News Articles, More

(All pictures have been removed from the articles because they take up so much memory in each post. To see the pictures use the web address and visit the sites of the newspapers.)

http://www.lfpress.com/2015/03/07/community-donates-minivan-after-first-grader-punished-for-being-late

Community donates minivan after first-grader punished for being late

QMI Agency

Saturday, March 7, 2015 2:51:08 EST PM

The cardboard wall has come down.

Officials at Lincoln Elementary School in Oregon have axed its policy of making students who are tardy eat alone behind a cardboard wall.

The about-face was sparked after a grandmother’s photo of her first grade grandson sitting by himself in the lunchroom was posted on Facebook. Hunter Cmelo had arrived late at the end of last month because his family was having car trouble, The Oregonian reported.

Along with photo, Laura Hoover wrote: "His momma's car sometimes doesn't like to start right up. Sometimes he's a couple minutes late to school. Yesterday, he was 1 minute late and this is what his momma discovered they do to punish him... for something that is out of this baby's control! They make a mockery of him in front of the other students!"

Local radio personality Bill Meyer caught wind of the story and asked a body shop if it could fix the Cmelo’s car. The repairs were more than what the car was worth, so several business donated money to renovate a van which was presented to the family this week.

Lincoln Elementary said the policy was "was never intended to isolate or stigmatize students” and added that “modifications are already being made to the Lincoln tardiness support protocol.”

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2015/02/05/wealth-has-a-big-impact-on-youth-health-study

HEALTH

Wealth has a big impact on youth health: Study

QMI Agency

Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:22:12 EST AM

MONTREAL — Adolescent health has seen vast improvements in the past decade, but those vary widely based on socio-economic differences, a new international study from McGill University says.

Dr. Frank Elgar's team found wealth differences that can affect physical and mental health among youth 11 to 15 years old can also impact education equality and life expectancy.

The researchers analyzed the health data of almost 500,000 teenagers in 34 countries from 2002 to 2010.

Elgar said the research suggests governments need to do more to improve income disparity for the health of their populations.

The results were published in the journal The Lancet.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/how-the-shift-in-school-enrolment-reflects-a-changing-city/article22728555/

How Toronto's shifts in school enrolment reflect a changing city

JOE FRIESEN

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Jan. 30 2015, 6:04 PM EST

Last updated Friday, Jan. 30 2015, 6:39 PM EST

The problem of underpopulated schools in Toronto is the product of decades of slow change in family size and settlement patterns.

In the big picture, families simply aren’t as big as they used to be. As Annie Kidder of People for Education explains it, it has purely to do with the preference for fewer children.

“My mother had five children. I had two. That’s what it’s about,” Ms. Kidder said.

A large chunk of Toronto’s school infrastructure was built in the 1950s and 60s, when there were more than 250,000 elementary students in the system. Today, elementary enrolment is just beginning to pick up again after a decade of decline, but it’s only about 175,000 students.

“The enrolment decline is real,” Ms. Kidder said. “Schools were built at a certain size for a certain number of students and now there are far fewer students.”

Even as primary enrolment starts to slowly grow, enrolment in secondary schools will continue to drop for another decade or so, according to recent Toronto District School Board projections. But there will be a bump in the school-age population as the echo generation, the children of the baby boomers, have kids themselves and send them off to be educated. And then there’s the question of immigration patterns – immigrants are increasingly moving to areas in the 905 region, areas that tend to be able to accommodate larger families.

Facing a budget crunch, the TDSB released a list of 130 underused schools this week – those operating at 65 per cent capacity or less – with the understanding that some would be closing. If the TDSB is forced to sell its properties, it does not want to let go of those that it may need a decade from now when a relatively underpopulated neighbourhood booms again. Examining the population shifts in the areas where these less-populated schools are located gives us a picture of a changing city.

The city’s chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, said predicting which neighbourhood will see an influx of young families is a challenge.

“As neighbourhoods evolve and change and the demographics of neighbourhoods evolve and change – and we know this is cyclical – you’re going to see an ebb and flow with respect to the number of school spaces needed in a given neighbourhood,” Ms. Keesmaat said.

“It’s critical to take a long view. There are schools in this city where 15 years ago the school board was proposing to close those schools, and the neighbourhoods fought to keep them open. And now those very same schools are bursting at the seams because they’re so full.”

Deb Stoch is the mother of two children living in the High Park area. When they moved there, the area was in transition. Older, mainly Polish immigrant families were moving out and young families arrived. For a time, she was told, her postal code had one of the highest birth rates in the city. Her local school, Keele Street P.S., had to add a class when her daughter started in kindergarten. Now, it’s in the process of building a three-storey addition to deal with a population that has continued to burgeon. Nearly every school in the area also has an alternative education program, she said. Meanwhile, schools within a five-minute ride on the TTC are considered underpopulated. She wonders why it wasn’t possible to plan to accommodate some of this growth by spreading the student population to nearby neighbourhoods.

“There is no forethought given to the natural ebb and flow of families in neighbourhoods. Right now all of us have young kids, but what about 15 to 20 years from now?” Ms. Stoch said. “I’m happy for my kids to take the TTC, especially if it means saving somebody else’s school.”

One area where there is a cluster of underpopulated schools is St. Clair west of Dufferin, an area inhabited by older immigrant families. Will it soon boom? The trend of young middle-class buyers sweeping up single-family homes has transformed many neighbourhoods in recent years, from Parkdale to Leslieville to the Junction. The area of the city with the greatest proportional growth in its under-five population is down by the waterfront, in the condo-land that has sprouted south of Queen Street. But will those families stay in the area once their children are of school age?

Ms. Keesmaat added that the lopsided enrolment numbers across the city is an example of why planning is critical.

“The opportunity of building a complete community, where you build a variety of housing types, a variety of building sizes and a variety of amenities that serve people throughout their lifespan, is that it does provide some stability, because you have a variety of demographics living together,” she said.

At the neighbourhood level, growth can be quite uneven. Gerri Gershon is the school trustee for the district that includes Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, where a new school had to be built just to accommodate the massive population of kindergarten kids.

“Our schools are filled to the brim,” Ms. Gershon said. “There is a heavy Muslim population from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and they do have larger families.”

Ms. Gershon, who was a member of the province’s declining enrolment working group that produced a report on the subject in 2009, said that although many seem to jump to the conclusion that declining enrolment can be blamed on parents taking their kids to the private system, that doesn’t seem to be borne out by the data.

The enrolment at Regent Park’s Nelson Mandela Park Public School dropped to 41 per cent of capacity with 331 students in 2014. But in the next five years, the TDSB projects the school will be full, perhaps even slightly overcapacity by 2024.

Principal Jason Kandankery attributed the recent dip in numbers to Regent Park’s revitalization process.

“Now that housing is being rebuilt, we’re seeing an upwards trajectory.”

School closings aren’t new to the community, however, and Mr. Kandankery said sometimes they worked. Part of the Regent Park revitalization plan included closing the Regent Park/Duke of York Public School and consolidating it into the revamped Nelson Mandela Park Public School.

“If you can consolidate resources into one spot, then you can better service students,” Mr. Kandankery said. “In the Regent Park context, the discusson is already happening. Nelson Mandela is not going to close.”

Comments and News Articles, VI

(All pictures have been removed from the articles because they take up so much memory in each post. To see the pictures use the web address and visit the sites of the newspapers.)

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5327831-students-heads-in-a-cloud-and-the-principal-loves-it/

Feb 06, 2015  |  

Students’ heads in a cloud and the principal loves it

Waterloo Region Record                

By Vik Kirsch

GUELPH – It'll soon be a praiseworthy compliment when Centennial Collegiate students are described as having their heads in the cloud.

On Monday through Wednesday in a pilot project, the public high school is outfitting its 300 Grade 9 students with basic Chromebook laptops designed for "cloud computing."

This will allow them to access online Google Chrome resources like word processing, graphing and presentation, work on projects together and store the results for easy access from virtually anywhere.

Teachers will be able to monitor and assess student progress remotely.

"It's about public education and universal access to technology," principal Scot Bishop said Friday, his voice reflecting his excitement at the school becoming a local leader.

Costs are modest and will be borne by the school and Upper Grand District School Board, which is embracing the potential of cloud computing, he noted.

The initiative also reflects a saving from a declining need for physical resources such as books because of the low cost of alternative cloud computing.

Bishop said embracing the technology dovetails perfectly with the school's drive to boost student learning and engagement.

While the stripped-down Chromebooks are essentially basic netbooks, Bishop said they're still powerful resources because cloud computing allows them to tap secure online programs and resources — so they essentially function like powerful, more sophisticated computers.

He saw the potential of the technology first-hand last year when a daughter attending John F. Ross Collegiate worked at a cottage on a school project together with two other girls, even though one was visiting Florida at the time.

A teacher at another location, in Guelph, provided advice and guidance to help move the project forward. "There's real-time interaction." And all they needed was literally at their fingertips.

Upper Grand supports cloud computing through a secure, controlled-access wireless initiative called Bring Your Own Device and digital resources worked into lesson plans.

It takes advantage of Google applications intended for the education setting.

"They've carved out a section of the cloud for us," Bishop said of his school board.

Examples of what students could work on? The principal cited research projects, book reviews and presentations.

"They're very rich resources."

Students will be assigned laptops they can take home for out-of-classroom learning and work at their leisure, as well as keeping them over the summer months to do more of the same.

Over the secure cloud, they'll be able to email each other, safe in the knowledge unauthorized individuals won't be able to breach that convenient and easy access, he added.

News services

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/poor-air-quality-in-toronto-schools-could-impair-learning-environment-1.2219342

Poor air quality in Toronto schools could impair learning environment

Jesse Tahirali, CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Tuesday, February 3, 2015 6:14PM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, February 3, 2015 6:21PM EST

Many Toronto classrooms have elevated carbon dioxide levels, according to Toronto District School Board documents obtained by CTV News.
Experts generally recommend avoiding indoor CO2 concentrations above 1000 parts per million, with one study even showing drops in certain cognitive abilities at that threshold.
But data shows that more than 40 per cent of schools tested in Toronto have registered above that ceiling within the past five years.

Reg Ayre, a manager at Toronto Public Health, said the ideal situation for a classroom would be at most between 800 and 1000 PPM. He said levels creeping up past that mark won’t cause any health problems, but that people often begin complaining about air quality in a room with that much CO2.
“You have to have very high levels of carbon dioxide to initiate some kind of change in the body,” Ayre said. “Carbon dioxide is really important, though, in monitoring the quality of the indoor air because it gives you a sense of the amount of fresh air that’s introduced into a classroom.”
Robert Whiting, a senior project manager with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, said while carbon dioxide on its own isn’t harmful, it often acts as an indicator for other, nastier pollutants in the air.
“Carbon dioxide never comes by itself,” Whiting said. “If you hit a value above 1000 (PPM), it means you really need to do something to ventilate the area better.”

The main cause of carbon dioxide build-up indoors is breathing – the molecule is emitted as a by-product of respiration, and when large groups spend time in close quarters, the air begins to fill with CO2.
Normal levels for fresh, outdoor air range between 300 to 400 PPM, and most organizations say about twice as much CO2 should be expected in indoor environments. Stale, stuffy air could be an indication of high levels of carbon dioxide and other molecules not found naturally in air, and should be tested for problems, Whiting said.
According to nearly 300 pages obtained through a freedom of information request, more than 100 of the TDSB’s 591 schools have had an air quality test at least once since 2010. Forty-six of those schools had at least one classroom measure above 1000 PPM, with several of the schools measuring upwards of 2000 PPM, and as high as 2650 PPM in one instance.
After being visited by a technician, about one quarter of these schools were repaired and retested, with most of the schools falling back to an acceptable level when looked at again.
Still, many schools eclipsed the 1000 PPM mark without any follow-up testing. And readings are only ever taken when official complaints are made to the school board, despite teachers’ federations privately hearing complaints for years.
“We hear regularly from teachers in the classroom and in schools that the air is bad, that it’s dirty, that it gives them headaches and makes them tired,” said Michael Platt, the executive officer of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. “It’s a chronic problem.”
Platt said he was “quite shocked” at how high some of the CO2 readings were in Toronto schools.
“It’s not acceptable for my members that work there,” he said. “And it’s certainly not acceptable for the students, the children that are growing and developing, to have to sit there for hours on hours every day.”

A problem for students in particular
On top of creating an uncomfortable atmosphere and acting as an indicator for other pollutants, carbon dioxide by itself might even affect students’ ability to learn.
Mark Mendell, a California-based researcher who has published several papers on indoor air quality and ventilation, said there’s a large body of evidence linking high CO2 levels to illness and absence, as well as reduced work performance.
He said parents should pay more attention to the way air quality might be affecting their children’s education.
“I think people should want their schools to be better ventilated because of the evidence that low ventilation rate is associated with adverse outcomes,” the former Berkeley Lab scientist said.
In one paper, Mendell’s team measured a significant drop in decision-making ability at 2500 PPM, with effects noticeable at as low as 1000 PPM.

Though Mendell said his study should be replicated before drawing any conclusions from it, he said his team was surprised to see carbon dioxide alone having a measurable effect on people’s performance.
“It would be shocking to think that levels of carbon dioxide that you would sometimes get in buildings would lead to such a decrement in abilities.”

Not a problem, TDSB says
The school board reiterated that none of the carbon dioxide levels were at all unsafe to breathe.
“To be clear, there is no school or site in the entire Toronto District School Board that has unhealthy or unsafe air,” Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the board, said.
Bird said the CO2 readings were often indicative of a blocked vent or another minor problem with ventilation systems, which were easily fixed.
“We rely upon our staff and students to let us know if they have issues with stagnant air or something off in a classroom,” Bird said, noting that single measurements weren’t indicative of an ongoing problem.
“It doesn’t necessarily reflect constant levels, but one point in time when that was measured and used to correct the problem.”
Others, though, consider poor indoor ventilation to be an ongoing problem, especially inside aging school buildings.
Whiting said many older schools were built before current ventilation standards existed, and that some schools are shut down due to the restrictive costs of bringing the building up to code.
And Mendell, who measured constant readings in California schools in a separate study, said a lack of school funding and a push towards energy conservation is causing air quality in schools to trend downwards.
“It definitely does not get enough attention,” Mendell said. “And so this kind of issue often gets ignored completely because it’s not convenient to pay attention to it.”
With a report from CTV Toronto's Naomi Parness

News Articles, V

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/07/ontarios-children-are-dying-of-neglect

EDITORIAL

Ontario’s children are dying of neglect 

FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, MARCH 07, 2015 07:00 PM EST

What is the point of having inquest after inquest into the deaths of beaten, abused, starved and neglected children in Ontario if their recommendations are going to be ignored and forgotten?

It’s happening again with the recommendations of the inquest into the death of five-year-old Jeffrey Baldwin.

Jeffrey died horribly of septic shock in 2002, weighing only 21 pounds, after suffering unimaginable abuse from his maternal grandparents, right under the noses of children’s aid society workers.

Workers who literally handed him over to his tormentors and then did nothing to protect him.

Had they done a background check on the grandparents — who were eventually convicted of second-degree murder — they would have known they were unfit to parent him, both having been convicted of crimes against children themselves.

Before Jeffrey Baldwin there was Randall Dooley, barely seven years old, and Jordan Heikamp, five weeks old, and after him Katelynn Angel Sampson, seven.

All young lives cut short by terrible neglect, abuse or a combination of the two, as indicated by evidence presented before horrified jurors at inquests and criminal trials.

Something is clearly broken in Ontario’s system of children’s aid societies and yet there appears to be no sense of urgency to fix it.

As Irwin Elman, Ontario’s Children and Youth Advocate noted last week, 81of the 103 recommendations made by the Baldwin inquest a year ago — after his grandparents had finally used up all the legal appeals available to them — haven’t been enacted.

Two organizations cited by the jury haven’t even reported back on the recommendations that applied to them.

A major recommendation calling for a computerized information-sharing system among children’s aid societies won’t be completed until 2020.

Even if it is, it will be 18 years after Jeffrey Baldwin’s death, six years after the jury made the recommendation.

Children and Youth Services Minister Tracy MacCharles says the ministry is in the process of responding to 46 of the jury recommendations

But the ministry didn’t even seek legal standing at Jeffrey’s inquest, even though 49 of the jury recommendations ended up applying to it, since it is ultimately responsible for child protection in Ontario.

And it’s not just the current Liberal government.

Ontario governments of all political stripes have been falling down on the job for decades.

Elman says he plans to raise these issues again once the inquest into Katelynn Angel Sampson gets underway.

Katelynn died in 2008 from septic shock after repeated beatings and neglect by her legal guardians, both of whom pled guilty to second-degree murder in 2012.

Two children’s aid societies involved in that case ended up blaming each other for dropping the ball.

No doubt the inquest into Katelynn’s death will produce many more recommendations, which will again be ignored.

Until someone in government shows some leadership in this crisis and starts taking it seriously. 

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/life/video-socks-warm-the-heart

Video: Socks Warm The Heart

Rick Dawes
Feb 12, 2015 - 8:26 PM EST
Last Updated: Feb 12, 2015 - 8:28 PM EST

Sarah Lewis hands out socks and gloves at Street Help in Windsor on February 12, 2015. In its eighth year Lewis’ campaign ‘Socks Warm Your Heart’ provided more than 500 pairs of socks and a cash donation to help the homeless.

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/fort-malden-offers-family-day-day-camp

Fort Malden offers Family Day day camp

Julie Kotsis
Feb 12, 2015 - 10:23 PM EST
Last Updated: Feb 12, 2015 - 10:23 PM EST

Learn first-hand what it was like to be a soldier 200 years ago through Fort Malden National Historic Site’s Soldier for a Day program.
The day camp is being offered by Parks Canada on Monday’s Family Day holiday for children ages six to 12 at the Amherstburg fort.
Kids will get to dress up as soldiers in War of 1812 costumes, participate in hands-on activities in the cookhouse and barracks and learn about garrison life. There will also be a scavenger hunt.
Fort Amherstburg was built in 1796 near the mouth of the Detroit River as the headquarters for British forces in southwestern Upper Canada during the War of 1812.
Following the war, Fort Malden was erected and then reinforced in 1838-1840 after it served again as a centre for the British defence during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838.
The Soldier for a Day camp runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $24.50 and participants are asked to bring a picnic-style lunch.
Advance registration is required. Call 519-736-5416.

News Articles, IV

http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/2015/03/20/4-h-members-speak-up

4-H members speak up

Friday, March 20, 2015 4:24:12 CDT PM

The Central Plains Area 4-H Council was pleased to host its 4-H communications event on Saturday, March 14, at the MacGregor Collegiate. Each 4-H club in the Central Plains area was invited to send winners from their club competitions to participate in this afternoon event. There were 22 participants in total, representing 8 clubs.

All members participated in a combination of cloverbud, junior, intermediate and senior-age groups in speech and visual presentation categories. The winner of each junior, intermediate and senior category will now move on to compete at the Provincial Communications Extravaganza, taking place in Brandon on April 18.

Through participating in public speaking and visual presentations, members actively learn how to communicate ideas and information with confidence. Skills and comfort levels vary among individuals, but with guidance and practise, members progress in both ability and comfort throughout their time with 4-H.

A speech is used to communicate an idea and give information to an audience, using voice, body language and speech content. All members are required to stay within their category time ranges.

Marissa Gervais, from the Treherne Home Ec. Club, placed first in Cloverbud Speech with her topic, “My Extra Special Cousin.” In the Junior Public Speaking category, Jessica Ramachandran from the Gainsborough Combined Club, placed first with her title, “My Team,” while Colton Wood of the Oakville Beef Club, placed second with his speech, “Farming Simulator.”

Sidney Beef member Adrienne Driedger and Nikki Anderson, from the Gladstone 4-H Handiworkers, took first and second place in the Intermediate Public Speaking category with their respective topics, “Bus Trip to Mexico” and “True Guardian Angels.” Senior member Parker Guy, from the Sidney Beef Club, placed first with his speech, “My First Year of Coaching.” He was followed by second place entry Brendan Doan, from the Gainsborough Combined 4-H Club, who spoke on “How 4-H Has Affected My Life.”

The purpose of the visual presentation categories is to communicate with an audience through the use of speech and visual aids. Gladstone Handiworkers member Darren Carruthers and Erik Olson of the MacGregor club took first and second-place honours in the Junior One Person Visual category, with their presentations, “Walt Disney World” and “Succulents,” respectively. Nikki Anderson, from the Gladstone Home Ec. Club, took home first place honours in the Intermediate One Person Visual category with her presentation “My Second Home.”

In the Two Person Visual category, junior level, St. Claude Home Ec. Club’s Sydney Kiefer Starling and Abby Parvais placed first with their presentation on “Are We There Yet?”

Austin Blazing Saddles members Chloe Anderson and Ryleigh Anderson placed first in the Intermediate Two Person visual category with their presentation “Saddles” and Vanessa and Tyler Theroux of the St. Claude Home Ec. Club placed first in Creative Expressions with their “4-H Puppet Show.”

Special thanks to the volunteer judges – Krystal Nicholls, Amy Sissons, Leona Timmerman, Marie Delf, Kelsey McLennan, and Chris Kitchen – who provided comments on what was well done, tips to consider and encouragement to continue developing 4-H public speaking and presentation skills.

The Central Plains Area 4-H Council congratulates all members who participated in this year’s competition, and thanks to all of the volunteers who made this event possible. We also wish the best of luck to the members representing the Central Plains area at the Provincial Communications Extravaganza. 


When in doubt, hug a tree 

By Emily Mountney-Lessard, The Intelligencer

Monday, March 9, 2015 6:27:05 EDT PM

Lost in the woods? Hug a tree and make some noise.

Quinte West OPP Const. Maggie McCaughen and Emergency Response Team member Const. Matt Raycroft shared those simple tips to Grade 2 students at Bayside Public School Monday afternoon.

The pair have been, for the past three years, visiting local Grade 2 classes sharing the Hug-A-Tree survival program.

The Hug-a-Tree program is a search and rescue initiative that helps lost children survive in the woods. This program originated in San Diego, California, after a nine-year-old boy became lost and died in the wilderness.

The Hug-A-Tree program teaches children invaluable outdoor survival lessons including to always tell an adult where you they are going. Always carry an emergency shelter – a simple garbage bag can be very helpful – and whistle on picnics, hikes and camping trips. Finally, once you know you’re lost, stay where you are and “hug-a-tree.”

The officers told the students the most important thing they can do, once they realize they are lost, is to stay still.

“One of the main things, if you do get lost, you have to remember you are not in trouble, your parents aren’t going to be mad. They’re just going to be happy to get you home,” he told the students. “Of course the most important thing is to remember to stay still.”

Raycroft said it’s important to teach the students, at a young age, simple tips to stay safe if they get lost as GPS and cellphones aren’t always reliable.

A safety whistle, however, makes a loud, distinctive noise and doesn’t use a lot of a person’s energy. Taking note of landmarks along the way can help people realize where they are.

Although ERT members can be called for a variety of emergencies, Raycroft said one of the most important, and most rewarding, jobs is search and rescue.

In the summer of 2013, Raycroft was one of the officers who assisted in the search for two girls who went missing in Bon Echo Provincial Park.

“They kept walking, and walking, and walking,” he said. “They were about four or five kilometres from where they should have been. We eventually found them because we won’t stop looking, especially when it’s a little person.”

He said the girls were found almost three full days after they were reported missing.

“Last fall we had another two little girls north of Bancroft. They were playing a game of man hunt, they lost track of time, didn’t have a landmark, they didn’t stay still and they kept walking because they thought they could find a way out,” he said. “They spent a whole night, morning and afternoon in the forest.”

In a year, he says, hundreds of search and rescue missions are undertaken by OPP officers.

“This program is really important and we want to make sure every little boy and girl gets some information about what to do if they become lost.”

emily.mountney@sunmedia.ca

Students' presentation challenges stereotypes

By Michael Lea, Kingston Whig-Standard

Friday, March 6, 2015 7:29:26 EST PM

                                                                                                                                                                                                       KINGSTON — Andy O'Neil hopes all his hard work will make a difference.

Andy, a Grade 7 student at Lancaster Drive Public School, along with about 100 of the intermediate students, spent more than a month creating an ambitious multimedia presentation that detailed the effects of stereotyping and bullying on people and called for its elimination both from schools and society.

"It was a really fun project," he said. "It turned out a really cool-looking performance."

O'Neil felt the way the subjects were treated in the presentation and the depth to which the research went could end up changing people's attitudes.

"I think it definitely opens people's minds more and spreads more awareness about it. We all know what it is, but this brings out everything about stereotypes and discrimination."

The entire theme of the presentation was challenging stereotypes, explained Catherine Dudley, a Grade 6/7 teacher at the school.

"They are very much all about fairness at this age, and I think the issue is very important to them."

It is a multi-faceted performance in every sense of the word.

A long banquet table contained almost 30 individual placemats dedicated to a specific figure from present day or history who championed social justice, equality and human rights. At each place setting was a bowl and cup decorated to honour their achievements. The names included John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jackie Robinson.

"It is all meant to symbolize gender equality, sexual identity, racial equality," Dudley said. "It is really wide-reaching."

Posters covered the gym walls, and a soundscape project, produced by artist-in-residence Gary Rasberry, was shown on two large screens. Students talked about prejudice, bullying and stereotyping and discussed how it affects them and how it should be stopped.

Dancers emerged to illustrate the concepts in movement.

The project stemmed from the regular "collaborative inquiry" the teachers take on each year, Dudley said.

"Last year we focused on inclusion, but this year we said we need to dig a little bit deeper into what are some of the reasons that kids are feeling excluded and what are some the things that are being said out of earshot of adults that are making kids feel like they can't be themselves and be respected for who they are?"

The students started out doing individual projects on stereotypes, but then it was decided to share them with the rest of the school, as well as the community.

When it expanded into a multimedia presentation, the students had the choice of what medium they could work in and how they would present their research.

"We are very proud of them because we have 100 students and, when you experience the performance, it is like all of the student voices and artistic contributions are in there in some way."

Dudley said presentations like this are important, since schools in Ontario are becoming more and more diverse.

"We also know the student outcome and achievement is based on them feeling a sense of belonging and feeling safe and feeling they can take risks with their learning," she said.

Children who are at the receiving end of bullying or stereotyping or racism go home worried about what has happened to them instead of thinking about what they are learning, she said.

Presentations like the one they just finished encourage other children to stand up and call out the bullies and those who make improper remarks.

"What if one of those kids that has that social power and influence says, 'That's not OK,' (and) calls them out on that. We can't have silent bystanders because they need to stand up for each other."

Racism and stereotyping are complex issues for young students to tackle, Dudley said, but surveys are showing they are mature enough to handle them.

"Now we feel they have an in-depth understanding of all of these issues. We have lots of conversations with kids ... it's not just about adults."

Dudley said the power is in the hands of the students and she believes things are changing, thanks to the education they now receive.

"I think it has had an impact," she said. "It's not something you can just change like that."

Students of the same age decades ago wouldn't have been exposed to words such as racism or stereotyping, but times are changing, she said.

Social media and the music industry are filled with the worst of examples for young people.

"We have kids saying some very harsh words and we don't even know if they know what they mean. We can't control everything that happens in the whole world, but we can make sure that our school is a safe space and that people are free to express themselves."

michael.lea@sunmedia.ca