Grade 12 Challenge Week: Understanding Community Service

Each year a group of grads elect to stay in Toronto to participate in an intense week of service, building their understanding of different communities within the city. This year was no exception as a dedicated group of students worked with New Circles Community Services, a not-for-profit organization in Scarborough. New Circles provides social services, education, and training, and offers the largest clothing bank in Canada.

This year, Challenge Week participants spent Monday in a design thinking workshop that focused on community-based organizations. They examined issues that affect marginalized communities both locally and globally. As a case study, they looked at some of the large issues being tackled by Half the Sky, an international organization that focuses on women and oppression. Students then chose an issue that was of interest to them and worked in groups to create a not-for-profit that could potentially offer solutions. Students designed micro-lending platforms, mobile health units to deal with maternal mortality, and crisis intervention organizations to help victims of human trafficking. By the end of the session on Monday, they were well aware of the efficacy as well as the limitations of community organizations.

They brought this deeper understanding to their work at New Circles, where we spent the remainder of the week immersed in the organization’s daily operations. We sorted donations and developed a teen shopping event. Students worked in the GLOW store helping clients find clothing and shoes, accepted donations, and audited summer, prom and winter donations. They saw firsthand the challenges and successes that organizations like New Circles face daily.

Greenwood strives to provide students with authentic opportunities to engage, support and learn from varied communities. The Toronto Challenge Week allows students to learn first-hand from experts within these communities. This experience led students to expand their understanding, inspiring them to think deeply about ways they can continue to make a difference within their own communities and beyond. Based on their hard work last week, they are clearly up to the challenge!