Toronto District School Children

Each spring, 150 Toronto District elementary students present their alternative to guns, gangs and drugs in the DareArts year-end presentation “Promenade Through Time,” a culmination of three months of a specialized arts education program called All the Arts. DareArts’ founder and president, Marilyn Field, M.S.M., a former teacher, created the program eleven years ago.

DareArts is a national, not-for-profit organization which stands for “Discipline, Action, Responsibility and Excellence using local urban arts education.” DareArts’ unique 5-year program works with at risk 9 – 14 year olds, empowering the children to become leaders in their communities through educational experiences in the arts. In its eleven-year history, the DareArts All the Arts program has helped over 110,000 kids make better choices about their lives.

DareArts 2007 All the Arts program involved students from all over Toronto, some children travelling over an hour one-way in school busses provided by DareArts, public transit or with DareArts travel partners and parent volunteers. Sometimes it is difficult for the students to get to the program. One principal writes, “I did just want to say a quick THANK YOU for helping to make these arrangements again this year. I know that without someone picking the kids up from the school they wouldn’t be able to participate—and they love the program!” This year’s classes brought drama, dance, fashion, literature, architecture, visual art and photography to life for these student delegates, and, through their eyes, ten thousand more children from 27 Toronto schools this spring. With over 40 art professionals’ enthusiastic participation, these students experienced all the arts in ways that many of them otherwise would not. The students enjoyed trips to such arts facilities as the National Ballet School, the Royal Ontario Museum, Casa Loma and the Textile Museum.

For the duration of the program, the children explore world cultures of the past and present through activities in which they paint, sculpt, sing, dance, compose, design, write, act and create, guided by over 125 leading arts professionals. Grade 4 children engage in the arts of the medieval period; Grade 5s the 17th & 18th c.; Grade 6s the 19th c.; Grade 7s the 20th c. and Grade 8s contemporary arts. The children gain leadership skills by returning to their schools and teaching their classmates what they have learned. Thus, through their eyes, thousands more children are inspired by the arts. As one DareArts’ parent says, “DareArts is indeed a special program and Luke certainly thrives while in it. It is becoming less common to see boys so interested in the Arts and historical times, but I see my son becoming more immersed in the culture. Luke speaks so highly of the DareArts program, the teachers who he finds very special and the other children, who he enjoys interacting with. Such fond memories will last a lifetime for my son. Thank you so much DareArts for such a unique, inspiring program.”

An integral part of the All the Arts program is the involvement of highly respected artists representing every art discipline. Mentors in 2007 included artist Charles Pachter, tenor Colin Ainsworth, violinist Moshe Hammer, and songwriter Charlie Kert. Some of these stars performed along with the students on stage during the year-end performance.

DareArts’ Education partners also play an integral role in providing many cultural experiences to the children, and include the National Ballet School, Opera Atelier, The AGO, the ROM, the Bata Shoe Museum, Textile Museum, St. Matthew’s United Church, Christ Church Deer Park, Sampramdaya Dance Creations and the Gardiner Museum, to name a few. DareArts students use these sites to engage in various art activities. Throughout the year, sponsorship provides opportunities for families to attend cultural events as well. These special occasions are often the only chance the families have to attend such an event. “We had the opportunity to attend the opera last year with DareArts, and it was the most amazing experience, which we would never have been able to afford. I am so thankful that my daughter is a part of DareArts, for the life-changing experiences it has provided to all of us,” enthuses one parent.

DareArts Foundation operates through the generous support of corporate sponsors, including Lombard Insurance, CIBC, Guy Carpenter, BMO Financial Group, HKMB, Scotiabank plus government sponsors, The Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Ontario Arts Foundation.

For more information, visit www.darearts.com or call 1-888-540-2787

Eight years ago, I was fortunate to be selected to attend the DareArts All the Arts programs and later, in 2003 received the DareArts Leadership Award. I want people to know it changed my life.

Once it even saved my life. I should probably explain that my physique as a child was not large. In dangerous environments I probably looked like an easy pick until I was lucky enough to learn from the discipline, action, responsibility and education that came with DareArts. After I joined DareArts, my life was threatened at gunpoint by two neighbourhood gang members. I literally drew on my new confidence to evade the challenge. I remember thinking, “I am DareArts, I can do this,” as I told them to back off and began making as much noise as I possible. It worked. They ran away. Regrettably, the two gang members shot another teen later that day.

As a teen growing up in urban Toronto, I know firsthand of the need for survival skills in the struggle against drugs, gangs and ghettos. DareArts taught me those survival skills in a way I would never have expected. It pulled me up into the international community of Toronto and the world beyond my neighbourhood. Once I saw the light by learning about many cultures, art, music, dance, etc. as expressions of self, my vision and friendships have become global.

Today, at 19, I am in my first year at the University of Ottawa in the honours baccalaureate of Health Sciences and have founded my own charity, Children’s AIDS Health Program, to reach children with HIV and AIDS in third world countries. After graduating from the DareArts grade eight program I continued to volunteer with the younger children and I was the president of the TDSB Student SuperCouncil. DareArts gave me the confidence not only to expand my own ambitions and to succeed, but to want to and learn how to establish an effective charity (www.LetsStopAIDS.org) in my personal field of interest where there is great need.

I was not ready to start Children’s AIDS Health program until I was exposed to the diversity of cultural options and role models that DareArts provided—people like George Chuvalo, Joe Sealy, Charlie Pachter, Ken Danby, Karen Kain, Mark Raines Roberts, Ian Scott, Jeannette Zingg and William Stevenson. The inspiration of these mentors didn’t end after grade eight. It has been a continuous support network that never let me down. I want others kids to share this great gift, to know that there is always someone out there who will support their dreams and that there is an organization which makes that possible.

Shamin Mohamed Jr. is a Toronto native with a Guyanese background, and a graduate of Runnymede Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Shamin is a humanitarian, motivational speaker and a leader who believes that everyone can achieve their dreams, once they strive for it. Shamin lives by his self-written motto, “All it takes is one action to make one dream a reality.” Shamin was one of the 2005 Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20” for innovation, leadership and achievement. He was the president of his high school and was also the Toronto District School Board’s SuperCouncil President representing 86,000 secondary students in 103 secondary schools.