June 6: Walk-In event at Howard in Support of Public Education

HELLO HOWARD!!!

Does public education matter to you? Do you want to show your support for our teachers?

A parent group at Howard is organizing a “walk-in” event to show support for public education and our teachers this Thursday morning. Similar events will be taking place at over 200 schools in the region. The event is also a public show of disapproval over the provincial ministry’s cuts to public education in Ontario.

Overview

Here is a link to the primary website for the walk-ins. Over 200 schools in Toronto and beyond, including Howard, Fern, Garden, Parkdale, and Queen Victoria will be participating in a Walk-In on Thursday, June 6th to show our support for our great teachers and to oppose the dangerous cuts to education. While this speaks to our current political reality, these are intended to be non-partisan events. The Walk-In at Howard, and at all schools, are held slightly off school property. Walk-Ins have been an effective way to win significant gains in movements for public education. It’s an easy way to rally together as a community and lend our voice and support to our educators.

What’s Happening at Howard

Leading up to June 6th:

• Forward this email or write your own message to your child’s class list so that our full community knows about this!
• Share info across social media!
• Hang some of the attached flyers around the neighbourhood!
• Make a sign with your kids to bring to the Walk-In!
• Get your kids to decorate the sidewalk the whole length of Marmaduke with messages about our great teachers and why education is important! We can start doing this on Wednesday after school weather permitting. Please help keep kids away from the road and ensure they’re working safely. We will encourage engagement by creating fill in the blank statements (I love my teacher because_____ Education is important because _____ ).
• Bake something (nut-free please) to share the morning of!

June 6th

• Families will gather beginning around 8:10 AM outside the main entrance to Howard PS (30 Marmaduke Ave).(We will be mindful to not be on school property).
• We will have lots of sidewalk chalk and poster board and markers for folks who want to add some messaging morning of.
• We will have buttons and pre-printed postcards to the Minister of Education to hand out for families who want them. Pre-addressed postcards can be mailed to the Minister of Education. Mailing written complaints is a small but relatively effective way of registering dissent. The $1 stamp means something. They’re logged through mailrooms, postmarks are noted.  Mailed letters to your elected officials carry far more weight than an email or phone call ever will.
• We will discuss what the cuts to education mean. Hopefully, some teachers will attend and discuss how their jobs and our students are likely to be impacted.
• At 8:30 AM we will march around to the Howard Ave with our signs and vocalize our support for teachers. Kids can lead the chants!
• At the Howard Ave entrance, we will cheer teachers in at 8:40/45 AM and our students in when the bell rings.
• We will video the sidewalk art, snap some pics of those assembled and tweet with #walkinforeducation to the MOE and the premier.

Walk-in Red Flyer for printing