We wanted to show students what it's like to count carbs, while also raising money for I Challenge Diabetes.

The Carb Guessing Fundraiser accomplished both of these things, allowing students to submit a guess at how many carbs were in a certain meal for a chance to win a free DSA sweater.

We wanted to let people in the school community know that T1D can affect anyone, even people in the school. So we made an instagram carousel with people in the school (and some celebrities) that was posted on the school's Instagram account, ammassing over 100 likes.

Check the Spring 2025 episode of the WTCS Horseshoe to find this article written by DSA volunteers Noah Pearen and Charlie Lam

Just over a century ago, a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes was a death sentence. Only ten percent of those with the disease lived five years past their diagnosis. Treatment largely consisted of patients intentionally starving themselves, as doctors thought a true solution to be impossible.

In 1920, Canadian physician Dr. Frederick Banting realised the relationship between Type 1 Diabetes and the pancreas. Soon after, Banting and a team of University of Toronto researchers revolutionized the field through their discovery of insulin, a pancreatic hormone that regulates sugars the body needs to survive. By distributing insulin to Type 1 Diabetes patients (for whom it is not locally produced), the team hypothesized that they could preserve the patients’ lives.

In January 1922, the team became responsible for the first known saved life of a patient with Type 1 Diabetes. Their hypothesis was correct—they had found a solution. The achievement earned Banting (as well as his primary assistant, Scottish physiologist John J.R. Macleod) the Nobel Prize in Medicine. 

With the discovery of insulin, the millions of people with Type 1 Diabetes were given a lifeline—albeit an unideal one. For the next five decades, insulin was distributed into patients’ bodies solely through self-injections with syringes. These injections were often inaccurate, and required constant sterilization of the needles and syringes. Managing Type 1 Diabetes was a tiresome balancing act with minimal comfort offered to the patients.

As time passed, new treatments arrived, and existing ones improved. 

In the 1970s, the first insulin pumps were manufactured. Insulin pumps inject insulin at a specified injection site on the patient at specific times, helping ensure consistent delivery. Modern insulin pumps are both visually and operatively similar to smartphones; they intelligently adjust insulin delivery depending on a given patient’s blood glucose levels.

Syringes, for their part, have been greatly improved over the past one hundred years. Patients and their families no longer have to boil their needles and syringes, nor do they have to work with a twenty-six-millimetre needle (the size has now been reduced to about four millimetres). Alternatively, patients can opt for insulin pens, which many feel are easier to use and carry.

These leaps in Type 1 Diabetes research and treatment have emerged due to the work of numerous charities and organizations around the world. Many of these organizations exist in the present day, working tirelessly to perform further research and support patients. 

Here at WTCS, we—the Diabetic Student Alliance—operate to educate the WTCS community about the disease and eliminate the stigma and misinformation surrounding it. We also run fundraisers to raise money for the aforementioned organizations. Organizations we have partnered with include I Challenge Diabetes (which organizes recreational programs for Canadian kids with Type 1 Diabetes) and Diabetes Canada (which funds national Diabetes research, raises awareness, and advocates to institutions).

If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved, you can visit our website, wtcsdsa.ca. Any and all support is greatly appreciated. 

Advancements in the treatment of Type 1 Diabetes have changed the lives of millions. Through the hard work and dedication of change-makers, Type 1 Diabetics are now able to live full, healthy lives. 

However, innovation has not halted. Ongoing programs aim to further improve treatment, reduce stigma, and build community. We, as students, are vital to the innovation of the future—it is only with our motivation, our effort, and our achievement that change will continue.

Propagated throughout WTCS, this campaign was successful in educating the community about common misconceptions about Type 1 Diabetes, and the truth about these facts. The posters were posted in select areas where they would actually be read - and not just looked at. Posters were found in English, Math, CS, and even Physics classrooms,  in addition to the school library. Get posters or learn more by clicking here