Regent Park Focus

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the eighth and ninth session. The next session will be at the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre on April 8th for the Showcase exhibition. These two sessions were used to add last minute touch ups onto the final pieces both groups had created. This meant making sure they had everything ready and editing what they needed to change. On April 1st, the group presented their ideas to each other and brought examples of what they were going to do, the girls were then thanked and given a gift from Aditi, the proffer of the course. The participants then all went to the event room of the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre and decided how they would like to layout and present their pieces. For more information on the tasks each group did per week you can click here ! Amna Quaid Azam

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the seventh session. This session began with a skype call from a representative from SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together),  Lakshmi Sridaran, who talked about what the organization does and why they were created. SAALT is a non-profit organization that fights for the rights of South Asians in America. She then talked about the Christchurch Mosque Shootings and asked the group if they had anything they would like to talk about in regards to that. There was conversation around islamophobia, double standards, gun control, etc. After this conversation Lakshmi talked a little bit about DACA ( Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ), DAPA ( Deferred Action for Parents of Americans ), and the Muslim ban.  After this conversation, the participants got into their groups and continued...

We are rested and ready to take on spring after our March Break Wellness week! The Diva’s spent their time at Focus with good food, good friends and a whole week centred on understanding and supporting our minds and bodies.  With winter finally melting it’s time for self-reflection and preparing for a new season. On Monday we started off by talking about the role anxiety plays in each of our lives and the healthiest and most effective ways to combat it before our evening programm ing with UofT. On Tuesday we took some much-needed R&R with our pajama themed Chocolate Fondue party! Fresh fruit, melted chocolate, and empowering chick flicks! This was one of the best days of our week! Wednesday we started are morning off right, yogurt parfaits and empowering self-talk. Just like we maintain our body’s health, it’s important to maintain your mental health. Making sure we talk to ourselves the way we talk to people we love, even when we’re stressed or ...

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the sixth session. At the start of the session Ad it i, the professor and coordinator of the collaboration gave a quick run through of what was to come during the next couple of weeks. The groups were then given time to work on their pieces, many choosing to go outside to film/take pictures.  Then, an icebreaker game was conducted where everyone got into a circle and would pick someone to ask a question to, this person would then pick someone else and ask them a question, this would continue until someone froze or repeated a question already asked. Sumeya ended up the winner! After the game, the UofT students and the girls continued working on their projects. The groups came up with names, these being: The On Air Police, Remembering Regent, Social Fixers, Space Jammers, and the Legacy Leavers. The ...

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the fifth session.  This session was used as a workshop the both groups of participants to work on their project. The participants were introduced to the members of Focus that work in media production who can help them with their project if needed. They then ran through the ideas they had come up with so far, some examples being magazines, a parody commercial, photography and videos, timelines, etc. They were then offered some tips and ways the project could be updated.  They then began planning by writing down what they would be doing and who the audience intended for the piece would be. After some discussion the group decided they would walk around the area and ask the divas to point out important places, this would be part of the project piece. An example of one of the projects is shown bel...

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the second session. This session the girls offered a tour to the students and staff at UofT. They took them to places they usually hang out at, these being the Regent Park Community Centre and Daniels Spectrum. They then showed the group parts of the community that had been revitalized and explained how it now works in the community.                                                                             After returning back to focus, they worked on an ice breaker. This ice breaker was one where the group had to create a paper airplane, write their names and 2 questions they had for the finder. They then threw it aroun...

Regent Park Focus is partnering with the Youth, Arts, and Engagement Program at the University of Toronto to produce a media product that is based on the community. This is the first session. This sessions the girls were able to meet with the staff and students attending the Youth, Arts, and Engagement program at the University of Toronto. The session began with Aditi, the professor of the program talking about things to expect and things they students from UofT have done thus far. Then the girls and students got into randomly assigned groups and began creating a map of how they got to where they are. Although the question was worded in a way that was open, almost all the participants talked about how they got to focus on that day. The participants then shared what they route, their journey, and what they learned. After that a hashtag was created. To do this, the participants worked in the groups that were made before to not only create a hashtag but to also, sell it to the ot...