York U students helping low-income high school kids discover strengths

Gangs and guns make the headlines, but the “violence of low expectations” is taking the real toll on young people in communities like Jane and Finch, says York University researcher Uza Anucha.

So Anucha and her team at York’s School of Social Work are linking 40 university students with 40 youth in a Jane-Finch high school to raise expectations.

You like to play basketball? Stage a tournament.

You have a talent for rap? Put on a talent show.

Tired of seeing your neighbourhood dissed in the media? Create your own newscast.

This is just a taste of the challenges each of the eight teams of university and high school students tackled as part of the innovative project launched last summer.

Anucha hopes that through these social action projects, the Jane-Finch youth will discover their strengths and begin to see themselves as future college and university students with futures beyond the community stereotypes.

“All the literature shows that when youth do things outside school, they can connect their learning and see where their learning can take them,” says Anucha, associate professor and graduate program director for York’s School of Social Work.

Every week for the past eight months Grade 9 student Javon Myers’ team gathered at York for two hours after school to bond and discuss a local social problem they would like to fix. His group zeroed in on the gang culture and set out to break down barriers between the various JaneFinch neighbourhoods through a friendly basketball tournament.

They designed “Dribble For Change” posters, which they posted in area high schools and community centres. They booked court space and got Toronto Raptors to sign jerseys and ball caps for prizes.

Last Saturday, about 30 youth from across Jane-Finch gathered for a threeon-three tournament at Downsview’s Hoopdome.

Travelling to York every week opened Myers to the possibility of one day studying engineering or technology in university or college, he says.

“I’d like people to know we are capable of doing something better in our community,” he says.

His Emery Collegiate classmate Brion Clarke, 14, says being part of the project “has taught me skills like communication and teamwork.”

How does it feel to be surrounded by high expectations?

“Sometimes you feel pressure. But it helps you believe in yourself,” he says. “I know I really need to get a good education to get a good job and get on with my life. I’m dreaming to become a lawyer.”

York PhD candidate Erik Wexler, 33, the group’s facilitator, drew on his own experience as a former homeless youth.

“I know what can happen,” says Wexler,