Community Groups: Clubs and Committees
Student Equity Committee
Students from Grades 1-6 were invited to participate in the Student Equity Committee, which aims to make Poplar a more inclusive space for everyone. The students themselves provide ideas for changes, and supporting staff help implement them. Over 30 students from all grades joined!
Members designed buttons to be identified in case someone needs a friend at recess so that the members could be easily identified.
Members led a community Food Drive, wrote announcements for various significant days, partnered with neurodivergent students from our ISP classes at recess, pitched structural design ideas to make our school more accessible, and so much more!
The committee also prepared and hosted the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation Orange Shirt Day assembly and the monthly recognition assembly, which focused on our trait that month: advocacy. This is only the beginning!
Look for the E for Equity!
All United Girls' Club
Students who identify as girls and those questioning their gender in Grades 3-6 were invited to participate in the Girls' Club.
The club was able to sponsor 15 members, who renamed it All United to be more inclusive and sensitive to its members' identities.
Together, each week, the members fostered a brave space for girls and those who were questioning to participate in activities and discussions that promoted healthy body image and self-esteem and to develop bonds of support with other girls.
Week 1: Creating Brave Spaces
Week 2: Loving Myself Makes the World a Better Place
Week 3: The Love Circle
Week 4: Life Is Tough, But So Are You
Week 5: My Hopes and Dreams
Each week, members participated in unique activities, including self-talk activities in the mirror, making bracelets of love and support for each other, journaling, building towers of empowering phrases and statements, and self-portraits. They also discussed various themes using a variety of media texts.
Once the inner work is complete, other genders will be invited to the discussion to work in the community for real change.
Here's to strong women: may we be them, may we raise them!
Community Equity
For years, staff have partnered with local school community members, committing to studying diversity, equity, and inclusion. We gather to respond to various videos and texts, learning and unlearning, making our community more inclusive.
Our Mission
In our Poplar Community, we strive to create an environment that fosters:
- Meaningful Truth & Reconciliation Education
- Inclusivity, Respect, and Kindness
- Critical consciousness and agency among staff and students
- Celebration of diversity
- Making mistakes to promote growth
We are:
- Creating a partnership between home, school, and community
- Challenging everybody to meet their potential
- Providing tools to create safe and brave spaces for all identities
- Engaging in ongoing reflection
- Learning and educating
Some topics discussed include:
- Active Allyship
- Black History Month: reflecting before and after
- Neurodivergence
- Critically looking at Land Acknowledgements
- The Skin We're In by Desmond Cole
- Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
- Schooling the World: The White Man's Burden documentary
- Intent vs Impact
Successful projects include:
- Strawberry Festival sharing proceeds with neighbouring school
- having PFLAG present at the annual Strawberry Festival and having virtual presentations with each class
- a pumpkin fundraiser to help newcomer families in our community
- A coat drive is also available for local families in need.
Staff Equity Committee
Some of our staff committed to enhancing the culture of our school, making it more inclusive so that every student, staff member, and guest felt safe and welcome.
Highlights from the committee over the years include:
- Poplar's equity website was launched
- The Community Equity Committee was established
- Diversity Library with 200+ books for staff/classroom use sorted by social themes/topics
- Days of Significance Board was displayed
- "This is my Story" display where staff shared with students who they are, fostering understanding and humility.
- Books of the Month chosen to ensure whole-school engagement with various social topics and themes
- A gender-neutral washroom for student use was implemented
- New monthly character traits pertinent to our school community were established
- Community anti-Black racism project for Black History Month implemented
- Organized various assemblies and displays around Monthly Character Traits and Heritage Months/Days of Significance
- Sharing of resources with staff all year long
- Morning announcements around Days of Significance
- Students writing a personal extension of the Land Acknowledgements and reciting them over the morning announcements
Steel Band
My collection of pans travel with me from school to school. Here are a few highlights of the steel bands I've led over the years with learners in Grades 4 - 8 from various schools, and at the TDSB's annual Panfest.
See next page for more on the Steel Band!
Whole School Community: Assemblies
National Day for Truth & Reconciliation Assembly
I organized a school assembly for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Community members were invited and came to honour the many Indigenous children who were abused and stripped of their language, spirituality, culture, family support and Indigenous identity at government-run Indian Residential Schools and survived and the thousands more who did not. This assembly included videos and resources created by Indigenous Peoples to amplify their voices and stories and to educate attendees on the truth of Canada's atrocious history. Together, we respond to the Calls to Action to combat racism toward the Indigenous Peoples in Canada and seek justice.
Monthly Recognition Assembly: Advocacy
The Student Equity Committee presented and led this assembly with the help of our neurodivergent friends from the ISP classes. Our Staff Equity Committee decided the monthly character traits to meet the specific needs of our school community. Each month, our Recognition Assemblies are also dedicated to our character trait of the month. It was great to model the inclusion that the committee works hard to promote and replicate!
Monthly Recognition Assembly: Humility
The students in my class worked to present this month's Recognition Assembly which was based on the trait for that month, Humility.
Black History Month Assembly
A colleague and I, along with some student leaders, planned and led this great assembly that featured class performances and presentations that followed the theme of Power and Pride. This assembly showcased the many ways that, throughout history, Black folks have resisted oppression and racism and how, despite it all, they embody a profound sense of JOY in who they are and their multifarious Black identities.
Asian Heritage Month Assembly
In response to several incidents of anti-Asian racism, I coordinated this assembly with a small team of students who identify as Asian. This assembly featured individual student performances, including dances, poetry recitations, and a fashion show! The group also showcased the many contributions to society from Asian peoples and cultures, including ideas in Math, sports, the arts, entertainment, religion and spirituality, and food.
Greater Community : Being a Guest on the Journey
Radical Self-Love and Healing Panel + Community Space for BIPOC Folks
February 2022
Virtual Panel + Workshop
Presented by Curated Leadership
For this workshop, I was invited to be one of three racialized female panellists discussing with other BIPOC folks ways to foster healing through community as a means of self-love after experiences of racism/discrimination and social exclusion in the workplace.
Power to Teach in this Steel Pan-Demic!
January 2021
Virtual Panel + Workshop
Presented by Pan Arts Network & Toronto Arts Council
For this workshop, I was invited to be one of six panellists and the only female panellist, all steel pan/band instructors within the Toronto District School Board, discussing how to navigate virtual learning more successfully.
Transforming education to save lives
October 2024
Newspaper Publication
Presented by The Trinidad Newsday
and The Express
My thoughts about the suicide of a student in Trinidad who had been bullied were published in two local newspapers in Trinidad. I expressed the need for education reform in Trinidad to include emotional intelligence education to prevent bullying and save lives.
https://newsday.co.tt/2024/10/23/transforming-education-to-save-lives/
Leadership and Professional Development : Calling Others In
Transformative Education: A Journey Through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Decolonizing Education
April 2023
Professional Development to Staff
Presented on behalf of Poplar's Equity Committee
I planned, prepared and presented a day of professional development to staff on ways to re-imagine our learning spaces and what we teach using various frameworks.
The session shared current professional resources, samples of student work and teacher planning tools.
This PD was in consultation with Sean Gale from the Urban Indigenous Education Centre.
Several opportunities for prizes and giveaways were a fun addition to the day!
Leadership and Professional Development : Calling Others In
Decolonizing Education: Building Capacity for Non-Indigenous Educators
Spring 2024
Lunch and Learning Together Series with Edgewood Staff
As a non-Indigenous person, I share not as an expert or an authority figure but in collaboration with various Indigenous educators, colleagues and Elders. This series was designed in consultation with the Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC) staff.
I planned, prepared and presented some co-learning opportunities to the staff at Edgewood Public School to support Indigenous Education. The conversations aimed to help other non-Indigenous educators build capacity when decolonizing content and practices based on research and the amplification of Indigenous educators and community figures.
Leadership and Professional Development : Calling Others In
COMING SOON: Cultivating Compassion
Spring 2025
Cultivating Compassion
An informal guide to facilitating inclusive, caring communities and relationships that promote academic and emotional success in Junior/Intermediate grades
I am working on a guide outlining the first month of school, the way I typically start the year, that fosters a strong sense of safety and community in a learning space. Students who feel safe at school feel safe to step out of their comfort zones and make mistakes.
The guide is organized into sections by topic that address specific topics and themes. It also includes rich mentor texts, extension lessons, and guiding discussion questions for each theme.
It also outlines how to continue building a compassionate learning community all year long across all subject curricula.