Oasis Arts & Social Change Program: December 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Oasis on Ice

This Monday Oasis students enjoyed a classic winter sport in unseasonably warm weather. Don't let the photos fool you- not everyone remained upright the entire afternoon.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Making masks with Jasmina from Sketch!

Guest artist Jasmina teaches Oasis students how to work with plaster to create masks and casts on the theme of survival. Students learned that Vaseline is your best friend (it keeps your eyebrows from coming off with the cast) and that plaster dust is harmless but stubborn. A big thanks to Jasmina for being such a cool facilitator.

Oasis Lunch Gets Depressing

Oasis history students prepare a lunch based on recipes from the Great Depression. On the menu, a 'beef' casserole that was mostly beans and a cake with no butter, milk or eggs. The lunch filled our stomachs, but made us thankful for more contemporary ingredients- like garlic!

ASC Staff: A Small but MIghty Team

Anita Court is our fabulolus Office Administrator. She knows a lot about a lot and it's her job to know. Students and staff alike look to Anita as a confidante and problem solver for anything from getting the bathroom key from a locked bathroom to finding a band-aid for a cut to taking care of a busted printer to putting together the Superintentdent's package and tracking attendance. Anita is the glue that binds the three satellite locations of Oasis.
Jane Fonseca is the Guidance/Phys Ed and Science teacher. She has been working at Oasis for the last six years. She went to school at York University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in the Specialized Honours degree in Kinesiology and Health Science. She also received her Massage Therapy Diploma and at one time was a Registered Massage Therapist (no jokes or massages please). She completed her initial teacher education at York University, Parkdale campus with a focus on Equity and Social Justice. She is always up for a friendly challenge…game on!
Joseph Ghassibe is our fearless leader, CL of Oasis. He has worked in mainstream schools in Australia and Canada. He has worked in alternative programs and other alternative schools. Oasis is, by far, his favourite :-) We are a community, a family and a home. He is proud to be here!
Martin Van de Ven - Our Music and Math Guru has a Masters in composition from U of T and took calculus for entertainment during his undergrad. He has spent much of his adult life as a freelance clarinettist, composer and musical director. Working for local theatre companies such as Jumblies Theatre he has created many works for mixed ensembles composed of amateur, professional and untrained musicians. Recent compositions include a 5 part work for the Toronto Children's Chorus. He performs with Toronto based Balkan/Klezmer band “Beyond the Pale”. He loves helping people find their inner musician, as an added bonus, at OASIS he gets to do the same with Math. Before signing up with OASIS Martin was the Jazz teacher at Earl Haig secondary.