Money for Haiti spurs social action in schools from Toronto

 

Louise Brown ,

Education Reporter

 

$1.25 million drive launches 

new social action focus for Toronto public schools. 

Students gathered pennies for Port-au-Prince and paid for the right to wear a ball cap to school. They made and sold Haiti ribbons and bracelets, and played basketball and bingo for charity.

Coin by coin, Canada’s largest school board has raised $625,000 for Haiti relief - which becomes $1.25 million with Ottawa’s matching funds.

The drive marks the start of a sharp new focus on social justice across the Toronto District School Board, which will require every school to undertake two projects each year: one global and one local.

 

“It’s not just about bake sales and raising money for Haiti or the tsunami; it’s also to help children gain a better understanding of the world so they become global citizens,” said superintendent Jeff Hainbuch, who helped write the new Social Justice Action Plan spearheaded by director of education Chris Spence. 

“We want them to understand the geopolitical reasons why Haiti is in greater need than Chile after an earthquake – but also to understand the needs of services like the Red Door Shelter right in their city.” 

Many schools have strong social justice traditions, but Spence said the new board-wide policy will make sure “every student has the ability to contribute to social change; we want to create a

better city and country for all of us to live in.”

 

To help schools think of projects that promote social justice, the board will hold a special fair every year to connect non-profit agencies with students and teachers. New social justice “summer academies” will help struggling Grade 9 students learn the basics of both literacy and social action.

Too, the board will hold at least two full-day events each year that promote awareness of social justice, such as Free the Children’s “Me to We” day that promotes awareness through speakers and presentations.

At York Memorial Collegiate, students raised more than $4,000 through the sale of various ethnic foods served up by students of Vietnamese, Muslim and West Indian heritage. They also will donate a portion of the ticket sales to Haiti this week for a school play called The Mirror.

“They’re great kids who don’t always come from affluent families,” said principal Suzana Greenaway. “But they have big hearts.”