Takeaways: 2024 Spring Youth Dance & Safety Series

Little Takeaways: 2024 Spring Youth Dance & Safety Series

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

This year, we were LUCKY to bring back our Free Youth Dance and Safety event series in the Spring and Fall through the support of the Toronto Arts Council and PartciPACTION Community Challenge. Through their generosity, we partnered with 6 organizations operating in 5 unique communities to get over 100 youth moving in June.

The goal of our series has always been to get more youth who live in under-resourced areas with high gun violence rates to move more and feel safe as they walk around their neighborhoods and take the transit.

Here are a few takeaways from our Spring series

• A new kid's club joined our event series

• We got over 100 youth ages 6 to 18 years old moving within 30 days

• Participants were taught beginner self-defense techniques such as how to defend themselves from bodily harm (such as strikes and kicks) and escape common attacks (such as wrist grabs, back grabs, and choke holds).

• Most of the sessions had at least 18 youth in attendance, surpassing the average number of youth we had per session in past years (this year, the smallest number of participants was 12, and 45 was the largest)

• All host organizations were consulted in advance (via email & phone calls) on how we could deliver a well-run session for their age group/demographic

• All workshops ran according to plan and instructors adapted on the spot to ensure a fun and safe class

• All host organizations have shown an interest in bringing us back!

I would like to thank our host organizations for collaborating with me once more

• Scarborough Central – Kabibi and Tanya at Kick Start Club, TNG Services

• Black Creek – Shanaz and Pique at Success Beyond limits-JaneFinch

• York – Latisha, DeQuon, and Alex at Weston Frontlines

• North Etobicoke – Jessica at AlbionBGC and Stephanie at RCHC

• Scarborough North – Eileen at L’Amoreaux Community Center

I thank our newest facilitators, Kris and Dee, for sharing their positive energy and skills with the next generation.

Keep an eye out for our 1st Halloween Dance & Safety series coming in October,

Sumera

Are you an organization interested in bringing our series to you?

Don't hesitate to get in touch with me (here) and mention your location and dates, age group /demographic, and budget.

This Year’s Highlights: Annual Youth Dance & Safety Series

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Our Session with L’Amoreaux CC at Stephan Leacock CC, Scarborough (ages 10 to 18)

Our Session at Success Beyond Limits - JaneFinch (ages 13 to 18)

Our Session with L’Amoreaux CC at Stephan Leacock CC Scarborough (ages 10 to 18)

Our Session at Success Beyond Limits - JaneFinch (ages 13 to 18)

Session with Albion Boys and Girls Club & Rexdale Community Health Services (ages 10 to 18)

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This Year’s Highlights: Sumera’s Youth Self-Defense & Dance Series

By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri

This year, our series had a different feeling to it. It felt GOOD knowing that we could plan a movement and safety series, under particiPACTION’s community better challenge, that we didn’t have to cancel or restrict in size due to COVID-19.

In collaboration with awesome youth organizations that we have worked with me for years such as AlbionBGC, Rexdale Community Health Center, L’amoreaux Community Center, Weston Frontlines, Success Beyond limits-JaneFinch, Stephan Leacock CC, and our self-defense coaches Nikki at Six Krav Maga and Jesse from Krav Maga Maleh Canada, we engaged over 65 youth across 4 under-resourced communities.

During a FREE month-long series, youth ages 7 to 18 years put down their cell phones and joined us for sessions that included fun dance warm-ups and street-style self-defense activities.

Participants gained awareness around potentially life-threatening situations and got the chance to practice techniques on how to escape such situations in both pairs and a group. They were taught how to escape different attacks such as wrist and backhand grabs, choke holds, strikes, and knife and gun attacks. The instructors did their best to gear the activities based on the age group and demographic so that it was both engaging and appropriate.

Key Highlights

• All of the participants moved for at least 60 minutes (we did not allow phones and asked parents to sit outside)

• Each workshop had at least 12 participants in attendance (our goal was 8 per workshop)

• All of this year’s participants were NEW to our programming which in turn allowed our instructors to teach them basic Krav Maga self-defense training

• We introduced a female Krav Maga instructor for the first time and she did a great job at adapting her lesson plan to meet both the boys and girls in attendance

• All host organizations were contacted in advance about how they wanted us to deliver the series so that we could have a better run session (i.e. ages, topics discussed, class sizes) and revisions were made in a timely manner in order to deliver the sessions successfully to all hosts

• All of the participants left with basic self-defense training and some were connected with other services in the area

• The hosts and parents expressed an interest in us returning in the future

Are you an organization/youth club interested in bringing us to you?

Please contact me HERE and mention your location and dates, your ideas, age/demographic, and budget.

Highlights: 2022 Youth Dance and Self-Defense Series

The girls at Stephan Leacock CC learning situational awareness

The girls at the Rexdale Hub learning about situational awareness

The girls at Success Beyond Limts, Jane Finch learning situational awareness

The youth at the Rexdale Hub learning how to escape hair grabs from the back

The youth at Stephan Leacock CC learning how to escape side choke holds

After 2 years of pandemic-related restrictions placed on Toronto recreation, we returned in-person with a fun dance and safety series under particiPACTION’s community better challenge.

In collaboration with AlbionBGC, L’amoreaux Community Center, Weston Frontlines, Success Beyond limits-JaneFinch, Agincourt Services, Rexdale Community Health Center, and our self-defense friends at Krav Maga Maleh Canada, we brought together over 75 youth living across 4 at-risk communities.

During our month-long workshop series, youth ages 7 to 19 yrs-old put down their phones and joined us for some fun dance warmups (Socacize, Bollywood, and Latin) and street-style self-defense sessions.

Youth gained awareness of potentially life-threatening situations and got the chance to practice escaping these situations in pairs. Participants were taught how to escape certain attacks such as wrist grabs, choke holds, back grab holds as well as knife and gun attacks. The instructor geared the workshops based on age group and demographic (girls-only/co-ed).

To ensure the workshop's success, all hosts and youth were consulted about the workshops and had a choice in part taking.

Key Highlights

• All of the participants moved for at least 1.5 hours and met a part of their weekly exercise recommendations

• Bot the hosts and participants enjoyed the workshops and expressed an interest in us returning again (both in our next series and through their own services)

• Each workshop had between 10 to 20 participants in attendance (our goal was at least 8 per workshop)

• All of the participants left with basic self-defense training and some expressed an interest in training further

If you’re an organization that is interested in bringing us in to get your group moving through a fun dance and self-defense workshop, please contact me here. Please do mention your ideas, demographic, location dates, and budget.

Ceejay, Sumera (Me) and Jesse at Stephan Leacock Community Center