Monday 29 April 2019

IN PRAISE OF KATHERINE FRASER


The proposed education cuts by the provincial government will have big implications for IRC staff and students alike. The following letter comes to us from a fellow IRC parent. If Kaleb's message resonates with you, please see the attached flyer from the Parent Involvement Advisory Committee to find out how you can get involved in this important conversation. 

In praise of Katherine Fraser.

            Hard to know where to begin with Katherine. She does so much with so much life and energy. She manages to get all the kids involved , engaged and loving music. They have done an embarrassing long list of amazing things since she arrived a few short years ago.  I’ll use my son Tate as an example.

When Tate was in grade 4 , Katherine got a Tabla (East Indian percussion style) drumming teacher in to do a whole unit in class on performing Tabla drumming, Not only did they learn how to play the various drums and cymbals, they learned the word associated with each sound and then broke into small groups and WROTE their own original table rhythm/grove with words and drumming!

            She also runs a guitar club 1/week for grades 4 – 6 . In this, the kids learned Clocks by Cold Play, with two kids singing and another, my son Tate, playing piano.  She combined the guitar club with  the Tabla drumming together on this song. She then got the whole ensemble into the annual TDBS music night at Massey Hall. 40 kids all together playing at Massey Hall Indian Tabla drumming and then jamming to Clocks by Cold Play with singing and piano. Needless to say, a packed Massey Hall went wild with applause. The hard work and dedication these kids and Katherine did paid off with huge smiles on the kids faces!

            That same year she inspired my oldest son , Finn, to apply for the TDSB Music by the Lake Music Camp. Which Katherine also teaches at. I can’t tell what that experience meant to Finn. His first sleep away camp he went to alone and all based around music. He will remember that for the rest of his life. This year Tate is going too! We would not even have known about the Camp without Kathrine.

            This same year Katherine ran an Improve Club for grades 4 – 6. Most adults would cringe at the thought of going on stage in front of 350 people, let alone making up a comedy routine on the spot too! She inspired dozens of kids to this. At the show,  the younger kids swarmed the stage and laughed their heads off. Can you image the risk/fear for those kids to go up on stage? My son Finn got a huge confidence boost from having the audience laugh and cheer him. Finn created an original character, McGlarff, that he was known around the whole school for the rest the year. Imagine having a teacher believe in you so much that she inspires you to risk like that? That kind of confidence boost will stick with Finn for the rest of his life.

            The next year , she brought in 2 different professional musicians through her own connections, Joe from St.. Catherine’s (whose last name I can’t remember) and then Royal Wood. The kids wrote original songs with each of them, which they performed at the school concert. They got to perform the song they wrote with Royal Wood at the stage downstairs at Massey Hall with Royal Wood! and got invited to his concert there the same night. They watched sound check too. Another huge experience for the kids that they will not forget ever.

            That same grade 5 year for Tate, the students (grades 4 – 6)  all paired up and wrote/sang original compositions on Garage Band. They played these at the school concert in front of their peers and parents.

            This year, Tate’s grade 6 year, the guitar club played and sang the national anthem at a Ryerson Woman’s Basketball tournament at the Mattamy Centre ( formerly Maple Leaf Gardens).  She then staged a full play with rehearsal schedule before and after school for weeks for the December concert.
           
            Katherine managed to bring the Jazz FM Band into to play with the kids for the spring concert this year. She held auditions for the singing parts in the song, had each and every single class from grade 4 – 6 prepare a song to play with the Jazz FM band, and had the guitar club prepare 2 songs to perform with them.

            She also managed to inspire about a  dozen IRC kids to try out for the TDSB All Star bands. Those kids have every Tuesday in April dedicated to playing with their TDSB All Star bands so they can play a 2.5 hour performance at Roy Thompson hall on May 2.

            She does this by making her recesses and lunch hours open for any kid to come into the music class room to practice and play/sing.

            Tate has some learning challenges. He has a dyslexia-type condition that makes reading and especially writing very difficult. He suffers from anxiety because of this. His anxiety has caused him to have difficulty getting to school somedays. Not only does Katherine gives him a reason to get to school he is excited and energized about going when he has music class and/or practise.

Tate, with all his class mates, has played Massey Hall twice, the Gardens and soon Roy Thompson Hall. He is 12 years old.
           
            I’m tearing up as I write this, but NONE of this would have happened without Katherine’s experience, love , dedication and energy. She pours all of herself into our kids. She is a force of nature. She inspires our kids to risk and express themselves with passion and learn self-confidence. She is THAT teacher that our kids will remember for the rest of their lives.

            We have recently learned that with the Ontario Government’s threatened education cuts that Katherine Fraser will be the one cut at our school. Her teaching experience has been out of province and so she is the lowest person on the list for TSDB seniority. Katherine deserves to be nominated for TDSB teacher of the year (which I did), not to lose her job.

Yours sincerely

Kaleb Montgomery




Monday 1 April 2019

80s NIGHT - SATURDAY APRIL 6th

Hi IRC Families!

We are just 1 week away from our adults only 80's Night Fundraiser! All proceeds from this event go to directly to IRC Parent Council funding initiatives like upgrading the library, Scientists in the School, upgrading gym equipment and so much MORE!

Tickets are still available for purchase for $20 until March 31st by sending an email money transfer to: ircparentcouncilassist@gmail.com. Be sure to include the names of the guests to be added to the guest list. After March 31st, tickets can be purchased for $25 at the door. (Ticket price includes 1 drink and light refreshments.)

Dressing up is not mandatory, but totally encouraged!

You won't want to miss your favorite 80's tunes brought to you by IRC parent and DJ Benjamin De Graaf akaDJelegance https://www.djelegance.ca/ Bring your dancing shoes and get ready to party!

Are you a Trivia wizard? Then you are totally going to want to bring your smartphone and test your 80's Trivia knowledge! ($5 additional fee to play). 

There are pool tables available so you can challenge a friend to a game or two!

Raffles!  Donations from local merchants include gift baskets, alcohol and restaurant gift certificates from Nodo, Kelsey's and more!

We hope to see you there!


-IRC Parent Council Fundraising Committee