Torch - Fall 2012

INSTITUTE AT HAVERGAL

The Meaning of Havergal’s Community Partnerships: Students’ Viewpoints By Alice Jeon and Jamie Albaum

Looking back on another successful Celebration Saturday, we thought we’d shed some light on who our community partners are and the roles they play in our lives. We’re writing this article because Celebration Saturday is not a fun fair; it is an event that honours the value of community partnerships and the significant impact these relationships have on the people involved. The value of community partnerships in our lives rests on the broad understanding of what a partnership is. For us, a partnership is a symbiotic relationship in which both sides support and benefit from each other. Needless to say, this year, in the 12 community partnerships that the school supports, “ As volunteers, we get as much out of it as do the people we are working with. We formed a partnership of our own, in which we were both learning from one another.

each one fosters the importance of reciprocity. In a community partnership, Havergal students have the ability to share in the lives of young people in Toronto. Our relationships with our partners are essentially friendships: we work together and rely on each other to ensure mutual benefits. For this reason, everything that we accomplish with our community partners is so much more rewarding. As this year’s Community Prefects, we would like to thank everyone who came out to Celebration Saturday and supported our community partnerships. Working in a community partnership engages us with our community. The buddies are the intended beneficiaries of the Best Buddies program, but I can definitely say that I gained just as much from working with them as my buddy did . “ HavergalCollege TEDxHavergalCollege on November 3 brought us a morning of wonder and ideas as inspiring thinkers joined us to share their insights into “The World As We Don’t Know It.” Priscilla Uppal shared with us that Plato was an Olympic medallist and encouraged us to remember the connection between physicality and great thinking. Marina Nemat spoke of the fragility of civil society and how we must always be prepared to protect and nurture our peaceful way of life. Mark Kingwell reinforced this message with his invocation that we must demand the impossible of ourselves and others, and not settle for ‘reality’ as we make decisions in life. All those in attendance departed stimulated, never to see the world in the same way again. —Jamie Albaum 2013, volunteer with Best Buddies Community Partnership

Alice Jeon and Jamie Albaum, Community Prefects

—Alice Jeon 2013, volunteer with Derrydown Public School Community Partnership

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Support the Rebuilding of Asomobi Lodge in Costa Rica In July 2012, Havergal

learned that the Asomobi Lodge was destroyed by an electrical fire. This lodge has hosted two Global Experience Program excursions, where students learned about the cooperative structure of Costa Rica’s coffee business and worked on projects. To support the rebuilding, we urge you to purchase Havergal’s

Women Making a Difference coffee at www.havergal.on.ca/coffeeprogram/.

12 HAVERGAL COLLEGE