Students Dramatize Shakespeare!

As part of the grade 9 English curriculum, the MaST students studying Shakespeare are required to dramatize scenes from the play A Midsummer Night's Dream.  The activity allows students the opportunity to collaborate and arrive at an interpretation of the scene.  At the end of each presentation, students explain how their scene contributes to the development of plot, character, and theme.  Props and costumes were used to enhance the dramatization. The students (see the photos below) were excited, engaged and provided the following feedback:

"Reading Shakespeare aloud is not easy, that's for sure! I enjoyed doing this activity because it's easier to understand the play. It was also a bit challenging to bring the play to life because Shakespeare didn't leave any stage directions." Claire Desmarais

"I am not a fan of drama or Shakespeare, but I learned about the conflicts in the play as well as some interesting ways to analyze the subtlety in writing.  Specifically, with relation to imagery." Andrew Withers

"I understood the story line better. This was a very fun experience." Adri S

"I learned that dramatizing a play can make it much easier to interpret. After working with my group to present our scene, I understood the play much more than just reading it on my own.  I also learned that it is quite difficult to perform a scene without stage directions." Alex B

"I learned to be more comfortable reading Shakespeare dialogue, especially to use my voice for emotional effect to make my character believable." Numa S

"We learned to act and read our lines with expression. This helped me understand the story better." Juhana A

"It was a lot better than just reading aloud to the class since we got to dress for the parts and use props. Also, it made the story livelier.  All in all, this activity was a lot of fun." Warda S

"This activity gave me a better insight into the character's personality traits." Emily G

'You Make a Difference at Danforth' Celebration

On Friday, January 16th, DanforthCTI celebrated a Student Success initiative called, 'You Make a Difference at Danforth'. Teachers nominated students for the 'You Make a Difference at DanforthCTI' recognition award based on the 10 character traits outlined by TDSB: respect, responsibility, kindness and caring, positive demeanor/attitude, teamwork, fairness, co-operation, integrity and perseverance. Kudos to the students below for their positive contribution to DanforthCTI.

 Grade 9

 Grade 10

 Grade 11

Grade 12

Iron Chef Competition Comes to Danforth

On Wednesday January 13th, 10 students from Danforth's Specialist High School Major program participated in our Hospitality program's Iron Chef competition.  Students were given one whole chicken and asked to create a two course meal and a dessert.  One of their dishes would be judged for taste, and their second dish would be judged on its appearance.

Students kicked off the day at 9am and faced many adversities throughout.  Like any real life kitchen problems arose quickly when it was discovered their gas burners weren't working an hour into the competition.  Students quickly gathered their materials and headed up to the baking kitchen to continue working towards their deadline.  Moments after setting up again, the gas burners returned to full power and students hustled to re-gather their materials and continue back in their original kitchen.

Students were judged on:  Safety and Sanitation, Time Management, Preparation, Presentation, Taste, and Adherence to requested menu items.

 Winners of the Iron Chef competition:  (L to R) Jared Clements (1st place), Liam Abrahams (3rd place) and Jonathan Psavka (2nd place)

Student Success Day - January 21st

At Danforth CTI we believe in offering our students multiple opportunities for success.  This is why Thursday, January 21^st is designated as a Student Success Day.  Our Student Success Afternoon provides them with the opportunity to complete missed assignments, as well as to receive extra help in courses where they may be struggling.   

A Student Success Day Schedule, with a noon dismissal, is to be followed that day.  We would like you to strongly encourage your son/daughter to take advantage of this opportunity and meet with their teachers to review their progress and catch up on any missed work.

We thank you for supporting this school-wide initiative, and hope to provide your son or daughter with the support they need to have a successful completion of the academic school year.

If you have any questions about this initiative please feel free to contact Joanna Vetsis at (416) 393 – 0620, extension 20042.

Hot Air Balloon Competition

This year's hot air balloon contest took place in the North gym, at lunch, on Thursday Jan.7th.  Crowds of students and teachers showed up to watch the balloons of the Grade 11 Engineering Design course rise to victory. The teams had to design, build and skillfully launch their balloons so that they stayed up as long as possible after 90 seconds of heating with a hot air gun. All in all, 15 teams competed with two teams making it passed the 60 second mark both tying for first place. They were:

 Team A:  Abida Rahman, Emily Coughlan and Atiqul Islam.- 75 seconds

 Team B:  Tylor Zadnik, Ethan Fung, Martin Schmidt and Menna Abdella. - 72 seconds (see their photos below)

Congratulations to Ms. Tevlin and all the students that participated for their excellent efforts!  

Abida Rahman, Emily Coughlan and Atiqul Islam

Holiday Show & Marketplace

This year's Holiday Show & Marketplace was an extravaganza that featured contributions not only from Danforth's Drama and Music departments, but also 'holiday goodies' from the Hospitality department and arts & crafts from the Visual Arts department.. The Danforth concert band, conducted by Mrs. Natalia Gil, opened the show, which was presented as a broadcast of the "Danforth Evening News".  Anchors Cally Stewart, Adia Sattar and David Stokes hosted a lighthearted but poignant evening that featured everything from interviews with Frosty the Snowman and "Mrs. Turkey" to performances by the Danforth Dancers (choreographed and organized by Charlotte Day) and music by the Danforth band "Symphonia". In addition to being the evening's go-to Weather Girl, Laura Wakefield also directed a hysterical parody of the holiday classic, "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!". Some of Danforth's Drama students presented a "winter wonderland" scene, utilizing the exceptional expertise in the art of masks they had learned from guest artist Teodoro Dragonieri.  And Paulina Belsué-Muñoz led a cast in an adaptation of the touching O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi".  The show was directed by Mr. Peter McAlpine and Ms. Payge Mildebrath, but featured collaboration and contributions from the entire company.
The pictures below reflect the unprecedented amount of extracurricular involvement from across the student body, contributing to a successful Holiday Show & Marketplace!