Oscar is a bit odd—even his mother thinks so—but  he’s also a genius … that’s why he always wears a blue helmet to protect his brain! He notices things that other kids (and even adults) miss, which makes him the perfect sleuth to solve the mystery of the kids that have been going missing in his neighbourhood. But Oscar needs some help to face his biggest fears, and that is where his friend Rico, a boy with ADHD, comes in....

On October 28th, Brain Power’s book club visited the wonderful Civic Centre Resource Library in Vaughan to discuss Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. We were given a guided tour of the building by one of the many helpful librarians (see pictures below), and we saw all of the amenities offered to the public free of charge! Green Room: complete with high-end cameras and video cameras, and editing software like Photoshop and Final Cut Pro Recording Studio: complete with a professional mixing board and...

Brain Power’s Public Speaking class went on their annual visit to a recording studio! Our students got a chance to record their self-made speeches and podcasts, putting much of the theory they learned in class into practice. They also received valuable feedback from a professional voice coach, and they got to see “behind the scenes” at a professional recording studio!

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On June 21st, Brain Power’s Public Speaking students were visited by award-winning poet, youth educator, and workshop facilitator, Patrick de Belen! For the past seven years, Patrick has visited about 100 schools, holding spoken word poetry workshops for the students. In 2012 he became the youngest spoken-word poet to hold the National Championship title at the Canadian Festival of the Spoken Word. In 2016 Patrick was selected as the Youth Poet of Honour of Canada.

On Saturday, May 13th, Brain Power students went to see Ira Glass at Massey Hall! “The creator of the award-winning public radio show This American Life talked about his program and how it’s put together: what makes a compelling story, where they find the amazing stories for the show, how he and his staff are trying to push broadcast journalism to do things it doesn’t usually do.” We had a great time at the event!

In 2017, Brain Power Public Speaking students attended the Speakers Idol (provincial) finals at the Toronto Centre for the Arts … and one of them won second place! Congratulations to our public speaking student, Caroline Cui (pictured left), for placing second in the 2017 Speaker’s Idol (provincial) competition! Three other Brain Power students made it to the semi-finals: Alexandra Garber, Lev Raizman, and Alicia Kogan. We are proud of all the Brain Power students who participated!