A GOOD STORY STARTS HERE
by Max Kerman from Arkells

Jim Cuddy. Steven Page. The Beaches. PUP. Noah Reid.

All of these storytellers went to Toronto public schools. And I like to think that there’s something worth investigating here — how they connect with others and how they see the world.

I started wearing this homemade hat for my mom, a retired TDSB special education teacher. Every day, she worked to create a safe and engaging place for kids often dealing with difficult circumstances in their lives. She made a difference — and gave parents the comfort of knowing their child was cared for.

Now, I wear the hat for all teachers, in recognition of both the challenges they face and the dignity of the work they do.

Public education isn’t simple and doesn’t erase differences we bring into the classroom, but at its best, it asks us not to look away from them.

You meet kids whose families have more than yours, or less. Kids who speak another language at home. Kids whose lives look nothing like your own. You learn, very early, that your little social world isn’t the whole world — and that what happens beyond it matters, too.

If we want our public schools to work, we have to love them with all that love entails: care, determination, creativity, patience — and occasionally, a memento to celebrate what we’ve got.

So I made a hat. A tip of the cap! Wearing it has sparked countless conversations with teachers, parents and alumni. People seem genuinely excited to see it out in the wild — a little symbol of an institution that belongs to everybody. A nation-building project that, when we invest in it, shapes the kind of Canadians we become: people who look out for each other.

All proceeds will support healthy breakfast programs for students in Toronto schools because, as my mom knows well, it’s hard to learn when you’re hungry.

A good story starts here.