different career opportunities in the music industry (e.g., marketing manager, content creator, among others).
Pathways to Veterinary Medicine and Associated Fields
April 2023
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement partnered with the Black Veterinary Association of Canada to create the Pathways to Black Veterinary
Medicine Program, a program for Black students in Grades 7-12 at the TDSB who aspired to pursue a career as a Veterinarian or Veterinary Medical Paraprofessional, fields in which Black professionals are very underrepresented.
During the six-week program, students received support and guidance about the requirements to apply to veterinary colleges and veterinary technician programmes and learned about education and career pathways in veterinary medicine.