Tune In YRDSB

50 episodes listed below

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York Region school life, explained through community voices.

The gist

Tune In YRDSB is a public education podcast grounded in York Region District School Board life. Episodes move between course planning, literacy testing, work experience, special education, math engagement, Pride learning, and South Asian identity.

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About Tune In YRDSB

Tune In YRDSB is a school-board podcast with a practical public-service core. It explains the pieces of York Region education that families, students, and staff often have to navigate at important moments. The tone is calm and procedural, but the episodes are not only checklists. They use conversation to show how policies, programs, and classroom practices affect actual students. Course selection becomes a discussion about compulsory credits, optional courses, prerequisites, MyBlueprint, experiential learning, and planning backwards from future goals. The OSSLT episode turns a graduation requirement into something more manageable, with attention to practice tests, accommodations, stress, sleep, breaks, and perspective. Work experience episodes bring a warmer documentary feel. Students describe confidence, decision-making, technology skills, friendships, leisure days, and workplace learning in ways that make transition programming concrete. The Special Education Advisory Committee conversation reaches into advocacy, family experience, student services, inclusive education, well-being, and the YRDSB transition strategy towards disability justice. A math engagement episode looks at classroom culture through vertical whiteboards, entry points, feedback, problem solving, and math nights that build familiarity between elementary and secondary students. The show also carries identity-focused conversations. Pride Month coverage emphasizes safety, inclusion, visible affirmation, curriculum misunderstandings, and the value of students seeing themselves in school life. South Asian Heritage Month brings student voices to culture, stereotypes, Tamil identity, Indo-Caribbean identity, language, food, and the pressure of being treated as a stand-in for an entire community. Across these subjects, Tune In YRDSB works best when it lets educators and students speak in detail. It is institutional, but not distant. It is resource-oriented, but not only administrative. The show is for people who want to understand the school system through the voices already working, learning, and advocating inside it. Its strongest episodes make board initiatives feel less abstract by attaching them to everyday decisions, relationships, and classroom realities.

Made for: Designed for YRDSB students, families, educators, and community members who want practical context on school programs, requirements, inclusion, and student support. It also suits listeners interested in public education from inside an Ontario school board.

What sets it apart: The show combines official school-board guidance with firsthand student, educator, and committee perspectives. It stands out by moving from graduation requirements and classroom practice to identity, accessibility, and community belonging without changing its service-oriented focus.

In their own words

Welcome to Tune In YRDSB. Tune In YRDSB is the first podcast of its kind in Ontario. Here we will explore a wide range of topics related to education in York Region and beyond. We look forward to inspiring learning through storytelling. *Episode transcripts are available upon request. Please email [email protected] to request a transcript.*

course selection and pathwaysOSSLT preparationwork experience and transition programsspecial education and disability justicemath engagementPride Month and queer inclusionSouth Asian and Tamil heritagestudent well-being

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Episodes

  1. 1

    Course Selection

    YRDSB educators explain how students can choose secondary school courses to explore interests, meet graduation requirements, and plan future pathways.

    Feb 12, 2026·16m·1 clip
  2. 2

    Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB explains the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, or OSSLT, as a provincial EQAO requirement first announced in 1998 and first administered in the 2001-2002 school year.

    Nov 12, 2025·32m·3 clips
  3. 3

    Work Experience Program

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB's "Work Experience Program" follows Annika McNeil and Brian Ashby as they describe a seven-coordinator department that started in 1985 and now places students from community classes into jobs, school roles, and transition supports across York Region District School Board.

    Oct 22, 2025·47m·3 clips
  4. 4

    Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)

    Hidden gem

    Lynn Zeraldo says she has spent 44 years on SEAC because her son moved beyond early intervention and the board still lacked speech-language pathologists, PTs, OTs, psychologists, and social workers.

    Oct 8, 2025·47m·3 clips
  5. 5

    Work Experience Program

    Hidden gem

    Michael Walters says a larger retail placement felt overstimulating, so he moved to a clothing store block away from his PEAK Central program.

    Sep 24, 2025·51m·5 clips
  6. 6

    Changing How Students Experience Mathematics

    Hidden gem

    Talia Mar, Sade Rodin, and Karina Park frame mathematics at Richmond Hill High School as a gatekeeper that can shape post-secondary pathways.

    Sep 10, 2025·26m·1 clip
  7. 7

    Pride Month: Celebrating Students, Affirming Identities

    Tune In YRDSB examines how York Region District School Board staff, students, and community partners marked Pride Month through a flag raising, a student-led Trans Day of Visibility event, and educator learning.

    Jun 25, 2025·38m·2 clips
  8. 8

    South Asian Heritage Month: United by Heritage

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB’s “South Asian Heritage Month: United by Heritage” features YRDSB students Ashwin, Rayan, Farouk, Shabina, Lakshna, and Amrita discussing pride, identity, and school experiences.

    Jun 18, 2025·40m·3 clips
  9. 9

    Jewish Heritage Month: Exploring Identity, History & Community

    Jordan Rappaport, Rebecca Zayant, and Annetta Fishman discuss Jewish identity through Canadian, Ontario, and York Region history, including migration, Holocaust survival, and contemporary antisemitism.

    Jun 11, 2025·1h 35m·5 clips
  10. 10

    East Asian Heritage Month: Lived Experience & Leadership in YRDSB

    Hidden gem

    Elizabeth Fow hosts Rebecca Tam-Nesbitt, Hilda Cosmitas, Seiji Ishiguro, and Jasmine Wong in a discussion of East Asian representation during YRDSB’s 2025 Asian Heritage Month.

    Jun 4, 2025·1h 1m·5 clips
  11. 11

    Sikh Heritage Month: Significance of the Patka & Dastar

    Hidden gem

    TuneIn YRDSB examines the significance of the patka and dastar, including how schools can respond when a Sikh student’s head covering comes off.

    Apr 30, 2025·33m·2 clips
  12. 12

    Persian Heritage Month: Celebrating Persian Identities

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB brings together Sherry Morgan, Iranian-Afghan Educators Affinity Group members, and Persian Admin Leaders OPC Affinity Group members to discuss Persian identities in York Region District School Board.

    Apr 24, 2025·43m·3 clips
  13. 13

    Paving the Way: Women in Sport

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB’s “Paving the Way: Women in Sport” features Emily Carr Secondary School students Julie and Stefania discussing basketball, soccer, hockey, and student-athlete demands.

    Mar 26, 2025·29m·2 clips
  14. 14

    Elementary STEM & Makerspaces

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB's Elementary STEM & Makerspaces features Alison McPherson, Nassim Cohen, Zoe, and Ava discussing Central Park Public School's library learning commons.

    Mar 18, 2025·34m·2 clips
  15. 15

    Supporting Black Students

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB examines how Heather Henry, Dionne Tape, Dane Smith, and Sam Samuel Quendo support Black students through graduation coaching, Black Student Associations, family engagement, and staff capacity-building.

    Feb 24, 2025·1h 14m·5 clips
  16. 16

    Tamil Heritage Month: Arts, Music & Culture

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB's Tamil Heritage Month episode brings together teacher and singer-songwriter Lakshmi Sivaneswaralingam, Bharatanatyam dancer Kashmia Balabaskaran, and producer Jansen to discuss Tamil arts in Canada.

    Jan 31, 2025·39m·2 clips
  17. 17

    Family Literacy: Building Connections

    Tune In YRDSB examines family literacy with Heather Young, Stephanie Gauthier, and Ashley LeBlanc, focusing on communication, early reading, writing, and home-school relationships.

    Jan 27, 2025·39m·2 clips
  18. 18

    Experience YRDSB: Performing Arts

    Jillian Stambolic, Nadia Ghalam Hussain, and Arshida Haddishi discuss how Richmond Green Secondary School’s musical-theater class used student-led focus groups for vocals, choreography, directing, costumes, photography, and production.

    Jan 16, 2025·32m·2 clips
  19. 19

    The Role of Muslim Student Associations in Schools

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB brings together host Zahra, teacher Saida Hajju, students Mariam and Padmeera, and Muslims in Canada Archives archivist Mitra to discuss Muslim identity in schools.

    Nov 29, 2024·59m·4 clips
  20. 20

    Beyond 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month

    Hidden gem

    Tune In YRDSB examines how GSAs support 2SLGBTQIA+ students through safe spaces, educator connections, and school activities.

    Nov 21, 2024·27m·1 clip
  21. 21

    Teens in a Digital World: Social Media & Mental Health

    Nov 12, 2024·20m
  22. 22

    Supporting Black Student Mental Health

    Oct 10, 2024·39m
  23. 23

    Unity in Diversity: Celebrating Gender and Sexuality Alliances

    Jun 21, 2024·55m
  24. 24

    Experience YRDSB: Business, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Jun 12, 2024·32m
  25. 25

    Experience YRDSB: Business, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

    Jun 12, 2024·29m
  26. 26

    Indigenous Education in Action: Making Moccasins

    Jun 10, 2024·51m
  27. 27

    South Asian Heritage Month

    May 30, 2024·50m
  28. 28

    Experience YRDSB: Hospitality

    Kristen McDald introduces the hospitality and tourism career sector, highlighting job data and skills, and previews an interview with a department head.

    May 24, 2024·46m
  29. 29

    Jewish Heritage Month

    May 15, 2024·1h 15m
  30. 30

    Social Anxiety & Supporting Healthy Relationships (ft. Youth SPACE)

    May 6, 2024·34m
  31. 31

    Asian Heritage Month

    May 2, 2024·53m
  32. 32

    Experience YRDSB: Media Arts & Digital Design

    Apr 11, 2024·19m
  33. 33

    Sikh Heritage Month

    Apr 5, 2024·49m
  34. 34

    International Women's Day

    Mar 28, 2024·43m
  35. 35

    Shine Episode 6: Heather Greenwood Davis

    Mar 21, 2024·28m
  36. 36

    Welcome to Experience YRDSB

    Mar 7, 2024·32m
  37. 37

    Tamil Heritage Month

    Anita Subramaniam introduces Tamil Heritage Month and the formation of Educators for Tamilsen's Success to support Tamil students affected by the Sri Lankan civil war.

    Feb 1, 2024·56m
  38. 38

    Play, Learn, Thrive: Welcome to Kindergarten

    Jan 24, 2024·57m
  39. 39

    Inside the Role: Student Trustee Experiences

    Jan 18, 2024·48m
  40. 40

    Hindu Heritage Month

    Dec 5, 2023·43m
  41. 41

    Hindu Heritage Month

    Dec 1, 2023·47m
  42. 42

    Latinx & Hispanic Heritage Month

    Nov 2, 2023·23m
  43. 43

    Elevating Women's Stories: Celebrating Women's History Month

    Oct 26, 2023·1h 30m
  44. 44

    Islamic Heritage Month

    Oct 12, 2023·19m
  45. 45

    Indigenous Education: Students' Perspectives

    Sep 8, 2023·42m
  46. 46

    Transition to Secondary School

    Guidance consultant Kelly Bradshaw and student leaders discuss tips for transitioning to high school, focusing on setting routines and healthy habits.

    Aug 28, 2023·34m
  47. 47

    (Part 3) Supporting 2SLGBTQI+ Students

    School social workers host a conversation with parents about supporting 2SLGBTQI+ students in schools and communities.

    Jun 30, 2023·52m
  48. 48

    Next Steps in Indigenous Education

    Jun 21, 2023·1h 8m
  49. 49

    (Part 2) Supporting 2SLGBTQI+ Students

    School social workers discuss supports and resources for 2SLGBTQI+ students in York Region District School Board.

    Jun 16, 2023·42m
  50. 50

    Supporting Student Mental Health During Exams

    Jun 12, 2023·44m