Step Up and Lead

Working with a group of self contained intensive behaviour students (5 students), the classroom teacher and I will guide the students through various monthly social justice initiatives in which the students will design the school-wide campaign (for 290) and how to bring attention to the issues (ex. NO H8 campaign). These students often feel isolated from the rest of the school and are not seen as leaders - we want to change that!

Update (January 31, 2012)

Dec 2010 – Purchased a second-hand keyboard and stand for students to create their own songs, raps, and to practice skills from music class. Students created own raps for the announcements they made promoting each social justice theme day. Students were also creating their own chants and songs for the Gulu Walk (before event was cancelled).

The plan originally developed was to hold three social justice theme days leading up to the Gulu walk in April, as a way to promote ways to make a positive change in the community. The beginning of our plan went smoothly and the school community was very excited, until the Gulu walk was cancelled a few weeks before the event was scheduled to take place (the organizers cancelled the event due to the positive changes taking place in the region and they didn’t want the walk to send the wrong message). The boys in the class decided to change their efforts and continue to focus on monthly social justice causes.

Update (January 31, 2012)

Jan - Martin Luther King Day – TDSB
Students traveled by TTC to take part in Martin Luther King day and studied how MLK led non-violent social justice movements to bring greater equality. This was the springboard for the work they would do at the school and how they would choose the areas of focus.


Day of Silence
Over 80% of students signed-up to take part in the day of silence, to honour those children around the world who don’t have a voice (where no one may be looking out for their best interests). Teachers had a list of all students participating and would check off successful “silent” periods for students. All students who participated successfully had their names put in a raffle, with one gr 7 and one gr 8 winner selected (won a gift card).

Update (January 31, 2012)

Feb - Valentine’s Day Food Drive
Students were encouraged to show their compassion by bringing in food for the Valentine’s Day food drive. Valentine’s dance tickets were $2 and discounted to $1.50 for one item or $1 for two items. For each item brought in, students had their names put in a draw for a gift card (one gr 7 and one gr 8 winner). The food drive was very successful, with over 600 non-perishable food items collected and donated to the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

Update (January 31, 2012)

March – Pink Shirt Day
Pink Shirt day is a popular event in TDSB schools to focus on bullying and ways to stop it from happening. At Tecumseh the boys promoted it at as way to stop all forms of verbal, physical and cyber bullying. All students who participated by wearing pink for the day had their names put in a draw for a gift card (one gr 7 and one gr 8 winner).

Bullying is often a problem in middle schools, so Pink Day was the launch to a month long focus. Each homeroom class uses “shooting stars” (a point system award by each teacher to the class for overall performance each period), and the focus for the month was anti-bullying. The classes lost points if there were any put-downs, physical contact, etc. The class that had the most points at the end of the month was given freezies.

Update (January 31, 2012)

April – Old Battery Collection
After a simple comment was made about batteries not being allowed to go in the garbage (while changing the batteries in the tv remote), the boys thought that this could be the next school-wide focus. They thought everyone had old batteries lying around the house. Each class collected batteries for about 3 weeks (ending on Earth/Green Shirt Day). Students were encouraged to speak with family and friends to collect their batteries as well. Each week, those students who brought in batteries had their names put in a draw for a gift card (gr 7 and gr 8 names were in the same draw). The battery drive was so successful we collected over 800 batteries and took them to Home Depot to be safely recycled. The class that collected the most batteries also received freezies.

Update (January 31, 2012)

April - Green Shirt Day – Schoolyard clean up
The boys created Green Shirt Day as a way to promote Earth Day. We were already doing a schoolyard clean up, so we added the green theme to get students excited about helping the environment. The classes did a great job of cleaning the schoolyard and neighboring community, and making it a safer place for kids to play. The class that was deemed the winner (most green shirt and clean-up participation) was awarded with freezies. And individual winners name’s drawn for a gift card (one gr 7 and one gr 8).

Update (January 31, 2012)

May – Toy Collection
The toy collection was next. Students were encouraged to bring in their gently used toys and games. This initiative ran for 3 weeks, allowing students to collect donations from friends and family. Each week, those students who brought in toys/games had their names put in a draw for a gift card (gr 7 and gr 8 names were in the same draw). In all, over 600 toys and games were collected. Toys/games were sorted (some were discarded for safety reasons), and then donated to the local Goodwill and Value Village. The class that collected the most toys/games also received freezies.

Update (January 31, 2012)

June – Book Donations
As a natural next step, the last social justice theme day was a book collection. Books, magazines and comics were collected for any age group. Students were encouraged to work with their younger/older brother/sisters to clear out any old books. All materials were sorted into piles: discard for the materials that were too worn, for donation to Value Village, to be added to classroom library bins and to be donated to a local Boys & Girls Club (before/after school program). Over 400 books were collected, making our last theme day a great success. Each of the 3 weeks we collect books, those students who brought in reading material had their names put in a draw for a gift card (gr 7 and gr 8 names were in the same draw). The class that collected the most books also received freezies.

Update (January 31, 2012)

Looking back on our project I remember about all the fun we had and how passionate the boys were - but I also remember a lot of the problems we had. The boys had a many personal stumbles along the way (causing absences from school), many of the photos taken by students or teachers could not be used (as media release forms had not been signed) and our biggest challenge was the cancellation of the GULU walk, which was to be our grand finale!

In all, the students (and teachers) really became involved in the school culture and many grade 8 students this year have joined student council to ensure some of the same theme days continue this year. For an inner city school, our students really saw the value of helping others and we are looking for ways for all students to become more involved in helping their communities.