1. education
2. school

SIMCOE COUNTY DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
MEMORANDUM
2014-2015: 107
TO:
Elementary Principals
Elementary Vice-principals
Secondary Principals
Secondary Vice-principals
FROM:
Paula Murphy
Superintendent of Education
SUBJECT:
2015-2016 MINISTER’S STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL APPLICATION
PROCESS
Background
In 2008, the Ministry of Education launched the Minister’s Student Advisory Council (MSAC)
application process. Honouring celebrations across the world, MSAC is another place where
students have a voice and where they will be heard.
The Minister's Student Advisory Council includes more than 60 diverse voices from students who
are in Grades 7 to 12. The council meets directly with the Minister of Education twice a year to
provide ideas and input on a variety of educational topics/issues. Members are appointed based
on their lived experiences to enable the Minister's access to a range of youth perspectives. The
diversity of this council results in rich perspectives which have informed curriculum, bias-free
discipline approaches, career planning resources, approaches to learning in the 21st Century,
mental health resource development and student voice materials for their peers.
The application process for the 2015-2016 council is now open. Successful applicants will serve
a one-year term and applicants may re-apply. Students will meet as a council twice per year and
are also invited to participate in a regional student forum. Applications from non-traditional
leaders and quiet leaders are welcomed. The council honours diversity and inclusion and
encourages applications from students who combine lived experience with a perspective that they
are genuinely interested in sharing and representing. All accommodation, food and transportation
costs are covered by the Ministry of Education for council members and, where applicable, their
teacher/adult supervisors.
More information is available at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/students/speakup/msac.html
See why students should apply for the council:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiYkiVbKwgQ
Action
Please share the flyer attached as APPENDIX A to any interested students, and make this
opportunity known on announcements, in school newsletters, and on school websites. Students
should apply directly to the Ministry of Education by completing and saving the online application
and emailing it to MSAC@ontario.ca.
Memorandum 2014-2015: 107 - 2
The application deadline is February 28, 2015 at 5 p.m. Selected applicants will receive a letter
to inform them that they have been selected for the council and should plan to attend their first
meeting in May 2015 in Toronto.
Questions may be directed to Jane Dewar, Student Success IRT – Equity and Inclusion, at (705)
734-6363, ext. 11298, or jdewar@scdsb.on.ca.
December 2, 2014
2014-2015: 107
APPENDIX A