News Releases

TDSB launches Innovation Fund to encourage progress in education

Toronto, ON, October 30, 2003 —David Reid, Director of Education for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), yesterday launched the Innovation Fund, designed to bring imaginative concepts of education and education delivery to the Board by tapping into the ideas of teachers, administrators and parents.

The Innovation Fund is being established to search out creative new or more efficient ways to address the needs of the students and their community outside the envelope of established practices, Reid said.

"The fund is built on the premise of excellence," said Reid. "The Toronto District School Board provides an excellent education to our students every day. We strive to do nothing less. This invites those with a progressive idea to come forward and share it, and, if it has merit and promise, we will help them bring it to life."

The Innovation Fund has an initial dedication of approximately $1.2 million for the 2003-2004 year. While generally focussed on the activity of the classroom, this investment should encourage enhancement, augmentation and/or replication of excellent programs and services that benefit students within the system, Reid said.

The fund will favour projects which promise direct benefits to students' or the system's needs, Reid said. Imaginative reading programs for which there is no current government funding, more effective practises to assess students' progress, new programs such as ROBOTICS to meet the long-term needs of society are the kinds of projects the Innovation Fun seeks to encourage.

The funding allocations will be made at the local family of schools level where participants have the greatest insight into the specific challenges of their students, schools and community, Reid said.

"Being on the front lines, these teachers, parents and trustees can best discern what their greatest opportunities are," Reid said. "Giving them the ability to make decisions on where this money is spent makes our public school system more responsive to, and responsible for, the delivery of education to each individual student."

In attendance at yesterday's launch held at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute were representatives of some existing innovative programs, including:

• Mark Breadner, Project Leader, exhibiting the FIRST Robotics program which is currently in 21 TDSB secondary schools. FIRST Robotics teaches the concepts and realities of robotics to students considering it as a career choice;
• Stephen Lashbrook, Teacher, exhibiting Central Technical School's Digital Music Program. The program assists students who are learning to write, produce and perform music;
• Marsha Yamamoto, Instructional Leader and Eleanor Dudar, Environmental Education Officer, exhibiting EcoSchools. EcoSchools is a course taught in many TDSB schools aimed at raising students' awareness of the ecological challenges and opportunities around them every day;
• Karen Forbes, Superintendent, exhibiting Read to Succeed Program. The Read to Succeed Program, also in many TDSB schools, focuses on getting young boys excited about reading so that they will continue that energy throughout their lives.

"These are all examples of what can be accomplished for our students, communities and society," Reid said of the attendees. "We hope, through the TDSB Innovation Fund, to foster many such progressive programs and become an even greater leader in public education."

"This money will only benefit public education in Toronto," Reid said. "We see this as an investment which will pay important long-term dividends for our students, schools, community, and society."

For further information on the Toronto District School Board's Innovation Fund, contact:
John Muldoon,
Manager, Communications & Public Affairs,
Toronto District School Board
416-397-3852