We’re looking for some help. We need your ideas, whether you are a student, a parent, a grandparent, a teacher, a bank clerk or a bus driver. We want to hear from everyone. And it’s an important job.

We want you to help us define  in a single statement what the Waterloo Region District School Board is all about.

Over the last year, a team of dedicated and passionate people in Waterloo region have worked together to set a new direction for our public schools with a new strategic plan. Now is the time to finish that process and craft a phrase that defines what this innovative school district is all about.

We’re calling this statement our purpose statement.

What is a purpose statement?

Simply put – a purpose statement is our reason for being. It’s meant to take the detailed work of our strategic plan and translate it into a clear, short statement that energizes and inspires our community These aren’t words that will get lost on the About Us page of our website – but words that everyone in our system can live by and see themselves reflected.

The Harvard Business Review describes a purpose statement as the philosophical heartbeat of an organization: “It says, ‘This is what we’re doing for someone else.’ And it’s motivational, because it connects with the heart as well as the head.”

How can you help?

We’ve launched a brand new website and we’re asking you to vote on the top four ideas that students from all 16 of our secondary schools helped to create in early November. We gave student senators our staff’s best ideas, some background on our plan and then some freedom to get creative.

Students in Waterloo region are a talented bunch and they came up with many creative ideas – and here are their best:

  • Innovating tomorrow by educating today.
  • Educating the innovation generation.
  • We learn. We care. We innovate. We are WRDSB.
  • Innovate and inspire lifelong learning.

All that’s left to do now is to vote on your favourite. And if none of these work for you, tweet ideas to @wrdsb using the hashtag #WeAreWRDSB.

 What’s next?

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of the untold stories from within our school district to give you a flavour of the extraordinary things that happen in schools every day. As you read our stories we want you to think beyond classrooms, schools and tests and help us define our hopes and dreams for public education in Waterloo Region.  

Share our stories on Twitter and like our page on Facebook. If you have children – talk to them about our statements and see what they like best. We want to hear your voice and their voice as we move forward, with purpose.