My parents immigrated to Canada in the mid-1950s; I was four years old and my brother was almost two.

January 5, 2012   2012 Song of Light I fly, I sing; I pollinate things. I zoom, I tweet; the sky cushions my feet. I waddle, I quack; a river flows off my back. I run, I bark; I squirrel chase in the park. I leap, I meow; I bat feathers and how. I pounce, [...]

January 4, 2012 Imagine yourself sitting at home, curled up on the couch in your living room. You have a steaming mug of hot tea in one hand and the television remote in the other. Wrapped in a cozy blanket, you settle deeper into the couch, enjoying your sense of peace and relaxation. You flip [...]

December 21, 2011 The poster, depicting a daisy overcoming a red brick wall, summons me to a Human Rights Day Write for Rights event. I step into Beit Zatoun House on Markham Street not knowing what to expect. I’m greeted by an array of framed Amnesty International posters that cover the walls and stand on [...]

December 13, 2011 When I think about giving and receiving, I instantly think about material things. I receive presents for my birthday. We give gifts at Christmas, Chanukah, and other special occasions. But does it have to be materialistic? Giving and receiving. It’s the ebb and flow of who we are. We give love to [...]

December 6, 2011 As the cold settles in for good and the snow begins to fall, the joyous hustle and bustle of the holiday season begins to settle in around Toronto. The Christmas songs are playing on every other radio station, and TV shows are airing their holiday specials. But with the holidays just around [...]

November 30, 2011 The infamous debate about whether or not creationism should become a part of the science classroom has been confined to American curriculums for decades. However, in recent years, it’s been viscously seeping into Canadian boardrooms. The mystery of origins has been of interest since the beginning of human curiosity. Theories such as [...]

November 20, 2011 Starting originally as a volunteer, Raissa Heifetz had no aspirations to become a principal, as many teachers do. She simply wanted to help those who couldn’t necessarily help themselves to succeed in life past high school. “Life has many faces, and not all of them are smiling” — wise words spoken by [...]