June 11th, 2025
Written by Mia, a student at Bluevale Collegiate Institute.
For a second year, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) has partnered with KidsAbility on a fundraising campaign. In support of this initiative, Bluevale Collegiate Institute and Waterloo Collegiate Institute kicked off their school-based drives in March—and now the board-wide campaign is underway.
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This year, I had the privilege of serving as co-chair of Bluevale’s Walk for Hope in support of KidsAbility. Working alongside my counterpart at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, we aimed to mobilize 300 students from each school to raise money for vital community services. Thanks to the energy and generosity of our student bodies, we surpassed that target and raised more than $28,000 together!
Pulling off an event of this scale took hours of planning and teamwork. I’m deeply grateful to my co-chair, our dedicated committee members, the school staff, and the community volunteers whose passion made every detail shine. KidsAbility’s own team inspired us at every turn—their commitment to student engagement, their fundraising expertise, and their unwavering enthusiasm were the driving force behind the day.
When the big day arrived, students from both schools came out in force. We seized the opportunity to build new connections across campuses, and the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly our impromptu talent show. Although only three acts had signed up ahead of time, so many more performers stepped forward that I scrambled to create an entirely new schedule on the spot! In the end, fourteen acts wowed the crowd—singing, dancing, comedy, live bands—and hundreds of students packed the upper field to cheer them on. It was a true celebration of our collective creativity and school spirit.
Our second-annual Walk for Hope was a resounding success. We exceeded our fundraising goal, drew record student involvement, and had a blast doing it. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone who gave their time, energy, and talents to make this such a memorable day—and I can’t wait to see what we achieve together next year.
#StudentVoice Series
This article is written by a WRDSB student and is part of the Student Agency and Voice program. Student journalists embody WRDSB’s commitment to creating space for students to tell their stories. They are ambassadors for their peers as they share their personal experiences and stories about their schools and communities in their unique voices.