Every fall, learners from grades 8 to 12 with SelfDesign Learning Community elect 10 of their peers to represent them on SelfDesign’s Learner Council. The main role of this group of elected learners is to be a voice for the school’s learner body and act as a bridge between learners and the school’s leadership and administration. Learners throughout the school can bring issues and questions to any council member for consideration.
The council also provides its elected members with opportunities to build their communication and leadership skills. The young people on the council gain experience organizing events and activities for their peers, learn how to prevent and deal with conflict, and take on and complete initiatives that advance learners’ cause and their experience within SelfDesign.
For example, since 2021, Learner Council has hosted a popular, hour-long online event every winter called Welcome to Grade 10 Campfire for grade 9 learners seeking to learn more about what to expect when they start grade 10. Learner Council has also organized events to raise awareness around Indigenous children’s issues, and they’ve produced a video for grade 8 and 9 learners to help familiarize them with the council’s values and processes and encourage them to run for council.
This learning year, the council completed and launched the Welcome to Grade 10 Webinar. Available year-round, the webinar provides a deeper look at what learners going into grade 10 at SelfDesign will experience in grades 10 to 12 and is available year-round.
Why learners run for Learner Council
We recently caught up with the members of this year’s Learner Council to find out what drew them to run for council and be the voice for their fellow learners.
Here’s what some of them had to say:
This semester’s Learner Council President Eiko, who joined SelfDesign in grade 10 and will be commencing in June, says the chance to be involved and make a difference appealed to her.
“I like having community,” she says. “I enjoy being a part of things and helping to change things. I enjoy leadership roles and working with a team and finding ways to connect.”
Cory, in grade 12 and the Learner Council Secretary, was elected to council for the first time in October.
She joined because I’m friends with one of the council’s vice presidents. “They told me all about the Learner Council. It sounded pretty fun,” she says. “It’s been really nice to get to know everyone on Learner Council.”
Tomas says, “I would say we are one of the most fun groups in all of SelfDesign.” Tomas, who joined SelfDesign eight years ago, serves on the council communications team.
“I saw Learner Council being developed and come to be [in 2019], and I thought it would be good to get involved in it,” he says.
Ameya is the grade 9 representative on council. This is her second year on council. In 2021–2022, she served as the grade 8 representative. She ran for Learner Council because “I like leadership roles. I like getting involved in my community, I like making change and like working in a group setting a lot.”
As a member of the Learner Council, she says, “We have a lot of fun together, and we work together on the things we’re all passionate about. It’s a great way to meet people that are similar to you, and to make friends and enjoy SelfDesign.”
Learner Council’s educator–sponsor Anita assumed the role of providing advice and gentle guidance to council members two years ago, taking over from SelfDesign® Learning Community Vice Principal Vanessa Kuran. “One of the main joys I get from getting to be the educator–sponsor for this group is that I love finding connections and building bridges between, you know, different groups,” she says.
“There’re so many times that things come up here in council meetings, and I get to go back to my team and talk about emerging issues and questions that learners are talking about. And it’s just a pleasure working with these young people. They are a lot of fun — I always laugh, and they inspire me in so many ways.”
Read about how Learner Council came to be
Read more about the opportunities Learner Council offers learners
