AFC is reaching record numbers this year! Here are just some of the schools/organizations that will receive Outreach Programming during the 04/05 academic year...

• AboutFace
• Bala Avenue Community School
• Dennis Avenue Community School
• Earl Beatty Public School
• Etienne Brule Jr. Public School
• F.H. Miller Public School
• Fairbank Mem. Community School
• Gledhill Public School
• Hospital for Sick Children
• James Culnan Catholic School
• John McCrae Middle School
• Juniors in Literacy Family
• Keelesdale Jr. Public School
• King George Jr. Public School
• Lord Dufferin Public School
• Metro Toronto School for the Deaf
• Portage Trail Community Jr. School
• Portage Trail Community Md. School
• Queen Victoria Public School
• Sloane Public School
• St. Brendan Catholic School
• St. Clare Catholic School
• St. John the Evangelist Cath. School
• St. Nicholas of Bari Catholic School
• St. Raymond Catholic School
• St. Theresa Shrine Catholic School
• The Elms Diagnostic Centre
• Thorncliffe Park Public School
• Winchester Public School
• York Square

If you were to drop in after school almost any day of the week at the Toronto Community Housing complex at York Square, you would find young people drumming, acting, cartooning, learning to draw or hip hop dancing with highly qualified instructors sent by Arts for Children of Toronto. This new AFC initiative expands on the success of work started last year.

The Police Liaison Committee of 12th Division introduced AFC to York Square almost a year ago. The Committee was looking for an opportunity to have members of the Police Services participate in a community activity to help build trust. Police officers attended – and continue to attend – the weekly drumming circle and are slowly developing positive relationships with the young people.

Opportunities came to the children who studied African drumming for six months with their drumming master, Muhtadi. They call themselves the York Square Drumming Squad and last June they performed at the Royal York Hotel for Rotary Club International, at Canada Youth Day at The Air Canada Centre and at a Drumming Festival at Queen's Park.

When faced with teenagers who were more interested in basketball than cartooning, ingenious artist and AFC instructor David Lapp quietly situated himself near the basketball court, sketching the players in action. Gradually the curious teenagers started to hang around him and then, one by one, they cautiously agreed to try cartooning themselves. If you visit the gym at York Square on any Tuesday after school, you will find David enthralling 15 young people.

The Mini Arts Centre project is funded by Arts for Children and ProAction, an organization that supports "Kids and Cops" coming together in constructive ways. The young people are engaging in activities they enjoy and are learning skills that they will surely find useful in the future.

Bala Avenue Community School experienced AFC's first creative movement workshop. This new addition to the programming will allow participants to learn to communicate a story through the body. By creating short movement pieces, each child discovers how the elements of movement play an important role when creating a dance story.

AboutFace is an international organization, which provides information and emotional support to individuals with facial differences and to their families. On October 23rd, AFC was fortunate to participate in their 9th annual Family Education Day Expressions of Self, where it provided workshops in drama and visual arts to children from around the province.