In the week of October 21st to 25th, the HTS community was immersed in the spirit, fun, and treats of Connections Week once again. Led by their homeroom representatives and teachers, students from K to 12 developed ways to raise funds for a chosen Connections Partner.
Connections Week activities ran in the Lower and Middle school halls, as well as the Senior school Fattore Commons every day, filling HTS with chatter and laughter. Some initiatives that ran included a variety of snacks, raffles, drinks, used book sales, and games. With these creative ideas, HTS students were able to support their booths, and charities, such as the Alzheimer's Society, 360 Kids, the Terry Fox Foundation, Egale, and many, many others.
Connections Week became an HTS tradition a long time ago as a fun, impactful initiative for the HTS community. From Connections Week, students are not only purchasing items for themselves, but making a cause with their donations.
Students often learn a lot from this initiative as they are encouraged to actively participate in these activities throughout the week. Senior School students worked hard to brainstorm and ideate initiatives for fundraising. Through the process, students were able to learn more about the 22 HTS Connections Partners. As Leon in Grade 10 mentioned, Connections Week is a great opportunity to be “a lot more aware of issues and problems within our community.” .png?width=255&height=286&name=IMG_6626%20(1).png)
While Senior School students set up amazing booths in the Fattore everyday, Middle School students also had a great time coming up with creative ideas to raise funds. Taio’s homeroom, 8A, offered students a “Skip-the-lunch-line Pass” through the form of raffles. Through the successful initiative, Taio and his homeroom were able to learn that “money should be spent wisely and should go to good causes like we [HTS] are doing.”
Lower School students had a blast, engaging in all initiatives that were setup in the hallways. The Grade 5 homerooms hosted many carnival games such as Tic-Tac-Toe with bean bags, cup pong, and more to win candies. Lawrence in Grade 5 mentioned that it was not only fun to play and host the games at school, but it was also great to collaborate with his peers to design and create their very own game boards using limited materials at home. It was a great experience looking at the variety of games designed by these young individuals!
Senior, Middle, and Lower School students were all able to learn and support a cause through Connections Week. This event helped all of the students learn about spreading awareness within our community, using resources to create good causes, and collaborating with one another. HTS looks forward to Connections Week and other impactful events in the whole school year! Thank you to all students, teachers, and staff for bringing this meaningful experience to life for HTS!
From 2004 to 2018, HTS raised the most money for a school in York Region or has at least finished in the Top 3. Most years as a school, we have raised between $10,000 to $15,000. This year, we are proud to announce that our school has raised almost $40,000!
Watch the full Connections Week recap here! To learn more, please visit Connections Program. For students who are interested in proposing a Canadian charity for a Sharing Day, please complete the following application.
Written by Ellina L, Interviewed by Desmond L, Edited by Alina J. Originally published in the 5th Issue of The Chronicle.