Regent Park Focus

Today at Boyz 2 Men, Natnael and Basboos completed their comic life strips on healthy eating as the other boys offered their guesses at nutrition trivia that Amar from Toronto Public Health put together. The boys were very surprised when they heard that drinking a large milkshake can often be higher in calories and fat content than eating 4 hamburgers. They also couldn't believe that some soft drinks contain between 10-12 teaspoons of sugar and often have more caffeine than a cup of coffee! After we did our trivia, we talked about the way that you could order a pizza to make sure that it was healthier option than usual. We talked about getting our pizza to be made with whole wheat crust and ordering vegetables instead of toppings that were loaded with nitrates like pepperonis and salami. After our chat, we chowed down on a nutritious snack and we wrapped up another informative session of Boyz 2 Men.  Brian Bigioni

What a great following up to January’s ‘Last Fridays’ The Jam event!   It has been a very wintry cold month, almost as cold as this past January but without the persistent snow storms.   We managed to keep it fiery with this community gathering through celebrating the Black Heritage Month through the talents of our youth and guests. The jam kicked off as usual by the introduction of ‘ The Focus House Band’. They continued to mesmerize the community with their lively energy and enthusiasm. The Focus House Band which started approximately five years ago as a youth program teaching those interested how to play drums inspired a new vision that transformed the “Drum Lessons” into a “Music Production Workshop”. Eventually, they found 8 members to work with collaboratively in creating, producing, and composing musical tracks and lyrics. At present, 3 have remained. Solid and loyal to their group and continued to entertain everyone in the Regent Park community with their origi...

Friday, February 15, 2013. This afternoon the girls in Diva were joined by representatives from Toronto Public Health Sara, and Chantal. They came in to discuss healthy eating and having a healthy active life style. Sara and Chantal asked the girls to brainstorm different snacks that are considered healthy yet fun to make. Some of the girls have a strong craving for chocolate and would love chocolate covered strawberries, which is only one of the many great ideas that the Divas came up with. In the following weeks Sara and Chantal will be returning and getting us ready to start living life in a healthy way. By: Karise Reid

Today the boys continued their exploration into healthy eating habits, and did some work on their comic strips. We were lucky enough to have Amar from Toronto Public Health in once again to answer any of the questions that the boys had, and to establish what they would like to learn about in future sessions.  After the discussion, some of the boys worked on turning the pictures that they had taken in their camera assignments into comic strips. Together with Jerry, they thought of sequences and stories behind their photos, as well as tag lines and dialogue to go along with their different scenes. Stay tuned for updates and postings of how the boys did with their cameras and the stories they came up with!  Brian 

Over the past couple of weeks we have been receiving training for the brand new RPTV Studio control room and broadcast cameras and equipment. Thanks to Rogers for setting up the studio. The workshops have been going very well and we are hopeful to start producing some TV shows very soon! To check out our latest RPTV Episodes check out www.regentpark.tv !

Welcome back to ‘Catch da Flava’ radio to a great brand new year! We are ever so pumped up to start 2013! This January, we started off our radio topics by discussing all the crazy 2012 highlights. We discussed our favorite ‘Catch da Flava’ radio topics from last year. The notables such as: The Bath Salt special, The Halloween special, The Doomsday 2012, the Luca Magnotta dismemberment of Lin Jun, the controversial KONY 2012, our talented musician ‘Jessica Speziale’ visiting our station Radio Regent, and Nelly Furtado coming to our Last Friday event. We also enjoyed discussing our community events such as The Nuit Blanche event, the grand opening of the Aquatic Centre, the CRC and the Daniels Spectrum around the Regent Park community, the Block-o-rama, the Show Love and EID, and Sunday in the Park. Nelly Furtado visiting the Daniels Spectrum was much anticipated as well. Lastly, our weekly dose of Rob Ford doing his worst around the city. So much for 2012 highlight, let’s t...

Today the boys had the opportunity to participate in a healthy eating workshop facilitated by Jorge Ginieniewicz   from the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health. They started out by drawing all of the healthy and unhealthy foods that they could think of. From there, Jorge lead the boys through a discussion about some common misconceptions around healthy foods and eating habits. Although the boys were disappointed to hear that some of their favorite foods were grouped into the unhealthy section, they all seemed to agree that they felt better after they had eaten a nutritious meal, rather than a fast food option.  After the group discussion, Jerry prepared a nutritious snack for the boys. The boys then discussed whether they felt it qualified as a "healthy" snack or not. After thanking Jorge for leading us through the workshop, the boys did a quick clean-up and left for the night.   Brian

This week, Dr. Laura was our guest speaker. She spoke to the Diva Girls group about the relationship between mental health and eating habits.   Dr. Laura (last name here) had the girls split up into two groups and draw pictures of what they considered healthy and unhealthy foods. the girls drew pictures of fast food items such as KFC, french fries, and hamburgers on the unhealthy side. The healthy side drew pictures of fruits, vegetables, breads, and pastas.   Dr. Laura talked about how these foods relate to emotions and how eating healthy vs. unhealthy foods made them feel mentally and emotionally. some of the girls said they could actually feel the difference in how they felt after eating fast food; as opposed to eating a healthy meal. After eating healthy food, one of the girls said she felt her concentration levels become stronger during the day. The girls talked about negative effects of unhealthy and processed foods, such as low energy, hunger shortly after ea...

Today at Boyz 2 Men, the boys had a great time getting to know the cameras that they will be taking home to begin their comic strips on healthy eating. After a brief explanation about how they were to document the food they will be eating and turn it into a story and comic strip, we discussed their responsibilities with the cameras. The boys then had an opportunity to take some pictures of each other and the healthy snack that Jerry prepared, before talking about their ideas that they had about the topics for their mini-projects. The boys left talking about what they were planning on documenting with the cameras and were eager to show that they could handle the responsibilities of working with the cameras on their own time.   Brian

Today at Boyz 2 Men, the boys had a great time getting to know the cameras that they will be taking home to begin their comic strips on healthy eating. After a brief explanation about how they were to document the food they will be eating and turn it into a story and comic strip, we discussed their responsibilities with the cameras. The boys then had an opportunity to take some pictures of each other and the healthy snack that Jerry prepared, before talking about their ideas that they had about the topics for their mini-projects. The boys left talking about what they were planning on documenting with the cameras and were eager to show that they could handle the responsibilities of working with the cameras on their own time.

The following are journal entries from a few of the girls in the Diva program. The girls speak on their findings after reviewing photos they took of the food in their home and discussions on the benefits and drawbacks of healthy and unhealthy food choices.  Diva Girls Journal Entries Healthy Food vs Junk Food Last week me and my sister got a camera to take home and take pictures of healthy food and junk food. Some stuff I learned or knew about junk (food) was that… junk food is mostly stuff with a lot of sugar and they make you fat and lazy… well most junk food. Some stuff I learned or knew about healthy food is that healthy food is vegetables, fruits and more. I also know that people think healthy food is gross mostly because its good for them. The kind of pictures I took were of apples, orange juice, apple juice, fruits, vegetables, green food and more. I chose those foods because they are healthy and keep you fit.   -Rida My sister and I got to take a camera hom...

This week, Chris Leonard was our special guest speaker. Chris came in and facilitated a workshop about resiliency. Chris talked to the girls about the different ways in which they can go about protecting themselves and bouncing back from tough times and adversity. Chris also spoke to the girls about the benefits that came with a healthy amount of confidence and positive attitude. The girls contributed to the conversation by talking about the experiences they’ve had thus far. Some of the girls in the group spoke about friends who had low resiliency and how they would benefit from programs like the Diva Girls, especially when it came to workshops like this particular one. These conversations led to stories about how some of the girls were able to help their friends through personal hardships and when you have resiliency you are able and strong enough (both mentally and emotionally) to help those around you. With that said, you should also surround yourself with trusting and supporti...

The ladies in the Diva Girls program had a special guest speaker this week; Chris Leonard, an expert in the benefits of healthy resiliency spoke to the girls about confidence and self-love. The girls also had the chance to share their feelings and experiences with Chris who in turn gave them advice on how to deal with the pressures and challenges of everyday life. The following are journal entries from a few of the Diva Girls: Resiliency is when you bounce back from hard times, have self-confidence and love yourself. –Ishmahan This week at the diva girls we had Chris come in, she works in the health center and she deals with people who struggle with things that stress people. She taught us what resiliency is and how you can recover from not being resilient and how to stand up or help someone who can’t seem to recover by themselves. Chris also made me realize how resilient I am. –Fazeela Today we focused on resiliency. We talked about what it means to bounce back from a...

Today the Boys2Men group was very active physical as well as cognitively in there thinking on the topic on Resiliency. They learn that resiliency is the social academic competence, despite exposure to severe stress. It is important for these young boys to develop this skill at an early age to build up the ability to solve problems, being self-motivation, self-awareness, assertiveness, a sense of duty to self and others, and the capacity for reflection and meaning making. The facilitator discussed life skills and self-control in coping with physical impulses such as anger, in a school setting based on school lifestyle in dealing with daily challenges. She also brought some balloons and asked the youth to blow air into the balloon and match it with how resilient they are and what scenarios they had shown resiliency. Some of the boys showed how big and massive their balloon was to match their resiliency levels, others showed in the medium average. They were asked what kind of strategie...

A very smooth but lively month for the ‘CatchdaFlava Radio crew’ again. It must be the yuletide season around the corner. This is the time when everyone was talking about the ‘Doomsday 2012’   which is around December 21 st . Everyone was sort of freaked out about the end of the world and how they are gonna deal with it when it happens on that specific date. As for myself, I bought 2 seat tickets for the Toronto Raptors game for the wife and myself to deal with Doomsday. The CatchdaFlava crew was also excited about wanting to see the much awaited movie “The Hobbit” by Peter Jackson, which were a few weeks after December.   Aside from these topics we had a few weekly doses of Rob Ford’s Idiosyncrasies as usual. On the political spectrum of things, the update of Tim Hudak rallying to make wines, beer, spirits to be available at any convenience stores other than LCBO alone. There were a lot of Elementary and High School teacher strikes getting organized this month. In addition, ...

On December 26th, the Regent Park Focus staff and Radio Regent programmers got together to formally meet each other and celebrate all the achievements of 2012. Each radio programmer shared stories of how they felt about their new home at Radio Regent. Most radio programmers were formally hosts on CKLN88.1FM. Everyone was pleased to be a part of Radio Regent (a new internet radio station based in Regent Park) and gave mention to how much they look forward to the future of the radio station. Much thanks was given to the support staff and volunteers at Regent Park Focus that help keep Radio Regent running. It was a fun night and a great way to wrap up the year of 2012! Haven't heard of Radio Regent? Come check us out at www.radioregent.com

We continue to work on getting information about how toxic chemicals affect people and their body, their home and their workplace. This time Regent Park Focus got together with Toronto Public Health's ChemTRAC program. ChemTRAC aims to improve public health and support a green local economy by reducing toxic chemicals in our environment. December 10 2012, Toronto Public Health representatives, community health corkers and environmentally conscious residents of Toronto gathered around in a room at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) to have a further talk about the ChemTRAC program.  After a history lesson on how ChemTRAC came to be, the morning meeting was focused on the ChemTRAC website; where Toronto residents, can get information on the types of businesses that operate in their communities that may be emitting toxic chemicals in the air they breathe. On the website residents can find information on the types of chemica...

This week December 7th, to start off the Diva's program, faculty members asked the girls if they knew the difference between healthy and unhealthy food chooses. That question was followed by a variety of other questions that led to today's activity. The Diva Girls were excited to learned that they were going to be apart of a new project called "You Are What You Eat". Too add to the girls excitement about this project, they were happy to learn they would be using a program called PhotoVoice that they have never used before. Regent Park Focus and the Centre for Additions and Mental Health better known as CAMH teamed up for this project. "You Are What You Eat" was designed to show the youth within the community the connections of healthy eating and mental health. The purpose of the project is to show adolescents that the food chooses they make can have a huge impact in their life's both mentally and physically. This project will be continued on unti...

This week the Diva Girls participated in activities they helped in putting together. A few of the games the girls brainstormed included Wink Murder, Heads-Up-7-Up and a game where all the girls had to remain silent. If you spoke and or laughed, you were out. The girls thoroughly enjoyed this session, for weeks they have been asking for another "play day" so I was happy to oblige because they've been working really well together during the previous workshops in these past few weeks. On another note, it was the last Friday of the month so The Jam took place. We escorted the girls who were interested in attending the event to the Daniel Spectrum Centre where it was held. The girls had fun watching the skit and performances and after the performances, we ensured the girls arrived home safely. All in all, this was a fun and eventful week. R.T. Mujuzi

Not to get mushy over our ‘CatchdaFlava’ radio blog, I think it’s fair to say that we have grown fond of each other over the year and created great friendship both professionally and personally. Our attendance continued to increase with consistency. In addition, our participation level is off the chains due to the confidence level, enthusiasm, the energy, and the sense of humour the youth has shown while in the radio session. They are attacking the microphone and the soundboard with great finesse and conviction inside the radio room! This is what the youth radio program is all about. I am so proud! But anyhow, without further ado, our November radio topics! Of course we have to talk about Rob Ford monthly or even weekly, because he is always the Toronto Local news. Rob Ford once again filled the News Media because of his hilarity and eccentricity we may say he's our "Village Idiot". This month he was involved in the TTC squabble with regards to his football team requir...

This week, the Boyz to Men program had a very enthusiastic day. This week the boys were excited because they were reunited with their first program facilitator Jerry. This week the boys participated in many group activities. The first game they played was called "Group Juggle". The objective of the game was for the boys to be able to pass a ball around in the circle using their legs to their peers. At first it was tricky, but finally the boys got the hang of it and were able to pass it around in the circle without dropping it. Jerry decided to challenge the boys, he asked them to close their eyes and pass it to their peers, you were only allowed to open your eyes once you passed the ball off. The purpose of closing their eyes was to teach the boys not only teamwork ship but to enhance trust in one another. Next on the agenda the boys played a game called "Variations on Chairs". The objective of the game was to have one chair less than the amount of peopl...

This week, the diva girls got the opportunity to participate in a discussion around what qualities someone would have to possess in order for them to be considered a role model. The girls spoke about people in their lives that have given them a positive perspective on the challenges life has to offer and they expressed their gratitude when presenting their role models to the rest of the group. The ladies that didn't have a role model got the opportunity to explore and express the qualities that someone would have to possess in order for them to be considered a role model. Some girls listed the qualities while others drew pictures with captions illustrating what their expectations were for any future role model candidates.    Also, I would like to add that the girls had a lot of fun participating in a new activity called "Murder Wink" that involved participation from all the ladies. The girls who were familiar with the game explained the rules and guided those th...

On Thursday November 22nd 2012, the Boys to Men program had a very productive and inspirational day. The theme for this week was for the boys to make a poster of who their role model is and why they look up to that person. The boys were told that they could either work on project in groups or individually. All of the boys used the internet to look up pictures of their role models, if they could not find them in the magazine that were provided for this activity. Staff then printed the selected pictures, that the boys used to create their posters.    The boys went on the create very creative and interesting posters. The boys were also expected to explain why they look up to that person.The boys were so focused on their posters, some boys were also very detail oriented they researched more information about their role model, so they could have accurate information on their posters. When all the boys were successfully done with their posters, all the members of the Boys to ...

On Thursday November 15th, 2012 the Boyz to Men program continued working on their posters using Comic Life 2, to define what masculinity is in their own eyes. This week was really exciting we had 2 new members joining us to take part in the Boyz to Men program. Comic Life 2 is a program that is used around the world not only for recreational purposes, but educational purposes too. With Comic Life 2, the users get the opportunity to take their creative ideas to the next level. To start off the program this week, we had a brief discussion with the Boys about if they remember what masculinity is, define it, and explain why they view masculinity that way. The boys were so focused and motivated that they all started their masculinity posters, and successfully completed them in one session of the Boyz to Men program meeting. When all the boys were completely done, the boys got the chance to express themselves, and explain why they designed their poster the way they did. Each...

Friday, November 9, 2012 -- Media Analysis This week, the diva girls evaluated, analyzed and explored the world that is the media. The girls discussed the effects that the media has on our society, our daily choices and the views we possess about ourselves and others as young women. The girls watched a clip from a documentary called Miss Representation, which was directed by Jennifer S. Newsom, to help broaden their knowledge on just how vast the media has impacted women from all ages and backgrounds. The documentary voices that women are more than what television shows, magazines, commercials and movies have pegged us to be. A short summary of the documentary: "Actress turned filmmaker Jessica C. Newsom studies the obstacles women face in the media and the stereotypes that still define them... Featuring interviews with noted figures in politics (Nancy Pelosi and Condoleeza Rice), news broadcasters (Katie Couric and Rachel Maddow), television actresses (Margaret Cho...

Yay! Congratulations, you did it, the boys made it to their last week of their fitness challenge with their trainer Angela. The boys were really sad that the fitness challenge, had come to an end. The Boyz to Men group successfully completed their 4 week fitness challenge without any sore or broken bones. The boys have physically grown, and have improved and have shown so much progression over the past 4 weeks. On the last day Angela put the boys to the test, she quizzed the boys on the how to properly stretch , the proper names of the muscles in the human body, and how to eat healthy. The boys knew every single answer right off the bat, and when one member was stumbling, another group member would come to the rescue, and help out his fellow peer. To wrap everything up the boys as well as Angela were interviewed by Emmanuel the video coordinator. The boys showed true team player qualities from start to finish and really enjoyed themselves, and hope in the near future to participate...

This week, the ladies in the diva girls program showcased their acquired knowledge on the things they've learned thus far. The girls competed in a Jeopardy styled competition but before the competition, the girls presented their "Stop Bullying" posters. Each group vocalized their views on why it is wrong and the harmful side effects that can stem from it. After presentations, the girls were split into teams. Each team decided on a group name; The Five Musketeers, The Directioners and The Winners. With a list of categories to choose from, the girls jumped at the chance to showcase their knowledge. With only five minutes to go and two teams tied at first place, a bonus question was asked to break the tie. After multiple hints were given and groans were heard, The Directioners pulled through and solved the bonus question. For their prize, The Directioners received tickets to the movies. As a facilitator, I was pleased to see that the girls remembered the thin...

What is the highlight of the October shows? Let me see… All I can say is that -   “it was so awesome!” Nelly Furtado, the Grammy winner visited Regent Park at the Daniels Spectrum and opened our show for our community event called “The Jam!” which was formerly known as the Last Fridays. It was a great experience for the youth around the Regent Park community to have Nelly give them the mentorship and give all the young artists and performers inspiration to be great just like her. The catchdaflava radio crew was sworn to secrecy and was very discreet not to mention about her visit as it is supposed to be a surprise for the youth and the community. Imagine handling that capacity of the crowd traffic for Nelly Furtado at the Daniels Spectrum if they knew she was coming?!!! Anyhow, enough about Nelly, there was a lot of pumped up topics that happened this month. Amanda Todd made a huge impact when she posted videos on Youtube and Facebook after revealing her stories and then die...

On the young ladies of the diva girls program celebrated Eid with their families   and friends, because of this, more than a handful of girls were MIA. The workshop and activities planned for the day were moved to the next diva girls session in the upcoming week. L.T. Mujuzi

On Thursday October 18th, the Boys to Men group entered the second week of their fitness challenge with their trainer Angela. This week the boys competed against one another to see if they could improve on a series of exercises that they had done last week. After the fitness challenge it was time to for a fun and relaxing activities. Before the end of the boys fitness challenge, they were put on the spot when asked a couple questions about the muscles in their body that they learned last week. Even though some of them were very tricky the Boys got an A+ for paying attention to what they had learned last week. At the end of the day a few of the boys were video interviewed by staff member Emmanuel, to see how the boys felt about their second week of the fitness challenge. He asked questions such as; "What they liked/disliked about the challenge?" "Did they successfully improve on their previous amount of exercise?" "And what they learned that day?" - ...