The first semester of the 2024-25 school year has been a very successful one with numerous activities and awards in our English program. In addition, there are numerous student achievements that we would like to acknowledge. First, we would like to congratulate Eowyn Wong-Au for winning the Marie Pick Award for Proficiency in English Writing, Elaine Wang for winning the Robert MacDonald Award for Excellence in English Literature, and Michelle Borisenko for winning the Edna Izzard Award for Proficiency in English and Drama. The students who received the awards for highest marks in their courses were: Yasmin Hadizad (ENG4UE), Erel Gililov (ENG4U), Yuliia Filipenko (ENG4C), and Amey Lawrence (EWC4U).

We would also like to congratulate Ruogu Qiu who was a finalist in this year’s OSSTF Creative Writing Contest. As well we want to acknowledge the great turn out for the internationally recognized Advanced Placement English exams, with over fifty students representing RHHS. The results from the 2024 AP English exams were fantastic: nearly one quarter of the fifty participating students received perfect scores on two separate internationally recognized AP English exams and the students’ mean scores were fifteen per cent higher than the Global average.

Another incredible achievement occurred in the spring of 2024 when the RHHS Slam Poetry Team finished second in the YRDSB Slam Poetry Championship. Students at all YRDSB schools within the board were invited to come out and perform an original poem, offering them an opportunity to share their thoughts and voices with their peers, teachers, and families.  A number of remarkable performances filled the evening of verse, showcasing the literary and creative talents of YRDSB students. The RHHS team consisted of Amey Lawrence, Yasmin Hadizad, Vania Mogadam Habibi, Leeza Grishpul, and Ashika Akilan. As YRDSB finalists they should be commended for their wonderful performances that rounded out the evening’s events. 

Over 200 English students attended several different virtual creative writing workshops this year. RHHS alumnus Pardis Aliakbarkhani inspired us with a selection of readings from her four books of Poetry Revelations, A Drink from the Caspian, The Siren, and For Pomegranates as well as leading us through a poetry workshop focused on self-empowerment. Pardis was also kind enough to gift all of the Writer’s Craft students with a free copy of her latest work entitled Revelations. At the 2024 Festival of Literary Diversity students explored tips and techniques for creating memorable characters with Emily Pohl-Weary. They learned about the creative craft involved in writing a short story in addition to the details that go into publishing a work from Bianca Marais and Tasneem Motala. Matteo Cerilli joined our classes to discuss how to incorporate political and social activism into writing in the horror genre; while Waubgeshig Rice mesmerized students with the stories behind his brand new novel  Moon of the Turning Leaves. We were also fortunate enough to meet with stage and screen actors John Jarvis and Marvin Karon in early June for a workshop on writing dramatic monologues. These were all wonderful opportunities which enabled our students to explore the immense diversity in the Canadian publishing industry and to ask questions about the various pathways to success in the writing profession.

If you have any questions regarding the English program at RHHS please feel free to contact the English department at any time. Take care and stay in touch.