Thorncliffe Public School Council notice to parents

As my faithful athensBLOG readers know (if there are any of you still left!), we love our neighbourhood - Thorncliffe Park. It's a fascinating neighbourhood that is full of people from so many backgrounds. 35 apartment buildings, 30,000 people, the largest elementary school in North America. There is never a dull moment.

As you may also know, according to Monday's National Post "Toronto (is) the city with the highest concentration of Muslims in North America". And Thorncliffe has the highest concentration of Muslims in Toronto - making Thorncliffe quite an Islamic zone.

Yesterday our kids came home from Thorncliffe Park Public School with a notice about a parenting seminar put on by the school council. This is a great step as many have challenges adjusting to the parenting styles of Canada. You may have seen Russell Peter's youtube video about this :)

What was unfortunate about this parenting seminar is that there was a component titled "Islamic Perspective of Parenting in a Muslim family". Now this is where I start to wonder. I didn't think they were allowed to promote a religious view in a public school?

Below you will see the poster that was handed out to every child in the school:

Thorncliffe Park is a public school. As such I'd like to outline my problems with this seminar. I'd be interested to hear from others in the public school system to see if I'm off base:

1. For me this is a school issue. Not a Muslim or Christian issue. We could be discussing the Baha'i faith or Druze.

2. The school board has to chose to have a "no religions" or "all religions" stance

3. My understanding is that their current stance is "no religions" as they cannot even mention "Christmas" or Easter. There are some variations of this when it comes to holidays like Ramadan.

4. The issue then with this particular incident is that the flyer was sent home *by the school* inviting *all* parents to something that favours one religion.

5. The issue is not even the school hosting the event, but for me sanctioning it and promoting an event which favours and promotes one religion.

This, to me, is unacceptable.

I'd be quite open for comments and will attend this seminar and report back on what it was all about

Thorncliffe Park - crowded but easy to walk...

From yesterdays Globe & Mail:

When Indian-born Sabina Ali and her family arrived here 10 months ago, they chose to live in Thorncliffe Park, a thick cluster of 1950s-era high-rise apartments overlooking the Don River as it curves through the middle of the city.

What attracted the Ali family may surprise those familiar with the neighbourhood's stereotype as a dense, high-rise community of low-income immigrants with social needs.

"When I visited this place, I really liked it," said Ms. Ali, a married mother of four young daughters whose family has no car. "Everything is accessible - the grocery store, the mall, the school and the mosque - and you can just walk [to them]...

Thorncliffe Park, one of 10 inner suburbs being studied, is surprisingly easy to walk around because high-rises are near shopping, schools and play areas. But other areas are much more spread out, with wide arterial roads, no sidewalks and other impediments to pedestrians.

Preliminary findings from Thorncliffe Park show the power of small fixes.

Ms. Ali, a volunteer member of the Women's Committee of Thorncliffe Park, said her group successfully appealed to the city for additional benches and picnic tables for a small park beside the local elementary school. Over the winter, the city agreed to shovel snow from sidewalks and footpaths.

Now, she said, more residents come out to sit and talk, and walk around the park, adding to a sense of security.

Jane Farrow, executive director of the Centre for City Ecology, said the volume of pedestrian activity in Thorncliffe Park is significant."

Full article - click here

Thorncliffe Park - more Muslims than any other provincial riding

For the upcoming Ontario provincial election, Thorncliffe Park is stationed in the riding of Don Valley West. Liberal incumbent Kathleen Wynne is in the fight of her life against Ontario Conservative leader John Tory. Both candidates have had many events here, trying to sway undecided voters, but currently only John Tory signs are up on Thorncliffe Park Drive. One clue as to why Tory has such momentum in this area could be the faith based school concept.

An article from National Post gives some insight into the demographics of Thorncliffe Park:

Don Valley West is a diverse riding. Down the road from Leaside, where soccer moms raise children in spacious brick homes, is Thorncliffe Park, where recent immigrants crowd into high-rise apartments.

It is home to more Muslims than any other provincial riding — 13.6% of the population is Muslim, more than 15,500 people.

The article doesn't give a source for this data, but I'm guessing it's from the 6-year-old Canadian Census? We are still waiting for the 2006 census data which will probably show a much higher Muslim population. Or perhaps these stats are for the entire electoral district, which would include all of Don Valley West (Leaside, etc)? Whatever the case this Muslim demographic here in Thorncliffe will make the election topic of 'faith based schools' quite a hot local matter for both John and Kathleen.

Thieves and vandals in Thorncliffe

Breaking news from Thorncliffe - click here.

Over the three-day Victoria Day weekend, a number of businesses and homes were targeted by culprits. A construction trailer on Jamieson Bone Road was entered sometime over the weekend and a Yamaha generator and a Stihl circular saw were stolen.

A garage on Thorncliffe Drive was entered and a cordless drill, battery charger and a grass trimmer were taken...

Huh? A garage...wait a minute, there are no garages in Thorncliffe, it's all high-rises....lemme read that article again....

...Solar lights, a bird feeder and a large metal heron were damaged over the weekend at a Sumac Terrance home. Police say the metal heron was bolted to a nearby rock, however, the vandals managed to remove it and left the item lying on the lawn of the home.

...oh wait a minute it was Thorncliffe Drive in Bellville! Yikes, sounds like a rough place to live. I'd hate for my kids to grow up in that neighbourhood. Maybe people in Bellville should move to Thorncliffe Park drive where it's safe :) No bird feeder vandalism here!

A food tour of Thorncliffe

Thursday's edition of the Toronto Star has a great article on Thorncliffe's South Asian Food variety - here. The best line in the article is the first one:

Today's Thorncliffe Park is tomorrow's Canada...

It's a striking statement and one that Jehad Aliweiwi makes over a Pakistani meal of haleem, shish kebab curry and chicken tikka masala at Iqbal Kebab & Sweet Centre...Statistics Canada predicts visible minorities (mainly South Asian and Chinese) will be the majority by 2017.That's already true in this little-known Toronto neighbourhood."This is maybe the true global village of the city," says Aliweiwi. "It's not a random neighbourhood with troubles or a bad reputation that's to be avoided. It's a neighbourhood with something to offer."

"This neighbourhood is 90 per cent Muslim," explains co-owner Jenny Hsiung, who comes from Calcutta and is happy to see Hakka (Indian/Pakistani/Chinese hybrid) taking off in Toronto...

Thorncliffe Park, which housed a farm that bred racehorses in the 1800s and then a racetrack from the 1920s to 1950s, retains a unique, circular feel. Aliweiwi loves how the area's apartment dwellers have taken ownership of its public spaces and, especially in warm weather, head out to stroll, chat and gather...

"As a cultural experience, the food and the people are something to be really proud of in this diverse city."

One omission from the article was the recent closing of Thorncliffe's Burger King, which was unable to compete in this South Asian community. That's today's Thorncliffe Park, that's the future of Canada.

Walking Thorncliffe Park

For the past 2 years an initiative called Jane's walk has encouraged people to walk through the less desirable areas of Toronto. Thorncliffe Park is on the list and a recent walker has an excellent article about our sweet neighbourhood!

http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/05/08/walking-thorncliffe-park/

As I noted earlier, Thorncliffe Park is built in a “U” shape with a series of tall and mid-sized towers wrapping around a series of amenities in the middle - the East York Town Centre mall, an elementary school, and a park. Connections can be made both along the “U” of Thorncliffe Park Drive, and through a pair of pedestrian pathways crossing each other in the middle of the “U”. The elementary school, located right behind the mall, has 1,900 students, making it the largest elementary school in North America....

Although Thorncliffe Park is reasonably coherent in terms of internal walking, it remains desperately isolated from the rest of the city

Read the rest of the article and see pictures here

Wednesday prayer requests - Thorncliffe drug bust

While this 4.5 million dollar drug bust was not directly in Thorncliffe Park, there is some disturbing information arising from the news report:

Isa Dahri, 20, of Thorncliffe Park in Toronto, Eduart Dahri, 32, of Tremblay Drive in Vaughan and Endri Bejeri, 18 of Parkview Drive Toronto are jointly charged with possession for the purpose of marijuana, careless use of a firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, possession of prohibited/restricted firearm with ammunition. Bejeri and Eduart Dahri are also facing one count of possession of a firearm and Isa Dahri is charged with possession contrary to order.

Possession/Careless use of a firearm, yikes! Please pray that nobody else in Thorncliffe carelessly uses any firearms! And pray that if there are other firearms in Thorncliffe that the people caught with them aren't named ISA (the Muslim name for Jesus) like this guy.

Wednesday's prayer requests - Thorncliffe cross-walk

The Toronto Star ran an article on Thorncliffe's busy cross-walk yesterday - here. While the issue itself is no shock to those of us who live here, notice the people who are more frequently crossing the street and what this tells you about the community and it's future.

Few places in Toronto are more densely populated than Thorncliffe Park, where dozens of highrise apartment buildings line Thorncliffe Park Blvd.

A focal point for residents is the Jenner Jean-Marie Community Centre, at 48 Thorncliffe Park Dr., which also has a branch of the Toronto Public Library in it. People are coming and going all the time.

To get back and forth across the street, there's a pedestrian crosswalk right in front of the community centre's main entrance that slows traffic on the heavily travelled street enough to allow people to safely get to the other side.

Helena Guan, who lives in the area, emailed to say the flashing yellow lights above the crosswalk – which are supposed to switch on when a pedestrian pushes the activation button on the posts at either end – have been on the blink for a month or so....

We watched for about 20 minutes yesterday and counted upwards of 100 people using the crosswalk – mostly kids and women pushing strollers – while many others ignored it and crossed wherever it was handy

First day of school in Thorncliffe park

With the massive influx of new immigrants to the Thorncliffe Park area it's no wonder a program like 'Newcomer Orientation Week' has been set up to help students adjust to our school system. You may remember that the below-mentioned-proud-papa Dave teaches at the local highschool Marc Garneau. Here's a clip from the Toronto Star article about 'Newcomer Orientation Week' at Marc Garneau:

At Marc Garneau, about one in four students has come to Canada within the past five years. Diego, who will be in Grade 9, took his turn to share his hobbies, favourite subjects and the excitement of a new life in Canada.

After mingling, the group toured the nearby Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office to learn about available youth programs and settlement services for their families.

Mariam Spanos, 18, who arrived from Iraq in March with sister Alis, 16, said being greeted by an Arabic-speaking peer immediately put them at ease.

"Now, I know some people in the school, so it won't be a total shock when I come on my first day. Hopefully, I won't get lost," she said with a chuckle.

Tomorrow Lukas and Sylas start at Thorncliffe Park public school, which was mentioned in a February Toronto Sun article - here as the largest elementary school in North America. Sylas is in one of 32 kindergarten classes. 93% of the kids do not claim English as their first language. This summer the soccer field was paved over to make way for 10 new portables to accommodate the continuing growth. When we registered our kids back in spring, we commented on how well they are doing at handling the 1500 children. The lady looked at Hayley and said 'oh those are old statistics, it's 1700 kids now'! Should be a fun first day of school here in Thorncliffe Park!!

Thorncliffe Soccer League!! Volunteers needed

We need some volunteer coaches & referees for the Thorncliffe soccer league.
Send me a message if you can help!!

____________________________

http://www.thorncliffepark.ca

Summer Soccer League in Thorncliffe Park for boys and girls aged 7 to 16.

All skill levels welcome. Come out and have fun playing soccer this summer in Thorncliffe Park from mid-June to the end of August. Games will be played at Leaside Park (by the tennis courts & swimming pool),

Cost: Free
Ages: 7 years old to 16 years old (teams will be by age groups)

***Volunteer coaches and referees needed. Community service credit available for high school students. ***

Registration
In person at 38 Thorncliffe Park Drive on these days only:
Saturday May 30, 2009 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Tuesday June 2, 2009 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Online: www.toronto.ca/parks/torontofun/to_fun_regonline.htm
By touchtone phone: 416-338-0000

For more information, please contact:
email: soccer@thorncliffepark.ca
website: www.thorncliffepark.ca

Amazing historical piece on Thorncliffe

This article from ERA architects and the "Tower renewal project" documents some of the original designs and pictures from Thorncliffe Park.

Thorncliffe Park was a bold 1950s plan by the Town of Leaside to redevelop a former racetrack overlooking the Don River. Conceived in 1955 it was proposed to be the first apartment neighbourhood in Canada...The apartment towers themselves were the peak of modernity, for the first time offering panoramic views of the city, underground parking, indoor pools and other amenities unthinkable before the War. In something of a ‘Jetsons’ aesthetic, Thorncliffe’s modern towers were a symbol of a prosperous and confident nation after the war...

...Today the area one of the City’s most prominent immigrant reception zones. It is home to Canada’s largest Islamic community and is one of North America’s most diverse neighbourhoods, with a vibrancy and street life usually found in the central city

Check out the full article here

Thorncliffe Park - Canada's highest concentration of Muslims

Before the city of Toronto was a big huge mega-city it was divided up into various little 'boroughs' which all had their own mayor. East York is the 'borough' in which Thorncliffe Park is located. Recently I stumbled across this interview with the former Mayor of East York Michael Prue. His comments about Thorncliffe Park are very interesting:

We also talked about the Thorncliffe Park area, for which Michael was responsible when he was Mayor of East York. This area has Canadas largest concentration of Muslim immigrants

The largest concentration of Muslims in Canada - sweet!

Thorncliffe Park - "Canada's highest immigrant concentration"

While blasting the Liberals in a recent Toronto Star article, Immigration and Diversity reporter Nicholas Keung refers to the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, stating:

Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, serving an area with Canada's highest immigrant concentration.

So not only does Thorncliffe have the highest Muslim concentration in Canada, it also has the highest concentration of new immigrants to Canada. Just one more reason you should move in to the area :)

'Living with Islamists' and the 'Incarnational Imperative'

A friend tipped me off to a recent article from Christianity Today that really resonates with me, especially since my trip to Pakistan and move to islamic-dominated Thorncliffe Park. As you'll see from the article the author spent 'A year in Pakistan' which 'gave me a glimpse of what Christian witness might look like today'. What might it look like in Pakistan? In Thorncliffe? In your neighbourhood? His conclusion about the 'incarnational imperative' is profound:

We also need to find ways to broaden the way we practice Christian witness in this post-9/11 world...I had been sold a bleak picture of the Muslim world so at odds with my experience of the Pakistani people. What also stung was encountering hundreds of Pakistanis who had never before honestly interacted with someone from my country or of my faith.

Never once in Pakistan did I bring up the subject of religion, yet somehow I was always talking about it. People flooded me with questions: What do you think of the clash of civilizations? What do Christians believe about the prophet Jesus? Do Americans hate Islam? And my favorite, posed by a rather baffled old mullah: What is premillenial dispensationalism? My Muslim Pakistani friends were gracious enough to interpret for me their world and their faith. In light of our incarnational imperative, we Christians ought to be more eager to do the same.

How will we 'interpret our world and our faith' to those around us here in Thorncliffe? What does our witness look like? What will our church look like? As we call people to live incarnationally and move into Thorncliffe, and as I read articles like this, it makes me think we are at least on the right track, asking the right questions so that our main objective is making sure that only Jesus shines through!!

90% of Thorncliffe not born in Canada

Another interesting article about Thorncliffe:

http://www.torontoobserver.ca/2008/12/07/i-vote-toronto-seeks-a-wider-voice-in-civic-elections/

Desmond Cole, project manager for the I Vote Toronto campaign at the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, says that a community grassroots movement is needed..

“There are literally hundreds of newcomers serving agencies in Toronto,” he said...(About) 90 per cent of the people who live in Thorncliffe were not born in Canada.”

Click here for the full article

Thorncliffe gets some love from Mayor Miller

1.1 million in the budget is going towards childcare in Thorncliffe!

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/552036

$1.1M Open new child-care centre at Thorncliffe Park with 56 spots.

That's pretty handy considering Thorncliffe not only has the biggest elementary school in North America (1900 kids from K-5) but also the largest age demographic from the 2006 census is 0-4 year olds!!! click here for graph

Early wednesday prayer requests - "I was born and raised in the ghetto"

Tonight we move to Thorncliffe Park. As I reported last week Thorncliffe is a neighbourhood in Toronto that is inhabited mainly by new Canadians from Pakistan and Afghanistan. 30,000 people. 34 high rise buildings. The biggest elementary school in North America. It's a different kind of 'ghetto' than the Steeles-Lamarouex/Chester Le area we lived in for the past 3 years working at Bridlegrove, but it's still a ghetto. I wanted to post a video that you can watch until we arrive in Thorncliffe. It's about ghettos in Toronto and those who grow up in them. It's strange to think that my kids qualify for that category.

The video was sent to me by Geoff Ryan, my Salvation Army officer friend who is doing an awesome work in the legendary Toronto ghetto - Regent Park. I'm excited to be working with Geoff, who will be helping and coaching me in Thorncliffe.

I love the 'hook' for the song..."I was born and raised in the ghetttoooo". I'd challenge you to watch the video at least 5 times until that little hook penetrates your soul and mind with empathy. It gives me shivers listening to it and thinking of all my homeys that we worked with at Bridlegrove. I miss those kids a whole lot. I made a photo album on facebook. Lord, be gracious to them.



While we are driving the 18 hours from PEI I'll be praying that more and more people will be like Jesus and move into the ghettos. These 'bad areas'...like the one Jesus grew up in. Jesus was a kid 'born and raised' in a ghetto called Nazareth, where 'no good thing' could possibly happen. Maybe that's why he loves these kids so much. As you watch this video, say a prayer for all the kids in the ghettos in Toronto.

Thorncliffe all-kindergarten school?

I saw this article today on CityTv:

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/64193--tdsb-reportedly-considering-all-kindergarten-school

the Toronto public board is considering creating an all-kindergarten campus, according to a published report.

Thorncliffe Park Elementary...currently has more than 600 kindergarten students and is struggling to find solutions to deal with its ever-swelling student population.

The high numbers of new Canadians that are constantly moving into the area have caused the entire student population at the school to grow to nearly 2,000 – that’s about five times the city average. Thorncliffe Park Elementary, which has already outgrown a 2003 addition, only houses kids in junior kindergarten to Grade 5...

The TDSB is seriously considering the idea of using a new building next to the existing school as a kindergarten-only facility. A new $16 million building is slated to go up in 2011, but how that building will be used and by which students, is still up in the air.

Ok, I'm not sure if any of these people have been to Thorncliffe lately but exactly where are they thinking of putting a new school? There is zero room for anything around here so I'm interested in how this plays out. 600 kindergarten students is more than we had in my entire elementary school growing up. 2000 kids is more than my highschool! Amazing to think of our kids being part of this mix.

**UPDATE** from CBC: The school has 32 kindergarten classes alone, which have about 800 to 1,000 students.

John Tory loves Thorncliffe!

Can you smell it? It's in the air. Burgers and hot dogs in Thorncliffe Park! That means it's election time soon! Ontario Conservative Leader John Tory is running in *our* riding and I've been fairly impressed that he gives two hoots about Thorncliffe Park. On John's blog he states:

Saturday afternoon saw a huge picnic in Thorncliffe Park, perhaps one of the most multicultural, multilingual neighbourhoods in all of Ontario, at the very heart of my new riding of Don Valley West

Johnny not only made an appearance at the Neighbours Night out, he actually went to the back of one of the apartment buildings (#65) to put on this barbeque. Hopefully through this election Mr. Tory will be able to shine more light on this forgotten area of the city. Jerry Bolton was there and took some pics. :

Wednesday prayer requests - Gun toting Thorncliffe teen

Yesterday the Toronto Star reported that police where called to a 'building on Thorncliffe Park Drive':

Jun 19, 2007 03:13 PM - Justin Piercy

A 16-year-old has been charged with carrying a concealed handgun. Police say a young man was in the lobby of an apartment building on Thorncliffe Park Drive, near Milwood Rd. and Overlea Blvd. on Monday around 11 p.m.

A person walking past noticed what they thought to be the handle of a gun protruding from the boy's pocket, so they called 911. Police say when they arrived, the suspect ran and discarded something. Officers located a loaded .22-calibre handgun that they believe to be one stolen in a break-and-enter in Mississauga last year.

A 16-year-old boy — who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — faces nine charges including carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a restricted firearm with ammunition and failing to comply with probation.

The article doesn't specify which building but since we live in one of these buildings it makes you wonder. While Thorncliffe is not known for gun violence please pray as the summer approaches that there would be no shootings.