Keep 'newcomer high' at Greenwood, students plead

Zahra Afshar, pictured taking part in an after-school conversation club, hopes Greenwood Secondary
School won't close, saying it is like a family to her and that teachers provide many kinds of support
to newcomers.

It’s their sanctuary, their first “home” in Canada. They consider their fellow students and teachers family.

And the teens at Greenwood Secondary School — all recently arrived refugees and immigrants — don’t want it to close and move into nearby Danforth Collegiate. They accuse the school board of stacking the deck against them and not listening to their concerns.

Of the 10 schools in the area that came under review, “Greenwood is the easy one,” said student council vice-president Tolin Abuaziza, who emigrated from Palestine little over a year ago. “We don’t know anything about Canada, about the school system. At any other school, parents would stand up and be angry — maybe even hire a lawyer — saying, ‘Keep the school open.’ But we can’t.”

With parents who don’t speak English or who work long hours and can’t attend public or accommodation review committee meetings, the Greenwood students feel they haven’t really had a chance to make their case, added Zahra Afshar, student council president.  (more...)

Keep 'newcomer high' at Greenwood, students plead

These same students will be Canada's bulwark against secular anti-family ideologies. They deserve our support -- we need them to carry to fight into the future.