Africentric Alternative School Fundraises with a Former Regional Senior Judge

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed.  Justice Gregory Regis, former regional senior judge of the Ontario Court of Justice.

The Toronto District School Board’s first Africentric Alternative School (AAS) says monies raised from an upcoming annual fundraising event will be used to fund educational field trips, the purchase of technology to support students’ learning as well as to support extracurricular activities.

Since opening its doors in September 2009, the school has built strong community partnerships for the primary purpose of building community relations and raising much needed funds to support key school-based initiatives.

In a 2018 report examining fundraising and fees in Ontario’s schools, People for Education, a registered charity, says fundraising is a staple of most schools in the province.

“ In 2018, 99% of elementary and 87% of secondary schools report that they fundraise in some way. Schools report a variety of fundraising activities, including pizza lunches, book fairs, bingos, holiday gift sales, and chili cook-offs. The money raised is used to support charities, fund busing for school trips, purchase new technology, establish student bursaries and scholarships, or add outdoor learning spaces.”

It notes that Ontario’s Guideline for School Fundraising specifies that funds raised must be used “to complement, not replace, public funding for education.” 

According to the guideline, schools cannot fundraise for “learning materials and textbooks,” “staff training for professional development,” or “administrative expenses.” But they can fundraise for things like “excursions,” “guest speakers,” “extracurricular activities,” and “upgrades to sporting facilities.”

This year the keynote speaker at the AAS’s ninth annual fundraising event will be Justice Gregory Regis, former regional senior judge from the Ontario Court of Justice.

He was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice in 1999, and in 2007, was appointed regional senior justice for the Central East Region. Justice Regis was reappointed in 2010 and completed the maximum two terms in 2013. 
 
He was the first and only Saint Lucian to become a judge in Canada and although he retired in 2014, he continues to serve as a judge part-time.

Before earning his Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, Regis graduated from Ryerson’s School of Journalism in 1977. 

His experience in journalism began in Saint Lucia, where he worked as a photo- journalist for Saint Lucia’s national newspaper, The Voice, and later as a news editor for Radio Saint Lucia. 

He was the correspondent in Saint Lucia for several Caribbean and international news outlets including the Associated Press, the Trinidad Express, Radio Guardian and Radio Antilles. In Canada, Regis worked as an editor for CBC.

Regis is an active member of the community and has held leadership positions for a number of groups including the Saint Lucia Toronto Association, the Canadian Foundation for Caribbean Development and Co-operations, the Caribbean Culture Committee, and the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. 

He is a founding member of the Canadian Centre on Minority Affairs, and has worked as a consultant on race relations with the Toronto Police Services Board and the Toronto Board of Education.

Regis is a member of the Association of Ontario Judges, the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. 

He is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Saint Lucia Governor General’s Award, the BBPA’s Harry Jerome Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ontario Medal for Community Service, and the African Canadian Achievement Award for Law.

In 2017, Regis was appointed for one year as distinguished visiting professor at Ryerson University.

The AAS serves students and their families from the Greater Toronto Area, providing high quality teaching and learning within the mandated Ontario curriculum. 

Under the theme “Developing Leaders,” the fundraising event, which will be held at the Jamaican  Canadian Association on June 15, is considered by the organizers to also be a time when they “look forward to discussing how you can make a difference in the education of young people in our community.”

The AAS accepts students from junior kindergarten to grade 8 and although located in Toronto’s west end, any student living in the city can attend the school.

The three key outcomes for its students are high academic achievement, high self-pride, and a high motivation to succeed. 

The school’s website notes that it “is unique in its integration of the diverse perspectives, experiences and histories of people of African descent into the provincial mandated curriculum. The program will also feature a Parenting and Family Literacy Centre for pre-school children.”

[This story was published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, May 17-23, 2018.]