March 19th, 2025

Every day, we strive to recognize and celebrate Black Brilliance in our schools and classrooms. February was Black History Month and provides an opportunity to put a spotlight on the work taking place across the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB).

We want to share just a snippet of the incredible things that happened this past month:

Elementary Black Brilliance Conference at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU)

On February 20 at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis Hall, the WRDSB hosted the second annual Black Brilliance Conference for elementary students.

Guided by the theme of flourishing, the breakout sessions ranged from music making with a visiting Professor from Ghana, storytelling, mathematics, wellness and more.

Thank you to all of the organizers, speakers, community members, staff and students for making this event so wonderful and engaging.

Black Brilliance Student Ambassador

As part of our celebration and marking of Black History Month, we were proud to highlight Mawuko, a Grade 11 WRDSB student, as a Black Brilliance Ambassador. Mawuko recorded a video that was shared with our entire system, highlighting his thoughts on Black Flourishing, our theme for this year’s Black History Month.

Black Brilliance Day at Vista Hills Public School

Vista Hills public school hosted its first ever Black Brilliance Day, in partnership with students and staff from surrounding schools.

Edna Staebler PS, Laurelwood PS and Laurel Heights Secondary School students came together to take part in ice breakers, games and brainstorming activities, followed by sharing a meal featuring Caribbean cuisine.

WRDSB Graduate’s Art Adorns Grand River Transit Bus

Vanessa, a WRDSB graduate and now a student at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Health Sciences program, is the artist behind the Region of Waterloo’s first-ever bus wrap celebrating Black History Month.

Her design on the Grand River Transit bus reflects the theme ‘Black Excellence: Past, Present, Future’ and was selected by the Region of Waterloo’s Black History Month committee in partnership with the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region. Congratulations, Vanessa, on your incredible accomplishments and we can’t wait to see what comes next!

Read more about Vanessa’s bus wrap design.

Black Student Conference at Elmira District Secondary School

On Monday, February 24 Elmira District Secondary School’s Black Students Association in partnership with Adventure4Change hosted the first ever Elmira Black Student Leadership Conference. This event brought together African, Caribbean and Black identifying students from EDSS and our feeder schools for a day of building community and belonging while celebrating Black brilliance and joy.

Black Brilliance in the WRDSB

Although February is Black History Month, at the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), we strive to recognise Black Brilliance all year long. We aim to create an environment where African, Caribbean and Black-identifying (ACBi) students and staff see their brilliance:

  • Highlighted
  • Represented
  • Celebrated

Learn more about Black History Month 2025.