Looking Ahead Together: Mattering, Belonging, and Our 70th Conference

Dear Ontario CEC Members,

As we look ahead to the year before us, we do so with both pride and purpose. December will mark a remarkable milestone, the 70th Ontario CEC Conference, and with it, an opportunity to reflect on our shared values while recommitting ourselves to the work that lies ahead.

At our most recent 2025 conference, we were deeply inspired by Dr. Gordon Flett’s powerful message on mentally healthy schools. His work reminds us that mattering is not a passive concept — it is a proactive protective factor against risk and a foundation for well-being. Quite simply, students who feel better, do better. The same is true for educators.

This understanding brings equity into sharp focus. Equity matters. It is essential that every student and every educator sees themselves represented, has a voice, feels valued, and is understood. When individuals experience true mattering, they develop a sense of belonging, and belonging is the soil in which learning, resilience, and well-being grow.

Every student matters. Every educator matters. And everyone belongs.

Representing and standing up for our students, and for ourselves as educators, is essential to creating safe, healthy, equitable, accessible, and inclusive learning and working environments. These are the environments that intentionally foster mattering and belonging, not as an aspiration, but as a lived experience for all.

As we move toward our 70th Conference and forward into 2026, our call to action in Ontario CEC is clear. Collectively and individually, we commit to:

• Building safe, healthy, equitable, accessible, and inclusive learning and working environments where students and educators feel they matter and belong
• Strengthening positive relationships with students, parents and caregivers, educators, and community members to intentionally promote feelings of mattering and belonging
• Ensuring students are empowered to learn, grow, and adapt to challenges, with meaningful opportunities for voice, choice, and agency

Based on these critical understandings, we must continue to ponder what actions we can each take in our classrooms, schools, workplaces, and communities, to enhance this personal sense of mattering and belonging for both students and educators.

As we move forward in 2026, we recognize that the more we collaborate and work together, the stronger our impact will be. Ontario CEC will continue to seek and build partnerships with like-minded organizations and community partners, knowing that this work is most powerful when done together, with shared purpose and collective responsibility.

Together, through thoughtful action, collaboration, and shared commitment, we can ensure that Ontario CEC remains a strong, inclusive, and forward-looking community, one that honours its legacy while shaping a more equitable future.

We look forward to walking this year with you and to gathering in December to celebrate 70 years of impact, advocacy, and hope.

With appreciation and purpose,

Dr. Sue Ball
President, Ontario CEC