Experience, travel. These are as education in themselves. Euripides

Brochure created by W. Mai, M. Lam, A. Delgado, P. Griglun;

Printed donated by the Foundation

Maple Leaf Student Exchange

2009

An exploration of the identity of urban neighborhoods

Josiah Quincy Upper School

Boston, MA

&

Jarvis Collegiate Institute

Toronto, Ontario

Sponsored by

The Maple Leaf Foundation


2009 marked the twenty-fourth anniversary of the Maple Leaf Student Exchange, a cultural and academic home-stay program between students from Boston Public Schools and various Canadian cities. This past year, Jarvis Collegiate, Toronto’s oldest secondary school, was chosen to partner with the Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston’s Chinatown-Bay Village neighborhood.

Our two schools and two cities expected to form and educational partnership during our weeks together; we did not, however, expect to form instant friendships from day one of the exchange. To our delight, we discovered that the diversity of our neighborhoods had nurtured in us a like-mindedness that allowed us to connect together instantly. We realized that ethnicity, culture, immigration, history and geography have impacted our neighborhoods. The exchange allowed us to explore and think about how these neighborhoods have shaped and continue to shape our cities, our schools, our families and us.


Maple Leaf Exchanges to date:

1985 Halifax, Nova Scotia

1986 Montreal, Quebec

1987 Toronto, Ontario

1988 Ottawa, Ontario

1989 St. John, New Brunswick

1990 Quebec City, Quebec

1991 Charlottetown, PEI

1992 Calgary, Alberta

1993 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

1994 St. John’s, Newfoundland

1995 Halifax, Nova Scotia

1996 Sherbrooke, Quebec

1997 Fredericton, New Brunswick

1998 Ottawa, Ontario

1999 Winnipeg, Manitoba

2000 Vancouver, British Columbia

2001 Halifax, Nova Scotia

2002 No program

2003 Halifax, Nova Scotia

2004 Ottawa, Ontario

2005 St. John’s Newfoundland

2006 Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

2008 Sanikiluaq, Nunavut Territory

2009 Toronto, Ontario

Boston Harbor at dusk

Maid of the Mist in daylight

Simi and Vanessa (left to right): Vanessa: “Simi’s neighborhood in Toronto looks a lot like Boston’s Fenway with all its brick buildings and place to eat. My favorite part of Toronto was the public transportation. All the trains came very quickly, so we hardly ever waited.”

Ana and Sarah (left to right): Ana: “Boston’s Chinatown was a lot bigger a long time ago until they cut Chinatown in half when they built the Mass Pike. I like the Chinatown in Toronto because it was a lot larger than ours. The Chinatown had more places to eat. In fact, did you know there are two Chinatowns in Toronto?”

Mandy and Samantha (left to right): Mandy “Cabbagetown, where Samantha lived is a peaceful though urban place. I was surprised by the name Cabbagetown until Samantha explained that once upon a time, during the recession, people used to grow cabbage in their front yards to feed their families.”


William and Alex (left to right): “Wow, I am so amazed by the variety of little towns the many different cultures have created in Toronto-- like Greek Town and Little Italy.”

Breona and Rose (left to right): “My friend Rose said that if she had the choice to visit Little Italy or Boston’s North End, it wouldn’t matter which she chose because they both were the same with lively cultures and happy friendly people.”

Georgia, Paige, Lina, Lizzy (left to right): Paige: “In Toronto my ears hummed with the sounds of many different languages. Amazingly, it seemed as if everyone understood one another and moved as one.”

I recall Lina saying she liked looking up in downtown Boston

to see how the old buildings melded with the new.”

Georgia: “The path of knowledge lies through one’s experiences. I felt like a student absorbing information while I was in Boston.”


Special thanks to:

· Host families in Boston and Toronto for hospitality, meals, and transportation

· Mr. Ken Rossano for his tireless help and support

· Canadian Consul Neil LeBlanc and Mr. Marc Jacques for hosting an educational and tasty luncheon

· Meggan Ayres of Sponsorship Marketing at John Hancock for giving us access to prime Red Sox vs. Yankees tickets

· Diane Mabardi of Great GetAways Travel for arranging speedy courier service

· Principals Bak Fun Wong and Elizabeth Addo for encouraging and inspiring the spirit of the Maple Leaf exchange

· Teachers at JQUS and Jarvis for accommodating scheduled and impromptu class visits

· William Chan for his technology and computer guidance

· Chris Horan of BPS Communications for 2009 Maple Leaf Exchange story coverage on the MyBPS website

· The Maple Leaf Foundation for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity


We hope that, in some way, we have contributed to the ongoing bond, partnership and friendship of Canada and the United States.

2009 exchange students:

Josiah Quincy Upper School

· Vanessa Alexander

· Ana Delgado

· Mandy Lam

· William Mai

· Breona Swain

Chaperones: Lizzy Carroll, Paige Griglun

Jarvis Collegiate Institute

· Samantha Bogdanovich

· Alex Holmes

· Rose MacDonald

· Sarah Montalba

· Simi Singh

Chaperones: Georgia Syrakos, Lina Roti-Nardi

School administrators:

Bak Fun Wong, Headmaster, JQUS

Elizabeth Addo, Principal, Jarvis

Andrea Hicks and Colin Dye, Vice Principals, Jarvis

Exchange Highlights:

· Watching Jacoby Ellsbury steal home against the Yankees at Fenway Park

· Attending a Team Leader/ Student Leader breakfast meeting at JQUS


Touring Harvard University and meeting current students on an entertaining ‘Irreverent Harvard’ Tour

· Marveling at the skyline on a 90 degree spring day aboard a boat on the Charles River

· Hearing stories about the important roles African-American Bostonians played in the Revolution

· While at the JFK Museum, being wowed by presidential artifacts and harbor views

· Gorging ourselves on ‘real’ Boston pizza at Pizzeria Regina

· Wandering narrow streets in search of scavenger hunt items in Boston’s South End, Back Bay, Chinatown and Bay Village

· Viewing works of influential street artist and Obama Hope poster designer, Shepard Fairy at Boston’s ICA

· Getting a taste of Toronto’s multiculturalism-- Moroccan food and belly dancing—all in one evening!

· Participating in history, economics, science, Spanish, English and mathematics classes at Jarvis

· ‘Floating’ above the city in the CN tower


·

· Finding out we all have rhythm as we learned to salsa dance

· Feeling the sprays on our faces of the mighty Niagara

· Racing through Toronto’s underground malls, trying to be the first to complete the “Great Race”

· Tasting moose stew, spanakopita, and falafel for the first time

· Taking part in Jarvis’ annual Multicultural Fair