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A New Pathway: Dis is Jungle!
A few months ago, Torontoist was invited to take part in Pathways to Education, a program that helps students in disadvantaged neighbourhoods stay in school, graduate, and pursue post-secondary education. As part of the Group Mentoring component this winter, Torontoist writers Karen Aagaard, Hamutal Dotan, and Suzannah Showler conducted a workshop in online journalism for some Pathways students in Lawrence Heights; another group meeting concurrently learned about photography from staff photographer Nick Kozak. We invited the students to share stories about their neighbourhood and their experiences with Pathways with you.
Photo by Jevan Tyler-Davis.
Dis: disvalue, disadvantaged, disappointment, dishonour? Disabled. Dis is a play about disabled people written by teenagers who live in the Lawrence Heights community, an area also known as Jungle. They are students at Sir Sandford Fleming Academy, the Lawrence Heights home school. SSFA is known as one of the worst high schools in Ontario: Its bad reputation overshadows the raw talent of the students. Myself, as a student at SSFA, I think it is a good school. Yes, it has its own problems and issues, but so do other schools.
Dis is a play written by Grade 11 student Geno Ramirez. Over twenty students starred in the play. Though most were Grade 11 and 12 students, some were in Grade 10, and the play took a long time to rehearse. People expect teenagers to do bad things in their free time: drugs, violence, and crime. These students spent their free time rehearsing a play, showing that they care enough to do something positive.
Dis has an inspiring message. It shows the lives of disabled people and the struggle they face throughout life because they have disabilities; for example they can’t walk, hear, or see.
Dis has been entered in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. It is a very original, mind-opening play. Many people came to see it, and many seemed to have loved it. As soon as the curtains were closed the applause was over the top. “I can go downtown and pay a lot of money to watch something not as good as this,” said Mr. Koteski, a teacher at SSFA. “I have seen so many plays in my life. There is nothing new to me, but this play was something I have never seen before,” he added.
This wasn’t the first time SSFA did a play for the Sears Festival. Last time they did another play called Jungle Baby, a play about the lives of people in Jungle, which won many awards in the Sears Festival. It also opened opportunities for students to go and do other plays.
There were two other schools who did a play for Sears—Victoria Park Collegiate Institute and L’Amoreaux Collegiate Institute—and they also did an amazing job. But remember, these schools are known for their good reputation and are located in a good neighborhoods.
The Sir Sandford Fleming students will know the results of the drama festival soon. Whether they win or not, for me they are the winners. They’ve overcome the bad reputation of their school and their community and done something that people thought they could never do. Dis is the beauty of a raw talent.
Now that you’ve read this, what do you think? Do you believe the stereotype of Jungle or the beauty of Jungle? You decide.