Today marks the 10th annual Walk With Excellence where over 500 graduating high school students from four different schools in the area march from C W Jefferys Collegiate Institute to York University.

During the event, faculty, students and community members walked side by side to celebrate the students' transition from high school to their future endeavors.

“Coming to the university was like a glimpse of what it’s like as a transition in our lives,” said Miyezas Urbanes, a graduating student from C W Jefferys. “It feels like we’re facing the actual world, like waking up from the high school dream and universities.”

Laughter and enjoyment could be heard all around from the students at the end of their walk. Speakers from previous years and some walk participants gave speeches in celebration of the achievement of finishing school. The Walk with Excellence was created as a celebration of these students' accomplishments, says Itah Sadu, organizer and co-owner of Blackhurst Cultural Centre.

“It makes me feel proud because, at the end of the day, we are celebrating our excellence,” says Jasmine Aguiran, another graduating student from C W Jefferys.

The event started in 2013 when Sadu and her colleague Shannon Ashman, who both work at Blackhurst, were working on a project in the west end of Toronto. As they were passing through Jane and Finch they saw a sign that read “public demonstration of student excellence.”

Sadu says that after seeing that sign she and Ashman came to the conclusion that there needed to be a way to give students in high density neighbourhoods the credit they deserve. With this march, she wants to change the narrative that these areas get, Sadu adds.

“If you tell people the same thing over and over they will believe it…Jane and Finch is probably the most famous intersection in the country. What does Canada know about the community? I’m pretty sure it is not a very positive and popular one,” says Sadu. “People forget that greatness comes from all places and spaces. Repeatedly in media whether it be print or electronic, you just kept getting the same one story, one narrative of the Jane and Finch community.”

After coming to the idea of a march, they went to the local high schools and asked the students in the parking lot if there was a parade for them would they go. Sadu says that they received an overwhelming but skeptical yes from the student body. After they went to the schools themselves, Sadu says that they liked the idea as well enough to help it organize.

“At the end of the day it’s a day for them. It’s not against violence. It’s not against failing, it’s not against crime. It’s simply a day to celebrate [students],” says Sadu.

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