CSLIT

The Catholic Student Leadership Impact Team (CSLIT) is the voice of the student body and the driving force behind exemplary achievement in the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

The student body of CSLIT consists of the Executive Team and the General Assembly. The Executive Team is comprised of nine to twelve students who serve either as co-chairs or directors of the various standing committees. The Executive Team is mainly responsible for planning and conducting meetings and events as well as maintaining communication between members of CSLIT.

The General Assembly is comprised of hundreds of students who, along with the Executive Team, attend meetings on the last Tuesday of every month. All high school students in the Toronto Catholic District School Board are welcome to join. The fundamental initiatives carried out by the General Assembly are headed by the standing committees within CSLIT. The standing committees are: Social Justice, Equity, Angel Foundation for Learning, and Social Affairs.

Being a member of CSLIT yields a number of additional opportunities geared towards aspiring or impassioned high school leaders; these include but are not limited to trips, retreats, and conferences. The purpose of these events, and of CSLIT as a whole, is to provide motivation and relevant information to those who are willing to be proactive individuals living out the expectations of a Catholic student graduate.

CSLIT is important because it brings together students from all ends of the TCDSB network and unites them through a common interest in fulfilling the duties of an exemplary student and steward of the Earth. Although every student of the TCDSB has the potential to become an ethical and driven person, CSLIT recognizes that most students lead extremely busy lives and need encouragement, guidance, resources to bring an idea into fruition, or simply a group of likeminded friends from across the board. CSLIT was created to provide all of these things. Furthermore, CSLIT is the platform for voicing student needs and wants in the TCDSB, a means by which to raise an issue to board officials and addressed if necessary. CSLIT is the manifestation of a student body that is dedicated to serving the world and each other and having an enjoyable time doing so. CSLIT is a vital and unsubstitutable piece the huge puzzle of the “high school experience”.

The position of student trustee is mandated by the Education Act, R.S.O. 1990. Each year, one to two student trustees are elected from the CSLIT General Assembly to represent the student body of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. They are responsible for chairing CSLIT and  spearheading  leadership initiatives at a formal board level by doing so. The trustees regularly attend boardroom  meetings at the Catholic Education Center where they serve as the voice of over 85 000 students, acting as liaisons and bringing recommendations and issues from the student body to the forefront of the TCDSB staff and administration.

The Education Quality Improvement Act, passed by the Canadian province of Ontario in 1997, mandated the creation of non-voting student representatives in publicly funded school boards across the province.To better advise the Student Trustee in decision-making based on the opinions of the students, the TCDSB issued its official Student Senate known as the Catholic Student Leadership Impact Team. The Student Trustee also acts as CSLIT Chair.