A big congratulations to Dante, who placed first in the One Book One Aurora Photography contest. His work wowed the judges with its beautiful depth and sense of place.
Congratulations Dante!
School Youth Leadership Grant
The School Health Grant for Youth provides Canadian youth, ages 13 to 19 and enrolled in grades 9 to 12 the opportunity to apply to 1 of 3 levels of grant funding ($1500, $2500, $3500). The goal of the grant is to develop youth-driven and youth-inspired initiatives that encourage and promote healthy living in their school. Project initiatives must align with 1 or more of the following PHAC priorities:
Reducing substance-related harms: Example – Conduct a research project on vaping in your school and how it affects students.Example: Organize a program on preventing and reducing substance-related harms, focused on ensuring the availability of life-saving tools like naloxone kits in your school environment.
Healthy eating and nutrition: Example – Use Canada’s Food Guide to help you design and implement a food program at your school, such as a school garden or healthy snack pantry.Example: Organize a cooking workshop to increase awareness of healthy eating. Use Canada’s Food Guide to help you decide on the types of meals to cook.
Physical activity: Example – Organize a “come out and play” intramural sports program.Example: Start an inclusive sports program that is accessible for youth with disabilities.
Positive mental health and well-being: Example – Start a gender and sexuality alliance to help promote an inclusive school environment.Example: Organize a learning event in your school to promote mindful social media use.
Who can apply
To apply you must:
-be a youth between the ages of 13-19
-be a student enrolled in grades 9-12
-be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident in Canada, and not be a federal government employee at the time of application
For more info, check out the School Youth Leadership Grant website.
SOLE Alternative Open House: October 12, 5:30-6:30
AGO field trip
We went to the Art Gallery of Ontario and spent a beautiful day drawing in the Henry Moore gallery and exploring the various collections to find work that inspired, challenged, and amazed us. Check out the Instagram posts below for some photos!
Islamic Heritage Month
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) proudly recognizes Islamic Heritage Month (IHM) during the month of October. This recognition follows the motion passed by the Board of Trustees on June 22, 2016. Our main theme for the month is Salaam: Joy, Excellence, Belonging.
Islamic Heritage Month has been recognized across Canada in different ways since October 2007. In November 2016, the Province of Ontario established October as Islamic History Month through the Islamic Heritage Month Act, and further stated that “proclaiming a month to be Islamic Heritage Month in Ontario will provide all Ontarians, both today and in future generations, with an opportunity to reflect, celebrate, and learn about the rich and longstanding Islamic history in the Province and the diverse roles and contributions of Muslim people in communities across Ontario. This new understanding will in turn help combat anti-Islamic sentiment.”
During the month of October several Islamic Heritage Month educational opportunities are being organized for all TDSB students to further learn about Islamic traditions and customs. These offerings include:
- Workshops from the Aga Khan Museum for all grade levels.
- Workshops with Project Include Outreach. One of their goals is highlight the contributions of Muslims to modern-day technology and utilize coding principles to facilitate an understanding of Islamic heritage & culture.
Beehive Design Collective at SOLE Alternative
Incredible workshop on globalization, colonization, art, and resistance by Darius from the Beehive Design Collective ! Monarch Park Visual Arts students joined SOLE to learn about Beehive’s work and activism through large-scale murals and spoken word, then created their own art featuring local wildlife changing the world.
To learn more about Beehive, and see details of their artwork, check out their website!
University of Toronto Saturday program
“We are a University of Toronto nonprofit community outreach program that offers free tutoring and mentorship to high school students, matching them with mentors who are U of T students, trainees, or alumni. We also host workshops on scientific topics, mental health awareness, career explorations, etc. to enrich student experience. Please see below for details.
Format and duration: Our program will run in-person on Saturdays from January – April 2024 for a total of 10 sessions. We outline the dates and schedules in the attached Information Sheet, in which you can also find additional details about our program.”
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Together we recognize the legacy of Canada’s residential school system and continue to learn the many truths of these institutions. During Truth and Reconciliation Week, September 25 to September 30, we encourage everyone to participate in events offered by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Orange Shirt Day, established in 2013 by Phyllis Webstad, recognizes the legacy of the Residential Schools System for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit families and communities. By wearing orange, we acknowledge the truths of Residential Schools in Canada, we honour Survivors, and we remember the thousands of children who died, many of them buried in unmarked graves.
This year, TDSB will honour Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 29th.
Dual Credits
The Dual Credit program is an awesome opportunity to take a college course and get a credit for it while earning a high school credit at the same time. There are still spaces in the fall schedule, with exciting courses including everything from Baking to Welding to Video Games to Forensic Psychology and much much more! Here’s the list. Spaces fill up fast, so if you’re interested, talk to Rachel about it.
Message from the TDSB on planned demonstrations this week
Every day, staff across TDSB support student achievement and well-being, and work hard to create inclusive spaces where every student feels valued, seen and empowered.
As you may be aware, there are demonstrations scheduled to take place in our city this week which, in some past cases, have fostered inflammatory, transphobic, and hateful behaviours against members of 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Ahead of these planned demonstrations, we want to make it unequivocally clear that TDSB stands with our trans, Two-Spirit and non-binary students, staff and families, and we support everyone’s human rights and expression of gender.
Harassment, discrimination and hate have no place in TDSB. In our schools, we do not tell students who they should be, but welcome them as they are. We do this by focusing on their academic learning and fostering feelings of belonging as expected in the Ontario curriculum and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
“The Ontario Human Rights Code (Code) protects everyone from discrimination and harassment based on numerous grounds, including disability, gender identity and expression, race, and religion. In schools, following the Code means that every student has the right to a learning environment free from discrimination, harassment, or other expressions of hatred — an environment where everyone feels safe to learn, thrive, and be themselves”. – (OHRC, Statement on Anti-Hate, June 2023).
We know that news of the planned demonstrations is upsetting, and students, staff and families may require additional support. TDSB’s social work department is ready to support where needed. Students and/or families should reach out to their school Principal or another staff member at their school to speak with someone about the planned demonstrations, and/or the impact of transphobia and homophobia more broadly. Staff should speak with their principal/manager or reach out directly to the Board’s Employee and Family Assistance Program.
You can read more about the work we’re doing and the actions we’re taking to interrupt and confront discrimination and hate in our schools and workplaces in TDSB’s Student Learning Strategy for Combatting Hate and Racism and Update on TDSB’s Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Strategy
In support of 2SLGBTQ+ communities, TDSB will be raising the Pride flag at the TDSB Education Centre and administrative sites today and for the remainder of the week.
Sincerely,
Colleen Russell-Rawlins
Director of Education
Audley Salmon
Associate Director
Leola Pon
Associate Director
Louise Sirisko
Associate Director
Stacey Zucker
Associate Director