In the Senior and Middle School, the Community Service Council, led by the Community Service Prefect, organizes monthly events that support the Community Service theme for the year.
Our annual theme is based on the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the IB Shared Humanity themes. In the past two years, our initiatives have followed the themes of education and sustainability.
Some activities may involve fundraising or collecting useful and necessary items. However, the main aim of the Community Service Council is to focus on service involvement and learning.
Holiday giving initiative
Every year around the holiday season, Branksome Hall operates a holiday giving community service program. Charities are selected, and the students are given the option of collecting money or items for their donation. Recently, two groups of students collected grocery cards, food and personal items for Community Living. For Women’s Habitat, the students also collected toys and gift items. Two grades also create sustainable holiday gifts to sell in our annual Holiday Bazaar. The funds raised from this event go to our international partner organizations.
Food bank
Our annual food drives are usually run as a clan competition. The food collected goes to local food banks and is often delivered and sorted by students who volunteer at the foodbank.
Terry Fox
This is the first clan event of the year to which students come dressed in their clan colors. There are clan points to be won for the most enthusiastic student and teacher, best clan costume and more. Clan points are also awarded to the individual student who raises the most money, and to the clan that raises the most money. Each year the whole school gets involved in this local fundraiser and we run, dance or move in support of the Marathon of Hope, typically raising over $20,000 for the Terry Fox Foundation.
Read about the Catch Me if You Clan, Terry Fox Cancer Research Fundraiser>>
Best buddies
The Best Buddies program allows Branksome students to foster friendship with intellectually challenged students from Rosedale Heights School. Peer buddies meet once per cycle at lunch and participate in a variety of group activities, including bingo, scavenger hunts, and basketball games. Branksome peer buddies call their Rosedale Heights buddy once a week, and are encouraged to meet outside of school as well.
Horizons
Branksome Hall runs two Horizons support programs at inner-city schools. In one program, we partner with Upper Canada College (UCC) on a well-structured, weekly reading and math program. In the other, Branksome volunteers work on literacy and language skills with elementary school students. Horizons runs from October until April, and students walk or bus once a week after school to meet and tutor buddies.
Reading buddies
This literacy-based program is run weekly at Rose Avenue Public School. As a reading buddy, Branksome students volunteer to help younger students with their homework, work on literacy tasks, and create and participate in many different small-group activities and games.
JUMP tutoring
Branksome Hall student volunteers are involved in a weekly one-on-one tutoring program at Rose Avenue P.S. The program’s sole focus is Math, whereby the students improve and refine their skills with the help of a Branksome mentor. JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) is a unique math-tutoring program designed to bring out the math “genius” in students at every level.