St. Michael student new trustee on Catholic Board

April 30, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Bill Rea
Bolton and Caledon will soon have an additional voice on the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.
Lexie Hesketh-Pavilons, a Grade 11 student at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Bolton, has been elected one of two student trustees for the board. She will be representing the northern part of the board.
She was elected April 21 by students representing about 15 schools at the Board offices in Mississauga.
Student trustees represent the voice of students in decisions about education in Dufferin-Peel, and they help keep students informed about important decisions that affect them. Student trustees attend regular public board and standing committee meetings in a non-voting capacity.
Hesketh-Pavilons, 17, said she’s been told she will be attending a trustees’ conference from May 21 to 24. “I think I’m going to be sworn in at that conference,” she said.
She added she expects to attend her first actual Board meeting in August.
Hesketh-Pavilons had to address the audience before the election and she said the feedback she received from her remarks was very positive.
She said that she stressed in her address her ability to help her fellow students.
“I would be the person to help the students, and I was fit for the job,” was the message she said she wanted to get across.
“I want to be the person promoting student potential, because I’m passionate about people being known,” she said.
“Everyone deserves a voice,” she added, observing there are a lot of people in the world who never get a voice because of where they live. She’s met a lot of them in her time, including through three Mission Trips she’s taken with her school to Dominican Republic.
“It’s really important to me that people are aware of other people,” she said.
Hesketh-Pavilons said she’s “extremely excited” about taking on the new responsibilities.
“It’s just such an honour,” she said, as she looks forward to making a difference. “I can actually get to try it.”