successBL

March break this year was very successful on many levels. A lot of great work has been coming out of the Jane and Finch community. Sabrina ‘Butterfly’ GoPaul along with others have held a week long conference from March 16-20 at Yorkgate mall Community Engagement Centre (CEC).

This conference continued the conversation of urban planning in the community and how it relates to residents lived experience i.e Line 9, TTC, gentrification etc. SBL has forwarded two names to participate in the project. Matthew Alay and Natonia Laing were able to contribute, share their thoughts, and learn from others involved. Below is art work from Matthew who has never painted before. During the week, individuals were allowed to paint as part of the workshop process. Matthew felt he could think more clearly after finishing a painting and it greatly helped his input on daily topics that week.

On Wednesday, March 25, as a partner with the TDSB and the Hip Hop STEMposium, we were afforded the opportunity to host Elliot Gann and his team from Today’s Future Sound from Oakland, California who ran a 2 hour beat-making workshop with us.

Over the years we have worked with countless facilitators, but few operated on the level of Elliot Gann and his team.

The students we engaged for the workshop have been students that are always in our space, but rarely interested in any of the programming.  What happened in those two and a half hours was exceptional. The ten students that were a part of the workshop were so immersed and engaged that when our time was up they attempted to negotiate an extension or a second workshop this week. In fact, this negotiation began in the first 20 minutes of the workshop, as it was immediately evident that this experience was on another level. From experience, the youth we had in the space would have been a challenge for anyone who is new to us, as they were definitely feeling him out.  His knowledge of the music and ability to turn their challenges into engagement was remarkable.

“If you are going to teach us how to make beats, we want to see what you’ve done” was one of the challenges presented, and their team quickly got the students respect by sharing their produced work. By the end of the workshop, anyone just walking by would think that this is a group that has been working together for months based on the level of comfort in the room.

A part of what made the experience so powerful was that the students had a lot of room to incorporate their ideas, and really owned the music they were creating.  The facilitators were amazing at supporting the students in fleshing out the type of beat they were looking for even when given vague suggestions.  That could be attributed to deep listening and their extensive knowledge of the music.

One of the dynamics was that youth came in with assumptions that the workshop would be far less engaging based their past experience of “beat making workshops” – and that got blown out of the water.  Despite the initial cynicism, the environment was very supportive and conducive for everyone to learn and produce something they could call their own and walk home with.

By the end of the session, everyone created a beat that they were truly proud of, and the highlight was seeing everyone feeling each beat and showing so much love to their peers.

The true testament to the value of this experience, was in the words of Olando who made it clear that he wants to bump the music he made on his phone because it’s not just a beat he made for the workshop, but something he’d like to hear again on his headphones this time.

The introduction to this approach and the quality of the experience is something we should collaboratively explore on bringing to Toronto.  We have worked with countless organizations that do good work, but not on a level that engages youth that are disinterested in a lot of what’s out there.  This is a model we need to develop here and scale.

Check out the beats they made by clicking the links below:

Westview – Jauvan, Olando (Nino), Sam, Steven – Y’uzieet

Team DMS – Day 3 – Westview

TFS – XD Pro Music – Westview CI

Mohamed Ibrahim is an African Canadian Somali who moved to Toronto about a year and half ago from Calgary to the North west end of the city’s own Jane – Finch. This was where he crossed paths with the Success beyond Limits family through a friend of his who was already an SBL member; invited Mohamed to workout with him through SBL’s after school fitness program where he began attending frequently after-school. Mohamed admits that he initially did not see the immediate benefits of SBL initially. However this changed when he participated in his first 2014 March break Employment and /job readiness program last year getting his chance to interact with SBL staff more, Mohamed came to the conclusion that he could benefit from being around such positive and productive staff, leading to the increasing of his interests in the organization and how he could benefit from it. Since that experience, Mohamed has been a loyal affiliate to SBL, who continues to interact with staff about issues affecting the global community.

Last year he was also connected to the TIFF Next Wave committee through SBL’s vast network of partnerships where he is able to continually grow while increasing his social wealth. As a member of the TIFF Next Wave committee, Mohamed along with eleven other high school students work towards the making of the TIFF Next Wave Festival; a festival geared towards High School students allowing them to immerse themselves with film and their fellow films buffs. This year’s festival was a great success! Mohamed has continued to be present in the space regularly where he enjoys having in depth conversations, tutoring fellow peers, and overall just being someone who is always helpful and willing to support Success Beyond Limits any way he can. Mohamed Ibrahim is also a natural academic who has proven to be a hard worker that is willing to go the extra mile for success as he thrives on venturing new tasks and completing old endeavours.

Challenges around dealing with the negative Westernized perception of Islam are persistent realities that motivate Mohammed to break down barriers created by Western powers as he aspires to attend post-secondary pending in the fall with the hopes of entering Law school after obtaining his Bachelor’s degree. Success beyond Limits respects his ambition to want more for himself and commend his courage to make big dreams.

SBL students and staff got a chance to go snow boarding and skiing in our own city at Earl Bales. This was a first time for many and a second run for some. Those that fell quickly got back up in order to be ready for the bigger hill to come. After the sun went down and the city lights shined bright, we all got a taste of the big hill. Check out the recap video below!

After an incredible night at the 1LOVETO DJ Skate Night at Harbourfront in December, we had an incredible time with a bus full of students.  We thought that it was a one-time event.  Through some online research, some of our mentors found out that Manifesto was doing another DJ Skate Night (featuring DJ Kid Capri) at Harbourfront in February.

So, we filled up a bus, took over the ice, and had what was one of the greatest evenings of SBL togetherness ever.

Thanks to everyone that put it on! This is what happens when we collaborate to ensure what youth bring forward happens!

Success Beyond Limits acknowledges the wealth of the various talents in the Jane and Finch community, as many of our participants in the summer program become leaders in their own right. The Remix Project is dedicated to bringing out the business mind in young artists as part of their mission is to teach their participants how to make monetary gain from their respective crafts. SBL is proud to share with SBLers  that two of our students from the organization have been inducted into The Remix Project 2015!

Aliyah Suvannah-Burey and Sariena Luy who are both loyal affiliates of SBL, are well versed at what they do, as they perform in different artistic worlds. Aliyah, a former mentor of SBL is a spoken word artist, and is one of our facilitators for the Spoken Word program that we have after-school. Sariena, a grade 10 student is an up and coming photographer who is great at capturing the moment with her camera and has documented many of our SBL trips and events. Both Aliyah and Sariena have both been blessed with the opportunity to get involved with Remix as they will be able to invest in their passions, which can be a future source of income. When Aliyah was asked about how she felt about being inducted into the Remix Project she said that she realizes the hard work and dedication it will take to balance her job and studies at York University, but she is excited and is up for the challenge, when accepting the opportunity to be part of the Remix Project!

Aliyah and Sariena have worked hard to improve their skills through eagerly taking on any opportunities Success Beyond Limits brings their way. The SBL family commends the strides that they are making to get involved in the community, while utilizing their passions to inspire others. SBL also commends the empowering work of Remix, as they continue champion entrepreneurship and artistry in Toronto and beyond!

SUPPORT AND CELEBRATE A NEW GENERATION OF SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS

Reverb Jane-Finch is a spoken word poetry event taking place on March 12^th, 6:00 -8:00 pm at York Woods Library and features up and coming poets from Jane-Finch, Regent Park and Malvern. Organized by the Art Gallery of York University in partnership with with Success Beyond Limits, The Malvern Spot and COBA (Collective of Black Artists), Reverb Jane- Finch is the second of three events that showcases the artistic development and growth of emerging performance poets, a number of whom take part in the AGYU’s weekly  Reverb: Rhythms of Poetry program. Led by a team of lead artists including Britta Badour, David Delisca and Jordon Veira, Reverb has engaged emerging spoken word artists from Jane-Finch, Regent Park and Malvern in cultivating an ongoing writing and performance practice. We have also assembled a team of junior artists who collaborate with our lead artists, co-facilitating weekly workshops and teaching youth about the art and performance of spoken word poetry. Our team of junior artists include: Nadia Adow, Zeinab Aidid, Jacob Agustin, Berma, Destiny Henry, Moose and Suviana.

Admission is free. For information please contact Allyson Adley, 416.736.2100 ext. 88608 / aadley@yorku.ca
Support has been provided by a grant from the Honey Family Foundation, the Vital Toronto Fund at the Toronto Foundation and the Toronto Arts Council: Targeted Enhanced Funding. This event is made possible by the Art Gallery of York University and Success Beyond Limits

Rosmun Prescod is an outgoing young lady, who not too long ago graduated from Westview Centennial Secondary School. Rosmun is now a Post-secondary student at Humber College studying social work, where she plans on utilizing her passion and skills to support young people within her community.

Rosmun admits that she was very unsure of her career goals during her high school years. It was not until she was introduced to the  “Promoting Excellence” program staff (prior to the Success Beyond Limits program) that she began thinking about her future. Her experience with the Success Beyond Limits Program provided the resources and support needed to explore various venues.  Her experience within these positive spaces meant that she was able to experience diverse programing and be exposed to a variety of opportunities.

As she thinks back to what made her enrol into a Post-Secondary Program such as social work, it becomes clear that this passion stems back to the years when she was a just a mentee in the SBL program. These experiences ultimately shaped her decision to pursue a career closely tied to community.

Rosmun is currently conducting her Community Engagement Placement (a requirement for her degree at Humber College) with the Success Beyond Limit’s organization, employing her passion for community, formal education and her experiences within the SBL youth space. She has proven to be yet another example of how support through mentorship can positively help development.  The organization recognizes Rosmun’s tremendous personal growth and encourages her to shoot for the stars!

In November, our monthly Toronto Foundation Vital Youth grant meant taking over World Bowl for a night of friendship and fun.  See it captured here – so beautifully – by our resident filmmaker Sariena (15 years young!).