Students from the Africentric Alternative School explored their creativity at Tarragon Theatre as part of our Young Playwrights program. The trip included a tour of the theatre, a fun workshop, and an amazing performance! 🎭✨ Thanks @TarragonTheatre for inspiring our Young Playwrights and @rhf.frh.canada Catapult Canada fund for recognizing and supporting this project! 🫶 . #StoryPlanet #AlienArtMarket #TarragonTheatre #TorontoTheatre #TarragonTheatreTO #artseducation #CreativeCommunity #artseducationmatters #torontoarts #KidsActivitiesToronto #TorontoActivities #TorontoKidsActivities #TorontoChildFun #thingstodoinToronto #nonprofit #nonprofitorganizations #nonprofitlife #nonprofitToronto #nonprofitCanada

Writing with feeling, creating songs and poetry, and being treated to music by @kaygeni—it doesn’t get much better than this ❤️ . #youngpoets #theclarkto #youngwriters

✨ With this visual prompt, imaginations ran wild! ✨ The students spun stories about: 🥰 Two best friends 🦎 A lizard with a dark secret... 🐟 A pet flushed down the toilet, only to emerge as a mutant 🐉 A dream beast declaring, “I am interested in your dance moves and voice!” What do YOU see?💡👇 . #visualprompt #freewriting #youngwriters

✨ Meet Emerjade Simms, facilitator for our Young Playwrights program with @tarragontheatreto👋 A Jamaican-Canadian actor, storyteller, and arts educator, Emerjade loves “da kids” and was the director of Peace Camp at Children’s Peace Theatre for two years. Select theatre credits include Come Home: The Legend of Daddy Hall (Tarragon), Every Day She Rose (Black Theatre Workshop). Get to know Emerjade through these writing prompts from our memoir writing program. 💡💫 ➡️A time you cried: I know strikes and booms are going on above your head, but I selfishly just want to hug you and eat your food. An ocean and our artistry keep us bound to the earth, but we’ll fly soon. Looking fly.  ➡️A time you felt scared: Existing is scary. It’s my first time doing the life thing. Every moment is scary in its own way. You know when you get a cold and it comes with a stuffy nose and you think for about 5 seconds that you’ll never breathe again?  . #creativecommunity @em.er.jade @africentricschool_tdsb

✨ We’re thrilled to welcome some fabulous new faces to our team! 👋 To break the ice, we handed out some writing prompts from our memoir writing program. 💡💫 Meet IVY VU, our new program facilitator and coordinator—teacher, reader, and aspiring baker. With years of experience in elementary and secondary education, Ivy brings fresh insights to our programs. Welcome!🎉 ➡️A time you cried: Listen, I cry at the drop of a hat. I’ve been trying to work on it, but so far, no progress has been made. Most recently, I watched the live action version of The Lion King for the first time. I couldn’t handle the cartoon as a child, and I’m mortified to tell you that as a full grown adult, I sobbed so much at M*****’s death that I had to leave the room. ➡️A time you felt scared: ANY TIME I SEE A BEE. ➡️A time you got hurt The most important thing you need to know is that I could not miss that bus. The next one wouldn’t come for another ten minutes, and I was already running late. It’s just a bit of snow, I thought. What’s a bit of slush, I thought. This isn’t so bad, I told myself. Did I hear a terrible crunching sound as my foot slipped? Maybe. Did I end up limping around in a boot for nearly 3 months? Yes. BUT DID I GET THAT BUS? Reader, I did!  . #creativecommunity #teachersareheroes

Grade 7/8 students at the Africentric Alternative School are about to embark on a scriptwriting and theatre adventure! They’ll explore works by Black Canadian playwrights, learn from guest artists, improv, act, and—of course—WRITE. ✍️ The finale will be a staged reading of their scripts on the Tarragon @tarragontheatreto stage!🎭 Arts education has well-documented links to improved academic & social-emotional development. (See our bio for a link to an illuminating list of studies). THANK YOU🫶 to the Rideau Hall Foundation’s Catapult Canada fund @rhf.frh.canada for recognizing and supporting this project! Led by playwrights KayGeni @kaygeni Augusto Bitter @augustobitter, and educators Ivy Wu & Danielle Seale-Corbin . #artseducation #CreativeCommunity #artseducationmatters #toronotarts #literacymatters #creativeliteracy #torontotheatre @africentriccouncilto