BY PAUL JUNOR
It is hard to believe that the Walk With Excellence, which was held on Wednesday, June 8th, 2022 is the 11th walk since it started in 2011. In many ways, this annual celebratory event has now become a rite of passage for students who attend the four high schools in the area. This symbolic event featured graduating students from: C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, Westview Centennial Secondary School, Downsview Secondary School and Emery Collegiate Institute.
The Walk With Excellence has come to represent an important milestone in the lives of these Grade 12 students as they venture into the next phase of their academic journey. It highlights in a very public way their entrance into the world of higher learning. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held virtually and included students from: Brookview Middle School, James Cardinal MacGuigan Catholic High School, and Emery Adult Learning Centre. In 2021, there was no Walk With Excellence due to concerns about COVID-19.
Itah Sadhu, Managing Editor of the Blackhurst Cultural Centre has been instrumental in the launch of Walk With Excellence. Itah states, “I am thrilled that we are having the 2022 Walk With Excellence in person. In the words of Rihanna, pop star and Barbados national hero, to see our students shine bright like a diamond.”
In addition, Amani Kwadwo Ausar, a guidance counsellor at Downsview who was active in planning the Walk notes, “The Walk With Excellence celebrates the brilliance of graduating scholars from Emery, Westview, Downsview, and C.W Jeffrey’s. We have every confidence that these remarkable leaders from diverse backgrounds will work collectively to end all forms of hate and oppression so that freedom, equity, joy, love and social justice can reign supreme.”
The 2022 Walk With Excellence commenced at 10:00 a.m. at C.W. Jeffrey’s where there was the launch of student presentations. This was followed by the 5 km celebration march at 11:00 a.m. of almost 200 students along Sentinel Rd to York University. Many students displayed banners, which indicated the schools that they attended.
The students arrived at Vari Hall at about 12:30 p.m. where they congregated in the courtyard and listened to speeches from representatives of the Toronto District School Board and York University. Awards were given out to outstanding students from various high schools. At the end of the formal speeches, students were served delicious and appetizing Caribbean meals. T-shirts worn by students had the words of a poem by Gabby Molina of Downsview titled, “A Love Letter to our Future,” written on them.
The words of the poem are:
“This is a love letter to our future.
This is a love letter to time we spent late nights and early mornings.
This is a love letter to our devotion giving everything to what we do.
This is a love letter to our determination working through obstacles pushing past barriers, even a pandemic.
This is a love letter to our resilience.
And this is a love letter to the unknown; the future is shrouded and it is terrifying.
But we can conquer whatever comes and fail in love with the future.
Yours. Ours.”
