Hello Everyone,
Happy Valentine’s Day. Can you believe it is already the middle of February?
I want to kick off this update with a picture of our NOISE pods… we have many more photos of the December event and we’ll soon post them on Flickr.
Since returning after the New Year- things have been busy! The cold weather, snowy days and icy sidewalks certainly didn’t slow down our NOISE Fellows.
Project Update
In January we made some big changes to NOISE. We’re very exited to say that we are now offering support and space in two new areas- homework/tutoring & resume building/employment searches. Luckily for us we also had a new BSW placement student, Chantelle, come on board to take the lead on these pieces. For the hour and a half before pod meetings begin, space is available for homework, tutoring, resume writing and supports in job searches. Thank you to the School of Social Work for your generosity with space and resources! Additionally, on Friday afternoons Chantelle works out the space shared by York U- TD Community Engagement Center and Seneca in the Yorkgate Mall. Thank you to the CEC for providing us with the space and supporting the NOISE project! Every Friday Chantelle also sends out a digest containing job search tips, employment opportunities and information on training that might be useful to youth seeking summer and part-time work. Chantelle has also been circulating important information on financing post-secondary education, scholarships and bursaries.
We were so pleased to see the energy and excitement that several of you brought to resume writing! Many of the students who have started the process have been shocked to see how much experience they have, once they start putting it all down on paper. So…if you haven’t been by, don’t be shy or feel you have nothing to write/ no experience. Think about NOISE, your social action project, candy sales, team sports, school clubs, organizations, volunteer experiences, work (paid and unpaid), hobbies, interests… it all adds up!
This week NOISE nominated Henry Appiah for York’s Robert Tiffen Student Leadership Award. Henry is in his third year of a BA at York and he was part of the team that originally designed NOISE! Since then he has stayed involved with student engagement and researching youth leadership. He is also very active with the executive for both, York’s Peace by Peace organization and the Golden Key Society. Henry keeps very busy and is always juggling the responsibilities of several co-curricular activities but he is NEVER to busy to stop, smile and ask how your day is going. Good luck Henry!
Over the next couple of weeks all of our pods are going to begin the second round of reflective discussions. NOISE pods will record themselves responding to questions about the social action planning process. This is not any form of evaluation, the discussions are a tool for pods to reflect on what is happening and how they are experiencing NOISE. The feedback from the first round was returned to individual pods this week- the pods seem to be having fun looking at the information that came out of the process.
We still in the process of planning for March Break (though we do have some things lines up- see below)- so if you have any ideas or interests please let us know! We are still participating in Kids Up Front and receiving tickets almost every week for local sporting events. The Raptors tickets seem to be most popular. We are also on a waiting list for passes to visit the Royal Ontario Museum in the next few weeks. We can’t thank Kids Up Front enough for the opportunities they have provided.
Coming back in January also meant a number of changes in people’s class/ work/ placement schedules. I want to say a huge thank you to all of you for how hard you are working to make meetings, squeeze in social action planning activities and shift things around so that you can make pod outings!
We also have four Seneca Social Service Worker Interns applying to transfer into York’s School of Social Work next September. Wishing you all the best of luck in this process!
Finally, a theme has been selected for our end of year celebration on April 22nd: Lighting Fires for Social Justice and Social Change! We don’t want to think about April as the end of the NOISE year but the beginning of a lifetime of participation in processes supporting social change! NOISE simply created a space for connecting sparks and lighting the fires that will continue to burn!
Pod Update
All of the pods are very focussed on their social action projects! You can really see the planning process come alive- pods are thinking through all the details, connecting with community organizations, identifying resources, interviewing peers, visiting sites/ spaces…the list goes on! Equally important, some pods are asking critical questions about the plans they made last semester and making some changes to their projects…which is a natural part of social action planning and group work.
In the last couple of weeks two pods, SQUAD and Dream, held candy sales to raise additional funds for their work. The pods put a lot of effort into their Valentine’s Day theme and both pods were quite successful! Well done and thank you to the students and staff of the School of Social Work- you were especially generous with your support!
Upcoming Events
Please check out the list of upcoming events listed below. We have a couple more things in the works… so stay tuned! As always, if you have questions, concerns or suggestions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
February
We’ve been invited to participate in Emery CI’s Community Fair– Tuesday Feb 18th, 9:30-12:30
Employment Workshop– Youth Fellows
Tuesday Feb 18th, 4:00-6:00, Ross 822
NOISE Movie Night (and popcorn and pizza!) Youth Fellows (though all are welcome)
Thursday Feb 20th, 4:30-7:00, Ross S 802
Parent/ Guardian Engagement Dinner
Monday, Feb 24th, 6:00-8:00, York TD Engagement Center/ Seneca- Yorkgate Mall
Exciting Dialogue Session: For All Pods and NOISE Community
Tuesday, Feb 25th, 4:30-6:30, Harry Crowe Room
March
BSW-York Social Work Alum Mixer
Monday, March 3rd, 6:00-8:00, Harry Crowe Room, York.
First Post-secondary Education Day– Youth Fellows
Tuesday March 11th, 2:15-5:00, Ross S 802
NOISE Game Day– All Invited!
Thursday, March 13th, 12:00-4:00, Ross S 802
Employment Preparation Workshop
Mock Interviews
Friday March 14th, 10:00-3:00 YorkU-TD Community Engagement Center, Yorkgate Mall, Contact Chantelle to book: cadjint@yorku.ca
April
End of Year Celebration
April 22nd 4:30-8:00
The Underground, York University
Thank you to everyone participating in and supporting the NOISE project. We are moving into a very exciting phase of NOISE…the social action projects will be kicking off next month. We will be sharing event details with the entire NOISE community and look forward to seeing some familiar faces at these events!
Have a wonderful long weekend and Reading Week (for York students). Please remember that all pod meetings are cancelled during Reading Week.
Take care and thank you,
Jen