Regent Park Focus

Today was the last day of March Break for the Divas. To celebrate, we went to the movies and watched Jack the Giant Slayer. The theatre we went to was Rainbow Cinemas, a smaller theatre company that hosts an old fashioned theatre in the st Lawrence market. It was a unique experience when compared to a regular theatre like Cineplex. The front of the theatre featured a grand piano and we even got to see someone passionately play on it. Before the movie started, the girls admired some of the art that was for sale in the theatre's small gallery. The film was fun to watch; it featured gruesome giants and an epic betrayal (we won't spoil the story for you though!!). Overall it was an enjoyable experience that brought a swift conclusion to our March break. Saeema Saifuddin

During our March Break Madness the Diva’s did an art activity that gave them the room for creativity, and at the same time express themselves. Their   task was to make a collage using magazine pictures and words that can describe their personality. This activity is to help encourage nonverbal expressions. It will allow the divas to become more aware of their personalities. The girls all understand that everyone is different, and that how a person may carry themselves describes there personality. The girls couldn’t wait to get started on the task. Some of them wanted to paint, or just draw there collage. Anything is accepted because this art work is describing how they view their personality. After working hard on their masterpieces the Divas each talked about their collage and how it describes their individual personality. Giving each Diva the opportunity to talk about their creation, gives the other girls a chance to see what their peers are really thinking about themselves. S

This week, the boys got a treat. Through a partnership between Focus and Rainbow Cinemas, the boys had the opportunity to go to the movies for free! Since it was the boys were on March break we were able to go to an afternoon showing of "Jack the Giant Slayer". Before we left, some of the boys thought that the movie was intended for a bit of a younger audience, but most enjoyed it when we talked about it in discussions afterwards. Their reactions included "It was sick because of the action but the ending was kind of dull". Some of the boys also thought that the war scene could have been more dramatic. They all liked the action and the special effects that were used with the giants in the movie. Some of the boys were surprised that there weren't more fight scenes between Jack and the Giant, as it sounded like in the title, while other boys felt that some scenes were too predictable and reminded them of a lot of movies that they have seen before. The boys

Youths participating in Today's March Break activity were met with a blank sheet of paper and multiple crayons. They were asked to fill the paper with different shapes and patterns making sure to press hard as they colored. Once they finished filling the paper with light colored patterns they were then asked to color over the whole paper using a black crayon. Once they were done, they used a sharp object, a pencil or a pen to scratch words and or designs into the black colored paper. Doing this allowed the light colors to pop through revealing a rainbow of colors below. Before moving on to the next activity the youth were asked why they chose the colors they did and the response consisted of  it stands out, no one else chose it, I like the colour, its unique, and (of course) it's my favourite colour. Some of the youth also chose to take a different spin on this activity. They ventured towards using a colour that was not black to colour over the light coloured pattern. The

A collage with meaning…      Earlier this week I facilitated a workshop with young participants of FOCUS in regards to their hopes for the future and thoughts on their heroes. With materials such as paint, glue, bristol boards and writing materials the girls were asked to curate a multi-media piece that answered and expressed a particular set of questions set out for them. Within these questions were inquiries such as what the girls hoped to be when they were older, why was this their choice of career, who was their hero and what had this individual done that held such significance to them.      Majority of the girls worked on the set of questions relayed to what they hoped to be when they were older.   Some of the answers to these questions included doctor and curer of cancer. Among those that chose to do their work on the hero collage was a little girl who created a work of art dedicated to her hero. This hero, also her best friend, had lost her brother in a shootin

Today at Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre we had the Diva Girls come in for their first workshop of the week. Today, the girls were challenged on how internet savvy they are. We started the workshop with a media quiz, which consisted of questions about internet safety such as: meeting a stranger they’ve been talking to online in person; receiving content that they’ve felt has been inappropriate; chat room safety; giving personal information online; and more. After completing the quiz, the girls wrote about what they learned from the quiz in their journals. During the second half of the workshop, we watched a video about internet safety. It contained four different scenarios - two narrative pieces and two documentaries, and covered topics that are possible when young people and teens are online. The video featured introductions by “Gossip Girl” star Jessica Szohr.   The first video was called: “Clicking with Caution,” and it was about how easily young pe

To kick start the beginning of March Break the Diva’s talked about what it’s like to respect them and love their self’s. The girls did two exercises pertaining to self-esteem. They were to write five great things that they feel about themselves. Therefore being able to identify what makes them feel good about their selves. After sometime the girls each spoke about what they admired about themselves. The Divas each feel that they are beautiful and that everyone is beautiful in their own way. Hair, smiles, teeth, athletics, sports, ambitious, kind, giving, caring, and those are just a few of the things that the Divas feel help there self esteem and make them a better person. The Divas will develop a better respect for themselves and appreciation for their bodies. The second activity was a short discussion about how the girls feel about there body and any changes that may be taking place. Giving the girls the chance to talk about their body helped clarify any misconceptions that t

February is a very quick but action packed month for the ‘CatchdaFlava’ crew. Why, you ask? Because it is close to Valentine’s Day and also the Black Heritage month! Furthermore, a lot of topics we get to talk about that you can’t even begin to imagine! It included ‘THE JAM’ event that featured a child soldier from South Sudan turned international hiphop star phenom Emmanuel Jal.    So let’s start with this month’s highlight already… starting off with the copkiller manhunt going on with the guy named Christopher Dorner. He was apparently a former cop, an ex marine that got terminated a few years ago, so that could have been his motivation for this rampage. The Toronto Raptors team doing well creeping up into the 9 th spot of the western conference and possibly securing an 8 th spot for the playoffs. Also note that Terence Ross from Toronto Raptors was crowned ‘king’ in the dunk competition this year in the All Star season. There were issues involving food industries creati

Today at Diva’s we were continuing our healthy segment from a couple weeks ago, when the two registered nurses from Toronto public health came in to talk about healthy eating.   S ara and Chantal came today prepared to make yogurt parfaits. Which the girls absolutely LOVED. Before digging into our delicious yogurt parfaits, Sara and Chantal had us look at some pictures of take out sandwiches from the local Tim Hortons and we had to figure out the calorie content. Which sandwich had how much grams of fat, sodium (salt), etc. From the looks of things the Breakfast Sandwich had a bit more fat content then the sandwich. We also had a discussion of what type of extreme and out of this world food that we would try before we turn 50. Some of us are dare devils and are willing to try just about anything. Ex. Squid, octopus, rabbit, quesadillas. Then there are some Divas that are not risk takers and do not want to risk the chance of getting sick, so they would prefer to keep their di