MAY 2021

Principal: Lorelei Eccleston Vice-Principal: Jemaine Wallace Superintendent LN20: Erin Altosaar

231Glenholme

Ave.

Toronto, Ontario

M6E3C7

(416) 394-3080

UPDATE FROM MS. ECCLESTON

Dear Rawlinson Families, I hope you are all coping well under this very prolonged lockdown. Personally, I am not at all used to being in one location for months and am finding myself becoming very antsy. I can only imagine my families and students! Fingers crossed for some nicer weather that will motivate us to get outside! Now for a few updates: Please see below an important message from the Board regarding Summer School 2021: Please note: The health and well-being of TDSB students, staff and families is our top priority. Given the unpredictability of what the status of the COVID-19 pandemic will be in the summer and the need to begin planning well before that time, the decision has been made to offer all Summer Programs fully remote (online) for summer 2021.

As such, summer school Principals will be reaching out to a few of their families who had signed up for in-person classes this summer. These families will be kindly requested to complete a form indicating whether they would like to switch to virtual learning for July. This is very important as the summer school registrations at Rawlinson have soared and the Board has temporarily closed registrations for the Rawlinson summer school program as we were nearing capacity. We are beginning a waitlist. If you were planning on registering your child for summer school, I encourage you to still do so, as I am hopeful that we will be able to create more classes to accommodate even more students. Please note: The Continuing Education Department will not be supplying students with digital devices for its summer programs. Non-TDSB students will need to be prepared with their own digital devices to support their online learning.

A Note from Interim Director of Education, Karen Falconer

For more than a year now, COVID-19 has dominated the globe, including here in Toronto. But the devastation unfolding in India right now, as a result of the pandemic, is incomprehensible as the virus ravages the world’s second most populous country. Our hearts and thoughts are with our South Asian students, staff and families who are disproportionately impacted by this crisis that is seeing record infections and deaths during this

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frightening third wave surge. We have no doubt that being so far away from family and friends is distressing and frightening. Please know that we see you and we are here to support you in any way we can.

We hope that through the support of our global community, including Canada’s contribution of urgent medical aid, India is able to recover from this humanitarian crisis. Our TDSB community stands with you and grieves with you for all that we have lost this year as a community.

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GOOD NEWS from the HEALTH & PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

David Gordon Foundation Grant

Mr. McIntosh would like to announce that Rawlinson has again been selected by the trustees of the David Gordon Foundation for a grant. Earlier this year, ten thousand dollars was received by Rawlinson from the Foundation! The money will be used to purchase equipment and resources for our Health, Physical Education and Dance programs. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Happy Birthday to all staff and students celebrating their birthday in May!

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ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH – MAY

From TDSB Website - Asian Heritage Month is recognized formally throughout Canada through an official

declaration that was signed in May 2002. Subsequently, the Province of Ontario passed the Asian Heritage Act

(2005), and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) passed a motion to recognize Asian Heritage Month in

2007.

The Toronto District School Board is the largest, and one of the most diverse school boards in Canada. Nearly

one-quarter of our students were born outside of Canada and collectively, we speak more than 120 languages.

According to the TDSB 2017 Student & Parent Census our students represent 40% with Asian backgrounds.

During the month of May, the Toronto District School Board proudly recognizes Asian Heritage Month by

celebrating the numerous achievements of Asian-Canadians and their significant role on the global stage. This

year our theme is Discover. Share. Celebrate our Resiliency!

During the month of May, the TDSB is honoured to share with our community several opportunities and

resources to learn about the traditions, customs, and significant individuals that this heritage brings.

Join our Asian Heritage Month Virtual Celebration. Tuesday, May 4, 2021 @ 1 -2 p.m.

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JEWISH HERITAGE

May is also recognized as Jewish Heritage Month – Please read below the condensed notes from TDSB:

Earlier this year, in response to the attack on the Capital in Washington on January 6, educators on the TDSB’s

Jewish Heritage Committee quickly mobilized, researched, and added resources for teachers on Holocaust and

Genocide Education and combatting antisemitism.

For International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) in partnership with Liberation 75 and the USC

Shoah Foundation, the Canadian premiere of ‘The Tattooed Torah’ was presented. This short, animated film,

based on a true story, engaged TDSB students in grades 4-8. More than 14,000 educators downloaded the film

which was accompanied by a Teachers’ Guide.

On February 25, the Committee was honoured to partner with the TDSB’s African Heritage Committee during

African Heritage Month to feature Stronger Than Hate, a live webcast honouring the 761st Tank Battalion, the

first all African-American Tank Battalion in World War II. The Battalion was instrumental in helping defeat the

Nazis as well as liberating several concentration camps. Thousands of TDSB students joined the conversation

to consider what we have learned from history and witnesses to genocide and reflect on how that knowledge

can help us take action to counteract hate.

And on May 4-9, the JHC is pleased to support Liberation75, a virtual, free, once-in-a-lifetime event to

commemorate the 75th anniversary of liberation from the Holocaust. This global gathering of survivors,

descendants, educators and friends will feature survivor testimony, interactive discussions, performances,

films, and exhibits. Of special interest to educators includes programming such as American Witnesses:

Eyewitness Film Footage at Liberation, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Digital

Hate: What If Hitler Had Social Media? from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center & Reena Foundation,

and Visite Guidée de la Maison d'Anne Frank (Anne Frank House Guided Tour en français), from the Anne Frank

House.

Incidents of antisemitism have risen sharply this past year in our country, our city, and at our schools. B’nai

Brith reported an increase in Canada of 18.3%. Toronto Police recently released data which showed a more

than 50% increase in reported hate crimes with “the Jewish community, followed by the Black community,

LGBTQ2S+ community, and the Asian/Chinese communities the most frequently victimized groups.” In

February the TDSB released its first-ever Human Rights Annual Report with comprehensive data detailing hate

occurrences in our schools, although in different orders, mirrored the Toronto Police data.

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ANTI-RACISM EDUCATION Allyship is an active, consistent, and challenging practice of unlearning and re-evaluating, in which a person of privilege seeks to operate in solidarity with a marginalized group of people. Allyship is not an identity—it is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people. Allyship is not self-defined—our work and our efforts must be recognized by the people we seek to ally ourselves with. Allyship is not an identity, but a practice. A person with privilege does not get to proclaim themselves to be an ally, but rather seeks to practice allyship consistently. And a person with privilege, does not get to be the judge of whether what they are practicing is

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actually allyship, because what they might deem to be allyship could actually be centering themselves, tokenism, saviorism, or optical allyship. Allyship is greatly valued and a huge step towards challenging oppression, however, allies must understand possible feelings of resentment, bitterness, and even resistance from marginalized groups. These feelings are not to be taken personally but are reflective of peoples’ past and present experiences with allyship. Building trust takes time, so allies must recognize that what they can offer may not always be immediately needed or accepted. An ally is someone who whose personal commitment to fighting oppression and prejudice is reflected in willingness to: 1. Educate oneself about different identities and experiences, 2. Challenge one’s own discomfort and prejudices, 3. Learn and practice the skills of being an ally, 4. Take action to create interpersonal, societal, and institutional change.

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

We extend our sincerest thanks and very best wishes to all our mothers and to everyone who has taken on the mother figure role in someone's life. Your efforts, hard work and devotion are appreciated and valued by us all! Wishing you a happy Mother’s Day weekend!

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École Communautaire Rawlinson Community School 231 Glenholme Avenue Toronto, ON M6E 3C7

Telephone: 416-394-3080 Fax: 416-394-4159 Rawlinson School website: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/rawlinson/Home.aspx

Twitter: @TDSB_Rawlinson

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Room 119 Kindergarten class work - Ms. Leanne & Ms. Theodorou Designing a card for Earth Day - Demonstrating Literacy & Numeracy Behaviors: demonstrate literacy behaviours that enable beginning writers to communicate with others

Independent name practice - Belonging and Contributing: demonstrate independence, self regulation, and a willingness to take responsibility in learning and other endeavours

Drawing Godzilla and creatively applying 2 textures for design (bubble wrap and a rough surface) - Problem Solving & Innovating: use problem-solving skills and their imagination to create visual art forms

Constructing a bridge - Problem Solving & Innovating: demonstrate an ability to use problem solving skills in a variety of contexts, including social contexts

Creating music - Problem Solving & Innovating: use problem-solving skills and their imagination to create music

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From Ms Creedon’s Class – Our Gr. 2/3s had such thoughtful ideas and questions about climate change how we can improve our environment. Here are a few quotes from our discussions:

“First Nations people already respect the earth. We can learn from them.” “Ms. Creedon, do you think the snow is happening in April because of global warming? That’s where cold places get warmer and sometimes hot places get colder weather or even big storms.” “I did some research and I learned that China has the highest carbon emissions in the world. Canada’s aren’t as high, but we still need to lower these to zero.” “Do you think that maybe the reason China has such high emissions is because they have the biggest population and they make all of our stuff? All my toys and computers say: made in China.” “Picking up garbage in the park is important, but I think we should write a letter to the Prime Minister to tell him we need to stop pollution from factories. That is a bigger problem.”

“I am writing a letter to our Prime Minister!”

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From Mme Winick and Ms. Josipovic’s class - We have been doing art every Friday and posted some of the students' works on a website. Arts in general have suffered greatly during the pandemic and we need to make sure we do not forget to nurture our artistic and creative selves. This is, after all, a part of what makes us human.

Plus, some students that we do not see or hear much in this online format are very artistic souls and now have this website where they can show off their talent!

ELEMENTS OF DESIGN

line: linear and curved hatching and cross-hatching that add a sense of depth.

shape and form: symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes and forms in font and image; shapes that occur in the

environment.

space: shading and cast shadows that create the illusion of depth

colour: complementary colours, hue, intensity (e.g., dulling, or neutralizing, colour intensity by mixing the colour with

a small amount of its complementary hue)

texture: textures created with a variety of tools, materials, and techniques

DRAWINGS:

Oliver - digital art bomomo.com Oliver - digital art "Made today, it took 15 min."

SCULPTURE:

(Above) Mia's mandala-dream catcher of dreams (Left) Theron's Mandala: card collection