Bur Oak Secondary School

Personalized Alternative Education Entrepreneurship Class Makes a Difference in Multiple Ways December 13, 2016

Responding to a Real Problem: A Project to Help Others in Many Ways By Thanu Anandarajah

Students had been learning to knit on their lunch hour for over a year,

but one day, some students looking for a new way to learn and make a

difference realized something. The news is filled with stories about

pedestrians being struck by vehicles, particularly as the night gets longer in

winter. Could they knit AND help make pedestrians more visible? YES!

“See Me Headbands” was born, with students in Bur Oak Secondary

School’s Personalized Alternative Learning program exploring sales,

marketing, corporate responsibility, production, inventory and promotion in

an Entrepreneurship course. Other students began to take on roles and

responsibilities, knitting on their lunch hour to make a difference in their community and

taking needles home to contribute while they relax.

As orders started to come in, students realized they could raise money for MADD

Canada as well! In the end, students were able to create an amazing reflective headband that

was stylish to wear and helped people stay safe at night. The students ended up creating over

90 headbands and were able to donate over $500 to MADD Canada. It was a way for students

to get more involved with school activities and help make a big change as well!

Watch our launch video: Mannequin Challenge Reflects Light!

Knitting Helps the Maker By Ariel Tulloch

Knitting gives you the chance to interact with others and make new friends

in a group or share a common activity with someone close to you. In our class, I

have made new friends and strengthened other friendships through this knitting

project. Peers I saw around school and never talked to turned out to be really

friendly.

Did you know knitting alleviates symptoms of depression, stress and

anxiety? Sitting still to knit reduces your heart rate and lowers blood pressure after

a few minutes, so when the pressure of everyday life starts to build up, reach for a

pair of knitting needles. My peer, Liana, has said that knitting has kept her calm ,

given her something to focus on. She has a feeling of accomplishment because she has

completed headbands each day and it keeps her mind occupied .

Learning something new that you can also teach others also can help you. For

experienced knitters, they can learn new patterns and expand on their skills. This entrepreneur

project at BOSS has done this for me and many others: first we learned how to

knit and afterwards we began trying new styles and ways of knitting.

Other benefits include saving money on scarves, mittens, hats and other

items by knitting them yourself! I remember when I first decided to learn how to

knit, my mother was visiting from Jamaica that week it was really chilly so I

decided to use my new found skills and knit her a hat. It turned out to be a square

but she still appreciated my effort.

Overall, not only are we earning credits and helping charity, we are also

keeping our mind engaged in activity, improving our concentration and boosting

brain health. What’s not to love?

Taking the Business to the Next Level: New Knitters and New Markets in Students’ Plans for the Future By Saphiya Suren

After completing our See Me Headbands project, our artisans and

team members have come up with several amazing ideas to expand our

business. We’ve learnt that knitting is a common, easy hobby that almost

anyone can learn. It is also known as an activity of mindfulness and

relaxation where it requires concentration and patience. Knowing this and

with the help of our team, we have decided to expand our business by introducing knitting to

elementary schools in the Markham region.

As a team we are hoping to be able to have a representative introduce

knitting, and what we have accomplished with it, to groups of younger

students interested at different schools. We’d like to teach a younger

generation, not only how to knit, but the concept of taking something as small

as knitting and creating something bigger. By next year, we hope to have our

team reunite and create knitting clubs at elementary schools where we will

teach them how to knit and build on their own well being.

Aside from introducing our business to other schools, we have also

decided to extend our headbands to other winter accessories. With the help

of our supervisors we have been taking our spare time to learn how to make winter items,

such as hats and scarves. We have also tried out new techniques such as crocheting to help

us kick it up a notch! On our headbands

we’ve learnt how to make designs such as

adding buttons and flowers. One of our

goals include studying new designs and

patterns to design new reflective items. As

a team, we hope to be successful with

these new styles and continue to the

journey of SeeMe Headbands.

Find out more about our school on our

website

Bur Oak Secondary School Personalized Alternative Education 933 Bur Oak Avenue, Markham, ON