As a part of our ongoing Vital Youth series of monthly sports and recreation events, we took it outdoors with the 1LoveTO Skate Party at the Harbourfront Centre. On Saturday, December 21st we filled up a bus and hit the ice. It was an incredible evening, and a great way to kick off the holiday break. For those who missed, check out the amazing video. Believe me, you WANT to go skating with us.
Presila Mason is a young African Canadian woman with lots of ambition and the will to do better. She grew up in the Jane – Finch community and knows how the negative stereo types of the community can be internalized by youth usually leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Presila remembers what she was like prior to her interaction with SBL of which she believed that she had to be rowdy and loud. However, today Presila is proud to say that she has matured tremendously from a person who had a don’t care attitude, to a young woman who wants to be a dedicated mentor for the SBL organization with the intention of giving back to her community. Presila feels SBL is invaluable to the community as the organization promotes a friendly but impactful space, which helps Jane-Finch youth develop an interest to be mentors for their community. After admitting that being around SBL staff has made her eager to get involved and serve young people.
As Presila has visions of one day becoming a prestigious lawyer, she encourages her peers to be and do better with their current situation. Finally, Presila highlights how SBL has helped her become more approachable, open minded, and willing to learn something new, while stepping out of her comfort zone. SBL commends her independent attitude and wishes nothing but the best for her, GO Presila!
The Helping Neighbourhoods Implement Change (HNIC) held the glamorous Ball Masquerade Dinner on November 22nd that was kept at Oakdale Golf Country Club. The gathering was a semi-formal event that brought together some of Toronto’s unique talents from well – known personalities like Francis Atta author /spoken word artist, Kofi Frempong Afro-art- producer and the illustrious Latoya Forever up and coming Youtube reality star. The purpose of the event was to aid the HNIC initiative, raise funds and keep rolling out some of their innovative programming. Chris Blackwood, Rayon Brown and Harpret Gill are the dedicated members of the HNIC group who not only ensured the event was a reality but continually spear head programming for youth in the community.
Success beyond Limits commends and supports HNIC’s drive to do hard-work that brings our young people together in positive ways as this type of work thrives off collaboration and bringing communities together. HNIC is doing great things and should continue to be an example of what it means to collaborate and work with others in the community.
On Wednesday November 5th the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) and Success Beyond Limits youth were awarded the Ontario Association of Art Galleries 2014 Education Award for If We Ruled the World: Creating an Urban Spatial Imaginary, a multidisciplinary art education program.
Mentored and led by spoken word artists, the M.A.D. Poet (aka Melissa A. Dean), visual artist and graphic designer Mark “Kurupt” Stoddart and emerging filmmaker Chevy X King, the youth engaged in a five-month program where they developed art in the spoken, written and visual form.
If We Ruled the World was a groundbreaking program marking the third year that the AGYU has collaborated with Success Beyond Limits. Through this program, the youth created visual and written artwork that expressed their individual experiences. While the students did a great deal of self-reflection to produce a library of artwork, they collaborated to produce a song entitled “If we ruled the world” where each student illustrated their thoughts on their community, showcasing both it’s beauty and teachings. Students explored their artistic potential while unpacking their ideas of self, their experiences and goals.
Princess is a former Westview student wrapping up her high school journey by upgrading her credits at night school. 2012 was the year Princess was introduced to Success Beyond Limits by a friend who had been a part of the family for quite some time. After claims of her personal struggles with attitude, Princess was empowered to explore aspects of her character that were both negative and positive. Through the organization, Princess was able to work closely with the staff who recognized her raw potential. When asked what she learned through the organization Princess asserted that she had a platform to express her social concerns for community as well as showcase her passion to explore the arts. Princess also revealed that through the mentorship of staff, she was able to come to a more balanced place with her love and respect for herself.
Overall, Princess appreciates the love the staff shows through the roles they play and how they’ve helped her overcome her own personal ignorance. As a young woman who played a key role as a mentor, Princess also acknowledges the evident work experiences gained just by being a part of the organization; transferable skills like public speaking, working with youth and coordinating events were just some of the skills that Princess garnered. As an aspiring Post-Secondary student Princess learnt through SBL that she would like to become an educator following the “Each One Teach One” model. Despite her past challenges Princess is trailblazing a path of leadership for young women to respect and follow which is a quality of hers that is invaluable to the organization. Go Princess!
Dwayne Hydol (also known as Chev-roye) is a young man who has become a well-known face in the Success Beyond Limits youth space and is known for his positive attitude. Dwayne never fails to greet SBL staff in and out of the space and always sets a healthy atmosphere for the younger students to express themselves and grow through his rapidly improving interpersonal skills. Dwayne started out as a mentee in the Success Beyond Limits Summer program in 2008, and came to Westview Centennial S.S. two years later with the intention of improving on his negative interaction with peers and teachers, whom he deemed as “authoritative” and never having his best interests at heart.
Currently, Dwayne has been working towards fulfilling a mentorship role with Success Beyond Limits by teaching youth who have expressed an interest in culinary arts through our cooking program that happens during our after-school program. Dwayne’s intention is to use the experience that is gained with Success Beyond Limits to start his own catering business, which is one of the many aspirations that he has. Dwayne frequently shares his dreams and goals with the Success Beyond Limits family who commends and value his growth as an African-Canadian young person. Success Beyond Limits is open and willing to support Dwayne through his struggles as well as his triumphs. Go Chev-roye!
TDSB Continuing Education is hiring a coop teacher to work with students after school out of Westview, C.W. Jeffrys and and Downsview, allowing them to earn a co-op credit through their leadership involvements serving as their placement. This is a collaborative initiative designed to create new opportunities for students to grow and succeed.
The due date to apply is November 25th at NOON
Please see the posting attached and share through your networks!
For all Emery students who have been a part of SBL in the past, please come out to a meeting on November 25th at lunch. We will be discussing possible programming at Emery by SBL. We would like to hear from you!
We knew that being a recipient of the Toronto Foundation Vital Youth grant this year was going to be extra special because of the theme of the Pan Am and Parapan Games attached to this round funding.
With amazing plans for events every month, our first installment was at Toronto’s Sky Zone for trampoline dodgeball. Our very own budding filmmaker Sariena (she is 15!) made this great video documenting the fun that was had. This video WILL make you want to go play some trampoline dodgeball.