Opportunities Abound at DSBN  

High Schools  

From January 9 – 16, DSBN high schools will be opening their doors to students and families across the region. The open houses, for Grade 8 students and their families, will showcase the different programs, courses, athletics, clubs and other opportunities each school offers. Students will be able to explore the school, meet the staff and learn more about all the supports schools have in place to help students become successful.  

Members of the media are invited to attend these open houses for photos and to meet any number of current or prospective high school students who can share their experiences, hopes and aspirations for high school.  

All 18 DSBN high schools will be holding open houses. For a full listing of dates and times, please visit dsbn.org/yourfuture.    

Here are just a couple of examples of the students you may be able to meet during an open house:  

Jessica 

For Jessica, high school is all about opportunity. Opportunity in the variety of courses she’s able to take, but also in the different futures they may lead to.  

Now in Grade 10, Jessica says the experiences she’s had in high school have opened her eyes to a whole range of different career paths.  

“Being focused on the arts, I thought I only had a couple options available to me,” said Jessica. “At first I figured I would pursue either acting or singing, but now I see all the possibilities that exist.”

After working on the school musical, Jessica feels she may have a future in directing plays and musicals. Or, given her keen interest in photography, perhaps a career in movie direction will suit her. 

Jessica’s already getting a head start. Being a voracious reader, Jessica often reads a lot of books that have been made into movies.

“I like to compare the books to the movies and then see what changes I would make to make those adaptations even better,” said Jessica.

She believes the Twilight series could have been done better and stayed more true to author Stephenie Meyer’s original work. “The movies left out so many details that would have really added to the richness of the story,” said Jessica.

The best adaptation Jessica’s seen so far?

“Without a doubt, it’s Harry Potter. It’s not even a question in my mind,” she said.

Perhaps one day Jessica will even have the opportunity to turn one of her own works into a movie as she’s in the early stages of writing her own novel.

“It’s something I wanted to try and I’m having a lot of fun with it. High school has been great for me. I’m getting the chance to experiment with so many new things and all my friends and teachers are so supportive,” said Jessica.

“I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”  

Joseph 

Joseph bites his nails as a nervous habit. Not that it happens often.

Anyone who’s had the opportunity to spend two minutes with Joseph can see how calm, cool and collected he is. He is a young man who is comfortable in his own skin.

“It’s all about having confidence,” Joseph says. “Be confident in who you are and what you can do. But it’s also important to be confident that you can overcome challenges because things aren’t always easy.”

With a keen interest in sports, Joseph challenges himself by playing basketball, volleyball, soccer and track. He considers soccer his favourite sport and, like many others, really enjoys watching Lionel Messi play.

Although he has a number of athletic pursuits, being in high school has also helped Joseph find some new interests. “I found that I really enjoy taking drama classes. And gym, definitely gym,” smiles Joseph.

Eventually, Joseph says he’d like to make some good money by playing professional sports. But failing that, he’d also be happy to get into engineering.

It’s a good thing for Joseph that DSBN high schools offer everything from arts programs to science and technology, including 40 Specialist High Skills Majors in 13 different economic sectors. This way, no matter which interest Joseph decides to pursue, there will be courses and programs to match his needs.

Media Inquiries: 

Kim Yielding, Manager
Communications and Public Relations
District School Board of Niagara
905-641-2929 ext. 54160
kim.yielding@dsbn.org