Peacebuilders Making A Difference!

Eastdale CI is fortunate to have an official partnership with Peacebuilders. Here is just one story of the difference Peacebuilders is making:

"On Thursday, April 6^th, Peacebuilders joined Keele Street Junior Public School to introduce Peacebuilding Circles into two classes. While this has happened regularly the past few years, this was the first year that it was decided to bring a student leader along. Josh, a Grade 10 student from Eastdale, joined our two staff in order to co-facilitate Classroom Circles in two classrooms.

The first class was a Grade 3/4 split, which can make for a busy class when there are so many students! The topic for this class was friendship, with a focus on being part of a group. Josh (Eastdale student) led the group in a few icebreakers which were very well received. The funniest moment of the morning was when the students were asked,  “if you could have any superpower, what would it be?” and one student jumped up and said that he would be “Condiment Man” – bringing the power of condiments to hotdogs and burgers everywhere!

The second class posed a bit more of a challenge as it was a Grade 7 class, who all seemed much larger after being with the younger students. This Circle was focused on dealing with conflict and strategies to help us through tough times. At the end of the Circle a few of the students began asking questions of the two Peacebuilders staff and the Eastdale student, looking for strategies for specific examples of bullying and drama that they were experiencing.

It was a great morning, and wonderful to have Josh present and take the lead on much of the morning. He was well spoken, represented Eastdale, Peacebuilders, and the Circle process incredibly well, and did a great job at supporting the other students within the Circle. He was given positive feedback from both teachers in regards to how he chose to respond to the questions, and was thanked by many of the students.

Thank you again for the opportunity to have Josh part of facilitating our Peacebuilding Circles. He is a natural leader and we look forward to engaging him further in taking on a peer mentorship role!"

 And thank you to Erica Lalonde (Peacebuilders, manager) for sharing this story and providing  Josh with this leadership opportunity.

International Day of Pink

The week of April 10th, Eastdale CI celebrated diversity, particularly with respect to Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered, Queer (LGBTQ) members of our community and allies. Daily announcements were made including students sharing stories about inclusion and acceptance of others. On Wednesday, staff and students work pink to show their support and to take a stand against homophobic and transphobic discrimination and bullying.
Pink Shirt Cut-outs created by our Child and Youth Worker, were distributed to students so they could write down something about themselves/something they're proud of (see below). The T-Shirts were then put on a 'clothesline' display in the front foyer(see below). Pink Ribbons were also provided to homeroom classes for students to wear if they forgot to wear pink.

Eastdale's First Catering Job!

On March 28th, Eastdale hosted Learning Centre 4 Beginning Teachers for a day of learning with centrally assigned learning coaches and staff. Thanks to Eastdale hospitality students, Ms. Fineberg (teacher), support staff Ms. Hopper, Ms. Quilty and Ms. Lambrini (food assistant), the beginning teachers were provided with breakfast and lunch all made in the kitchen and served by the hospitality classes. A special mention to our head caretaker, Hughie Gale for his hard work ensuring the school facilities accommodated the 115+ guests.

Parent/Teacher Interviews & Community Agencies@EastdaleCI

Eastdale parents and guardians met with their son/daughter's teachers on Thursday, March 29th from 2:30 to 4 pm., and 5 to 7 pm. As well, several local community agencies came to the school to share their resources with parents and teachers. At 4 pm., Development Services Ontario (DSO) presented various opportunities that are available for our MID students and their parents. Parents / guardians were informed of critical timelines to get their child registered with DSO. Once a student has turned 16 years old parents must contact DSO and various agencies that will allow for their son/daughter to access the supports available to them. The supports range from housing, to a monthly stipend ($) and employment opportunities. A copy of DSO's powerpoint presentation 'Welcome to the DSO Orientation' is available on Eastdale's public website.

Student Speak Up Conference@Eastdale

Students from secondary schools in Learning Centre 4 (LC4) came together for an afternoon to bring their thoughts and ideas around 4 different questions:

1.     What is the role of schools, teachers, parents and community in ensuring that all students have access to exemplary programs?

2.     What knowledge, skills and abilities do secondary students need to acquire for the future in post-secondary education and/or school-to-career opportunities?

3.     How would you design secondary school programs and learning spaces? What barriers would you remove?

4.     What changes could be made to the school calendar, the clock and the timetable to make learning more flexible and engaging for students? Describe the pros and cons of the possible changes.

Each school team shared their findings and strategized how to bring their voices back to their 

respective school communities and to make a difference.

Bullying Awareness Week @ Eastdale CI

Students participated in a week long 'Bully Awareness' week beginning March 6.

On Monday, students completed a bullying awareness survey and read daily announcements to raise awareness. 'Pink heart' post-its were distributed to each homeroom for students to write descriptive thoughts about their emotions/solutions with respect to bullying. The pink hearts were then post in the main display for the week (see photos below). This activity continued for the week as students added their thoughts about bullying, cyber safety and how to avoid bullying and cyberbullying.

An assembly on Tuesday with TPS (Toronto Police Services) from 55 division made a huge impact with students. The assembly was followed up with 'Circle' discussions in each classroom.

At lunch on Friday a 'privacy settings in social media' session was held for students in the library. Thanks to Candace, one of our student teachers from OISE, for educating students on how to personalize their social media settings.