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The Unity Pathways School Division (UPSD) and its schools are narrative settings created for The Belonging Project. The stories within this ecosystem are inspired by real experiences in education and community life, thoughtfully fictionalized to protect privacy and illuminate inclusive practice.

â–¶ Story: Walking In: Olivia's Story of Voice and Visibility 

Course: Universal Design and Beyond: Designing for Human Variability

Meet Olivia, a thoughtful and creative high school student navigating the daily challenges of ADHD and anxiety at Summit Grove Secondary School. For years, she masked her struggles behind perfectionism, silence, and avoidance, quietly slipping through the cracks of a fast-paced, high-demand school system. But when one teacher shifts the classroom approach to prioritize flexible deadlines, multimodal expression, and emotional safety, Olivia’s story begins to change.

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This is a story about what happens when dignity is designed into learning. As Olivia is given space to show up as she is, not just as a student, but as a person, she begins to reclaim her voice and agency. Her journey highlights the power of inclusive practice to interrupt cycles of shame and invisibility and to open new pathways for success.

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  • Prologue - The Quiet Collapse ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 1 - The Weight of the Bell ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 2 - Choice Without Shame ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 3 - Finding the Thread ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 4 - This Counts Too ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Epilogue - Still Walking In ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

â–¶ Story: Designing Belonging at Summit Grove Secondary School 

Course: Universal Design and Beyond: Designing for Human Variability

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At Summit Grove Secondary School, a team of high school science teachers began to notice a pattern: their curriculum was rigorous, but rigid—and it wasn’t reaching many of their students. Attendance was dropping, engagement was low, and failure rates were climbing. Something had to change.

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This story follows their collective journey as they reimagine science instruction through the lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). By embedding flexibility, multimodality, and relevance into the core of their teaching, not just the margins, they transformed not only student outcomes, but their own sense of purpose.

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From passive content delivery to dynamic inquiry, the Summit Grove team moves from teaching science to designing for learning. This story offers a vivid example of what it means to build belonging through design, even in the most traditionally content-heavy subjects.

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  • Prologue - When Rigor Isn’t Reaching ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 1 - Not Built for Everyone ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 2 - Finding the Hook ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 3 - Access for All ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 4 - Inquiry as Expression ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Epilogue - Belonging by Design ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

â–¶ Story: From Compliance to Contribution 

Course: Learner Agency and Voice: Moving Beyond Compliance

Kai is a Grade 11 student at Summit Grove Secondary School. Quiet, polite, and often withdrawn, he rarely causes problems—but he also rarely participates. Diagnosed with ADHD and generalized anxiety, Kai has spent years mastering the art of flying under the radar. Teachers see flashes of insight in his writing and occasional discussions, but he often misses deadlines, avoids group work, and seems disengaged from most classroom activities.

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Things begin to shift when his English Language Arts teacher, Ms. Lem, offers students the option to respond to a novel study through a podcast, a comic strip, or a traditional essay. For the first time, Kai lights up. He chooses the podcast. Over the next two weeks, he scripts, records, and edits a thoughtful and well-paced analysis episode that not only exceeds expectations, but also reveals a sharp, creative thinker hidden behind the silence.

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Recognizing this spark, Ms. Lem introduces flexible timelines, goal-setting tools, and weekly check-ins, not just for Kai, but for the whole class. Kai begins showing up more regularly, suggesting adaptations that work for him, and even advocating for changes that help others. As agency grows, so does his confidence. He moves from quietly compliant to curiously engaged.

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By the end of the semester, Kai is co-leading a student discussion on neurodiversity in learning. He’s a different presence. He's energized, expressive, and influential. His teachers reflect that the shift wasn’t in Kai’s ability. It was in their posture. When they let go of rigid structures and began designing with students, rather than for them, learning transformed.

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  • Prologue - Quiet Resistance ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 1 - More Than One Way ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 2 - A Reason to Show Up ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 3 - Seeing the System ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 4 - Leading with Curiosity ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Epilogue - A Shift in Posture ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

â–¶ Story: The Inclusion Advisory Board

Course: Building Social Capital Through Inclusive Practice

The Inclusion Advisory Board

Summit Grove Secondary School has a reputation for academic excellence and high achievement but underneath the surface, many students feel invisible or disconnected. The halls are marked by social cliques and silent hierarchies. Students with disabilities often sit alone at lunch. LGBTQ+ students speak of subtle exclusion. English Language Learners describe feeling present but not known. Despite the school’s many strengths, something vital is missing: a culture of true belonging.

 

Ms. Kaur, one of the vice principals, notices these patterns and begins to listen more closely. After a student shares in a hallway conversation that “school feels like a place where you perform, not belong,” she knows something needs to change. Rather than launching another staff-led initiative, Ms. Kaur proposes something different: a student-led Inclusion Advisory Board. She imagines a space where students themselves would identify gaps, elevate unheard voices, and lead cultural change.

 

What begins as a small council of five students quickly gains momentum. Through listening sessions, co-designed initiatives, and visible leadership, students begin reshaping the very fabric of school life. They reimagine spirit days, create mentorship programs, and introduce initiatives like “Ask Me About…” buttons to spark inclusive conversation. As students begin to take ownership, they also begin to model a new kind of school spirit. A spirit built on respect, connection, and courageous visibility.

 

By year’s end, the work of the Inclusion Advisory Board is no longer a project. It is a movement. It spreads to feeder schools, partners with community organizations, and changes the way Summit Grove defines success. This is not just about tolerance. It’s about transformation and it’s being led by the students themselves.

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  • Prologue - Shifting Culture ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 1 - Listening First ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 2 - Designing Together ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 3 - From Tolerance to Ties ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Chapter 4 - Expanding the Circle ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

  • Epilogue - Built to Last ( ðŸ“– Read | 🎧 Listen | 🎬 Watch )

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