Senior School: Graffiti Walk, Snakes & Lattes, and SPFX Makeup Workshops!
By Coco Lee, Deidre Macpherson, and Kristy Smith, Linden Teachers
Graffiti Walk
The high school kicked off our annual Week Without Walls (WWW) with an exciting walking tour of some of Toronto’s hidden graffiti and urban art hot spots! Our guide Bri was informative and lots of fun as she showed us around back alleys, and taught us some of the techniques graffiti artists use in their creations. We left with a greater understanding of urban art, and a keen eye for identifying recurring pieces by Toronto’s more prolific local talent!
Snakes & Lattes
On Monday afternoon, Linden’s high school girls headed up to Snakes & Lattes Midtown at Yonge and Eglinton to meet with board game guru (yes, that’s what her T4 says!) Joan Moriarity. Joan has been designing, editing, and studying board games for over 30 years, and has definitely built her living on the idea of play. In the play-based workshop, Joan discussed with the girls about how societal expectations teach young people — especially girls — that it’s better to not try at all than to have tried and failed. Women have historically been taught to stay quiet rather than to make mistakes out loud, even though we know that mistakes are how we learn. Of course, at Linden, we reject those societal norms, and in board games, mistakes are how we have fun! Joan showed us a couple of board games with increasing levels of difficulty, reminding us along the way that there’s no way to have fun at a board game if you’re not willing to give it a try; even if you risk losing. At the end of the day, we had a free play session where girls took advantage of the library of games at Snakes & Lattes and had a lot of laughs in the process.
SPFX MakeUp Workshop
Linden's middle and high school had a unique experience learning different techniques in special effects makeup on Friday of WWW. The morning saw the girls practising bruises and scrapes, while the high school continued honing their skills in the afternoon creating road rash and scabs! A big thanks to Misty Fox and her team from SPFX Kids for showcasing such an interesting career and skill set!
Photo Credit: Beth Alexander, Coco Lee, and Deidre Macpherson