Elgin Trustee Bill Hall received the gavel tonight as 2014 Chair of the London District Catholic School Board. For Trustee Hall, it is a sixth term as Chair. He replaces Trustee Philip Squire, who has served the past two terms as Chair.

Chair Hall outlined two priorities he has set for the year ahead: Catholicity and student achievement and engagement. In his Inaugural Address, Chair Hall said the schools are doing considerable work in the area of Catholic faith formation. But he said we can look at that with fresh eyes. 

"What's the next step, how do we take this to the next level? " he asked.  "How can our faith formation be more than a priority and become a power: a power alive in our schools, a power that shapes and drives every aspect of our mission as a Board and is present in every pillar of our work?"

Chair Hall is proposing that Trustees and administration sit down with Student Councils and Parliaments from the secondary schools and leaders in their school communities. "We listen to parent groups, to school council groups, but we as a Board have never sat down and listened to student groups," he said. "Listening to students, hearing what they have to say, involving them, making them feel a part of something greater, that what they have to say matters, that they can make a difference and contribute in a meaningful way. " 

To highlight student achievement, the Chair "skyped" live with Catholic Central graduate Julian Paparella, who is currently on an internship at the United Nations in New York, serving with the diplomatic mission of the Vatican. He called it a unique opportunity to engage one of our graduates.