Dear Students, Teachers, and Administrative members of Garneau,
I hope your summer has been joyful, invigorating with new experiences, and exciting, wherever you may be. As the month of July closes, I am writing to share what the Student Council has accomplished since we were elected. I hope to begin fulfilling my pledge to you to create a transparent and accountable Student Council.
The state of our Student Council and school are strong. We are stronger today than where we were when we inherited the Student Council. We have made this Student Council give power back to the students within our school. We are here to serve you, not the other way around. I aim to continue working as hard as possible to ensure that we have open communication between students and the Student Council to ensure we are doing the best job that we can. When I said I will not let you down as President, this is what I meant. We have already accomplished so much in the first month in power. I am looking forward to how much we can accomplish in the future.
In June, nine new members were selected for positions. Not only did we choose one of the most diverse selected positions in our history, but also the most talented and capable. During the whole process, I fought hard to ensure that the gender gap remained as minimal as possible, and ensured representation from as many backgrounds, cultures, and traditions as was possible. Together, we came to a consensus on an overwhelming number of brilliant students who are best suited to serve this school. I did not choose any candidates that would be yes-men or yes-women. Instead, I chose a broad range of candidates who held a diverse range of views on numerous issues, including my opponent and my running mate’s opponent. I am also very proud of creating very strong, diverse, open committees. We put out an application form for every committee to ensure that students have the opportunity and the privilege to serve and to join our Student Council committees.
The Student Council sat down together numerous times before summer break to ensure that everyone knew exactly what they wished to achieve. Student Council Executive members also sat down with administrative members to ensure that we finalize the calendar dates for events so we can more effectively monitor promotion, sales, and address problems as soon as they come up. I have sat down for numerous hours alongside Mr. Phambri to discuss the logistics of how we can make registration week better.
We are looking very deeply into booking venues for Social Dances and Prom. We will strive to book all venues before Labour Day so we know exactly how much things will cost so we can provide the maximum number of discounts through the MGCI SeasonsPass. Student Council can guarantee that these venues at the best accessible, affordable, and fun. The Treasurer and I are ensuring that the MGCI SeasonsPass gives the maximum number of discounts possible while ensuring that we stay profit-neutral so dances can be held to the utmost, highest degree because standards matter. Spirit Convenor Evan Woo and I talked about developing a comprehensive spirit plan with plans to ensure that we put spirit first. This year’s spirit events will be the most the most inclusive and diverse that we've ever seen before. Because spirit is not just for the few, it is for every single Garneau student.
I wish to implement ways to maximize mental health outreach at our school. That means that we not only will have one MGCI Let’s Talk, but two. In addition, we are moving forward with the Universal Mental Health Program. We can ensure that students have access to the resources that they need to combat mental health challenges, reduce stigma, and to ensure that we are all safe as a school.
We know that some students may be riled up during dances. However, their actions, performance, and behaviour can be inferred from past behaviour. Through the House Colour system, we will be looking into implementing a prefect system to ensure that we have utmost standards compliance. Students won't be punished if they fail to comply with rules and regulations from Admin and the Student Council, instead, they will have the opportunity and the ability to help make the school a better place. We will not correct misbehaving students by brutally punishing them, we will correct them by encouraging them to do better. A student will have the opportunity of performing community service activities around the neighbourhood.
I also followed my campaign pledge to ensure that every official Student Council Instagram account acts respectfully and transparently. We can guarantee you that response rates will be tremendously faster than the previous response rates. We have eliminated concerns that @mgci.sac was only following certain individuals and discriminating against other students. In response, we had the account only follow current and past Student Council members, school clubs, and official accounts run by organizations and personnel with relevance to Student Council.
The funding clubs will get next year will be tumultuous because of the budget cuts from the Provincial government. We still cannot foresee the level of funding Student Council will receive. The Treasurer is working hard to devise guidelines to help allocate funds if the budget is miniscule. With the reduction of teachers, it will be more difficult to find staff supervisors for events. We are looking at what options are available for us.
Vice President Ryan Chang has had the opportunity and privilege to go to New Brunswick over the month of July to learn about ways our school can reduce our waste and cut down on emissions. Spirit Convenor Evan Woo spent the month of July coming up with ways that we can amp up spirit. He has been contacting schools across the Greater Toronto Area and asking about how they increase spirit. Social Convenor Taira Mehta is working hard to find affordable and high-quality venues for Dances and has found numerous suitable catering options. Alongside his committee, Special Events Convenor Qays Matadar has been planning how to execute International Street. Athletic Convenor Eram Ahmed is trying to find a better banquet venue and making the Athletes of the Month and Year feel more respected and awarded. Graduation Convenor Zeinab Omar has been touring different Prom venues that are memorable.
Chairperson Arfeen Zaffar has been working hard on finding methods for passing policies where every Student Council member and Garneau student’s voice is heard and respected. Secretary Zain Altaf is looking into methods of improving our note-taking facilities as well as creating handbooks for future Student Council members. Treasurer Mohamed Dasu is working with his committee to ensure that the SeasonsPass can offer the largest discount while not losing any profits. He is also preparing an emergency fund for unexpected events in the future. Co-Communications Coordinator Mahnoor Irfan and Edith Nyamekye are working hard on improving the communication between students and Student Council and looking into ways of creating a Student Council website. Co-Clubs Coordinators Jessica Guo and Nuzhat Kanti are working extremely hard to update the Clubs brochure, collect Presidential contact information, creating a Council for Club Presidents, looking into ways to increase fundraising for clubs within the school, as well as making sure each clubs voice is heard and respected by Student Council. Social Justice and Equity Coordinator Serena Poonawalla is doing an amazing job of highlighting the events that she wants to promote through the Social Justice and Equity committee. Finally, External Affairs Coordinator Fatima Gulab is working hard to find vendors for good, affordable sweaters and also finding ways to increase communication with other TDSB schools and the TDSB Student Senate to ensure that our school’s voice is heard and that we can be a leader and environmental causes, social justice causes, and causes that matter to students in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and across the world. We need to be a leader in the city.
On July 12, I held a Thank You Ceremony for Ms. Goldenberg for the amazing and transformational leadership she had provided to our school for the past decade. Ms. Goldenberg made a huge difference at our school and the Student Council will continue the amazing work that she has done into future. I also like to invite incoming Principal Mr. Carlo Di Felice and incoming Vice Principals Mr. Craig Haid and Ms. Agoritsa Papadopoulos to Marc Garneau CI. We look forward to working in conjunction with them to ensure that students have the best experience possible.
The state of our Student Council and school are strong. We are stronger today than where we were when we inherited the Student Council. We have made this Student Council give power back to the students within our school. We are here to serve you, not the other way around. I aim to continue working as hard as possible to ensure that we have open communication between students and the Student Council to ensure we are doing the best job that we can. When I said I will not let you down as President, this is what I meant. We have already accomplished so much in the first month in power. I am looking forward to how much we can accomplish in the future.
Best,
Nelson Lee
MGCI Student Council President 2019-2020
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