But throughout her ascension into the lofty heights of education, Glaze has held tightly to the simple notion that every student deserves a chance to succeed. “When I looked at children in my class, I saw each one as if they were my own,” she says. “I’d ask myself, ‘What do I want for that young person?’ The answer was always, ‘the best’. There should be no low expectations for students — set high expectations, push them and help them to achieve.

I have hopes and dreams that I want to pursue and it all begins with my education. Without an education you can’t go anywhere in life and I want to go somewhere in life. I want to be a paediatrician when I get older.

Dr. Spences’ contributions to education in the GTA are many and far-reaching. Read about his many achievements over the years.

With its $2 billion budget, the TDSB has the distinction of being the largest board in Canada and the fourth largest in North America. Its size and diversity are among the reasons why it tapped Spence, a former athlete, educator and director of education at Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, for this leadership position. Board trustees agree overwhelmingly that Dr. Spence is the right man for the job based on his stellar track record in education and his vitality as an organizer.

When the idea of an Africentric school became the talk of Toronto in 2008, questions were raised, along with a chorus of impassioned voices in favour and those against any notion of a black-focused school. Some people ran with the misinformed idea that it was to be segregated, as a type of black-only institution. The school is open to all students, says Hyman-Aman. “It’s an alternative school because parents have a choice to place their students there.”

All signs point to the arrival of autumn: the CNE, the leaves changing their hues and the ubiquitous back-to-school buzz. It is that last clue that excites me the most about fall. Many people I know speak of spring as being the moment of rebirth. However, as someone who has been surrounded by post-secondary students professionally for the past decade, it is the advent of the new academic year that endows the season with this exciting vibe.

By taking advantage of both his academic and athletic ability, Gary Durrant followed a path that allowed him to become an educator with the aim to use his own life experiences to build the lives of others. Today, Durrant uses both the classroom and the basketball court to connect with young people.

In partnership with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), bestselling children’s author Eric Walters has launched a sports-inspired literacy program called Hoops For Hope, aimed at creating a love for literacy among boys in grades three to six. Recently named the TDSB’s Writer in Residence, Walters is committed to getting kids excited about literacy.

“The authors were interested in creating a resource with information that had not been available to them in a textbook when they were in high school,” Reznek recently told School Libraries in Canada, the online journal of the Canadian Association for School Libraries.