OJEN’s Waterloo Region Committee is made up of volunteers from both the justice and education sectors. We organize local programs and activities to connect students and teachers to the legal community and justice education, and are always open to new ideas. Our chair is Erik King teacher from Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School.
If you are a teacher teaching law, civics, history, family studies, or any subject with a legal component, and you haven’t already connected with the committee, we’d like to know you! Please contact Erik King at erik_king@wrdsb.ca to join our mailing list. We are also seeking more teachers to join the committee itself, which meets every other month. If you are a legal professional within Waterloo Region, we would love to have you involved!
Braiding Diversity into Justice 2024 Time: March 7, 2024, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Location: Kitchener Courthouse Keynote Speaker: Justice Lori Anne Thomas Braiding Diversity into Justice is an annual event first offered in the Kitchener-Waterloo area in 2018. Its goal is to connect young women between the ages of 16 and 20 with […]
The Waterloo Committee established the Braiding Diversity Founders Scholarship to support the success of Braiding Diversity into Justice program participants. The scholarship is available to any grade 12 or post-secondary student in Ontario, pursuing post-secondary studies related to the many careers in the justice system at an Ontario university or college. The applicant must be […]
OJEN’s Courtroom Visit program provides students with unique opportunities to deepen their understanding of the justice system through experiential learning. Students get a chance to observe real court in session and to directly engage with justice sector representatives, like judges, Crown attorneys, defense lawyers, justices of the peace, and many other individuals with different roles […]
OJEN’s Courtrooms & Classrooms activities enhance classroom learning by connecting students with the justice system and the professionals who work within it. Observing court in session, participating in mock trial tournaments, and connecting with justice sector professionals in the classroom – all help take law off the pages of the text book and into real […]
Law Day gives high school students the opportunity to participate in a criminal mock trial in a real courtroom, by taking on the roles of the accused, witnesses and the jury. Judges from the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice preside over the trial. Local lawyers take on the roles of […]
The Waterloo OJEN Committee held its 5th annual Braiding Diversity into Justice program by Zoom on the morning of March 31, 2022. The goal of the program is to connect marginalized and/or racialized young women between the ages of 16 and 20 with women working in the legal sector. 50 young women from the Kitchener-Waterloo […]
On Thursday, March 4, the Waterloo OJEN Committee welcomed young women from diverse backgrounds to participate in an online version of their highly successful Braiding Diversity into Justice initiative. The program, which has run annually since 2018, encourages racialized and marginalized young women to consider careers in the justice sector. Students between the ages of […]
Every year, grade 5 students from around the province take part in OJEN’s Poster Challenge Program! Working with their teachers and with OJEN materials to learn about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the students choose the Charter right that means the most to them and design beautiful posters that represent why that right […]
