Toronto District School Board
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Jahbarie

EquityJahbarie

David and Mary Thomson CI

Don’t judge me by my appearance.

I’m a young, Black African man with African ancestors running through my veins. And I wear my hair in dreads for religious purposes. I’m a kid that believes in myself. I take school very seriously but school was not always a walk in the park. School was very hard for me and when I see teachers discriminating students, they don’t do it obviously but when you sit there and you watch them, it’s a way to focus. I can focus and look at the person and I can know everything about them, everything. And when I see a teacher discriminating a student, it’s very sad because where I come from, school is very hard, as I said, and when teachers think that kids like me should be in applied classes, or that we don’t consider university, that really makes me feel bad. The point is, don’t be afraid or isolate kids like me because in the end, it will help all of us to do better and learn from each other about ourselves. Things are getting better thanks to the staff at my school, Thomson.

My school experience has been getting better due to the tone that the staff at Thomson set, and the key to that is another reason why I really love my school: it’s a community that is always thinking of the well-being of students no matter what the race. That’s why we came up with positive places such as the support room where children are allowed to go there and talk to the staff about homework, personal issues or just to interact with other students that have the same condition as them and they could help each other out to create a family. The office has wonderful staff that takes the slightest problem very seriously. You walk in, they say good morning, they don’t hesitate to help you no matter what, they don’t discriminate you no matter what. They consider each person family at Thomson.

The wonderful principal there takes all things and accepts. Everything colour, skin, everything. He takes everything under consideration, planning activities because he can relate to the hardship that kids go through. Especially the higher year kids and they’re taking academic courses, he makes sure that he makes activities, he works things out because he knows that we’re going through a lot of hardship. He also considers us, the students of Thomson, along with his staff, he treats us like his child. He teachers us, he talks to us calmly and if he has to get rough, he will get rough.

In our community at Thomson, even the caretakers play a big role in our community. They work so hard to keep our community clean, that you see students cleaning up. Sometimes they lend a huge hand, and I think we should show the students more appreciation because when you show them appreciation, they’re going to show you appreciation. Just like my math teacher, I was doing so bad in math, and this teacher, whenever I needed extra help, that lady would never look at the clock, she would just help me because when she’s teaching me, she’s not looking at it like a job, she’s looking at it as a way to pass on her knowledge to make sure that the future of the Thomson family stay together, stay as a community.

And to end this off, I’d just like to say, when you look at me, look at me as all of Thomson. A little bit of Thomson can make one person. When you have a community and you have somebody that represents the community a little bit of everyone comes together, look at me as that. If what I said today can really change the way you run your school, or can make your school become a community, please, it’s a great honour to talk to you guys.