“It was really just fun to let loose and be a participant,” she said. “It was really a great time. The improv was phenomenal.”

The group let loose at Admit it! You’re Creative, a workshop in theatrical improvisation on April 17. It was one of eight events held during World Creativity and Innovation week at Centennial College’s Centre for Creative Communications at 951 Carlaw Ave.

The 75-minute workshop included warm-up games and the opportunity for adults, with little to no previous experience, to pull characters out of thin air.

As an innovation consultant, Reitzel helps businesses generate and present new, creative ideas. For her, the improv workshop provided a “safe” environment to explore and connect with complete strangers.

“There was one point where I jumped up on a guy and hugged him,” she said. “I didn’t know him from anyone… I felt safe and I felt comfortable to just give him a big bear hug, when normally you wouldn’t do that to someone you never knew.”

Reitzel feels that improvisation can be applied outside theatre and even in working situations.

“To do improv, or to do an exercise like that, just to have a little break from what it is you’re working on, is great,” she said.

Jennifer Spear has trained with Second City. She taught the workshop. She said that just teaching the material and seeing how people take to it was energizing.

“It’s amazing when you see the participants get involved like that. You get energy from it. That was just so much fun for me! I just had such a great time,” she said.

Filmmaker Lynn Glazier captured this story in her new documentary “It’s A Teens World.”

“The life of kids today is really complicated,” she said. “I wanted to capture their world through their eyes … figure out if they know where the boundary is when it comes to harassment.”

Glazier has noticed an increase in harassment amongst teens in recent years. She made it her mission to get to the heart of the problem. She followed 21 teens in Toronto and was given a behind-the-scenes look at the sexual pressures they face today.

During a visit at Centennial College to promote her new documentary, she told students it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.

“Somebody’s border is going to be different than somebody else’s,” she said. “Some might not be offended or upset when a guy gets into their space and grabs their (breasts). But a lot of other people do get bothered. So, how do you know where the line is?”

She believes that the media are partly responsible for the confusion because they depict teenagers adopting the values of celebrity culture.

“Girls think that if Paris Hilton can put out a sex tape and get a lot of attention, then so can they,” she said. “Some girls think it’s liberating to be gawked at … but it warps their view of sexuality.”

In some cases, she said, boys use the invitation to touch or cat call at girls to their advantage, to try and gain acceptance amongst their male peers.

“This is how guys enforce the status quo on other guys and it’s a form of sexual harassment in itself,” Glazier said.

Dale Callender is a youth counsellor at Northern Secondary School in Toronto. He believes young people need to be educated on what constitutes harassment.

“I see suggestive clothing, comments, looks, whistles; it happens in all schools,” he said. “I think it’s a lack of education. It needs to start with people like me to tell them what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Callender gives students the opportunity to discuss these issues in confidence. Posters and announcements are used to encourage them to talk. There’s also a committee at Northern called the Safe School Committee. It surveys students to get their opinions about what areas of the school are most unsafe and when they feel the most uncomfortable.

Glazier believes her film can accompany parents and counsellors as they help teens gain self-awareness when it comes to harassment.

“There was a transformation throughout this documentary,” she said. “Opinions at the beginning turned into self recognition. The awareness grew. It helped teens reconsider what they were doing and say ‘hey, I need to stop this.”

“We turned it down because we couldn’t deal with the idea,” he said.

As Director of Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Film Centre, Clarkson’s resume also boasts a stint with the Toronto International Film Festival.

He recently spoke to film and broadcast students at Centennial College and didn’t hesitate admitting he’d made a mistake by turning down the independent film.

“(I didn’t realize) it’s all about what’s available through the Internet,” he said. “It’s literally a project that challenged the status quo in every way.”

The film, deadend.com, is based on the true story of three Canadian teenagers who drove to Vancouver to commit suicide as a tribute to Cobain, and it was unlike anything Clarkson had previously encountered.

If fact, it was Clarkson’s own son, Wyeth, a Canadian Film Centre graduate, who approached him with the idea in 2002. Clarkson initially expressed interest in the project.

“What I thought about was, what did those kids think of every day as they got closer to Vancouver?” he recalled. “I (thought), what a great idea!”

It wasn’t until Clarkson learned that the film would incorporate raw uncut footage they had posted the Internet that he retreated.

Wyeth Clarkson informed his father that it would be shot digitally and would consist of a cast of non-professional actors ad libbing their lines.

The real deal-breaker for Clarkson, however, involved the online aspect. His son and co-producers decided to chronicle the making of the film on their website, including automatically downloading scenes they filmed throughout the day without any editing or censorship.

One particularly graphic scene involved one lead actor, a street youth from Halifax, actually shooting heroin on camera.

“All the rules and regulations that we had designed, couldn’t cope with it,” Clarkson said. “(Wyeth) and his corporate partner started up their own company and shot it themselves.”

After his initial skepticism, Clarkson realized that such controversial scenes were marking a turning point in the film industry. The graphic depiction of a teenage boy actually high on drugs left a lasting impression.

“It has a rawness to it that’s amazing,” he said. “It demystifies everything I’ve seen in Hollywood.”

After witnessing the success of deadend.com at various film festivals around the world, including Toronto and Sundance, Clarkson realized the importance of the film to Canadian cinema.

“What I learned from that is the impact that digitization, digital media and the Internet is having on the whole idea of film,” he said. “It says so much about the future.”

Clarkson encouraged aspiring filmmakers to tell stories that matter to them and to challenge the boundaries of conventional cinematic storytelling.

“That’s movies today,” Clarkson said to the students assembled around him. “There’s nothing to stop any of you from doing that kind of thing in Canada, with Canadian talent, with a Canadian idea and travel the world (with it).”

Linda Etienne and Micheline Beauvais,  both originally from Haiti, feared for the fate of their relatives living there.

“Just imagine,” Beauvais said, “you’re watching TV just to see if you see your family. You see the body on the floor… You look. Is that your family?… You (want to) see if they’re alive or dead.”

More than 150 people gathered in the main foyer at The Centre for Creative Communications at Centennial College to take part in a Hope for Haiti event on Wednesday. Centennial College and Collège Boréal share the campus on Carlaw Avenue.

They joined forces to raise awareness and donations for people affected by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12. Officials have estimated that the quake killed 200,000 people.

The disaster has affected four faculty members and 15 students who attend the small Collège Boréal campus, including Etienne, 22, and Beauvais, 31. They expressed their gratitude for the support from the schools.

“It’s a way to open peoples eyes to what’s happening in Haiti and it’s a way to collect some money to help them,” Etienne said. “Obviously they need help so it was a really good idea.”

As part of the event, Etienne read a poem in French, written by another Haitian student who was too nervous to read it himself. The poem described the tragedy that has affected the Haitian people over the past 200 years, including the fight for sovereignty and overcoming extreme poverty.

“What he was saying is, ‘when is that going to stop? Is there ever going to be a time when we aren’t going to be attacked by something after another?’” Etienne said.

The words of the poem resonated with Etienne as she cannot contact her brother, sister or aunt in Haiti.

“I don’t know yes or no. But I hope every time (I call),” Etienne said.

Beauvais is also waiting to hear from some of her family members. She has already learned that her brother’s pregnant wife died in the earthquake. She has not heard from her godmother yet.

She said the support that faculty and fellow students have offered, both in private and during Hope for Haiti, has helped.

“If someone can put a smile on your face for just two seconds, then for two seconds you’ve forgot. That’s good. Today I feel like a family,” Beauvais said.

Paul Koidis and Barry Waite, of the corporate communications and public relations faculty, collaborated with faculty and students from Collège Boréal to organize the event in less than a week. The event raised money in a variety of ways.

People bid in a silent auction, bought raffle tickets, purchased Collège Boréal buttons and sweaters as well as offered donations.

“Our grand total is $3,022.61… We also received some food and clothing from students,” Waite said in an email. “Thanks to everyone for making this extraordinary event happen!”

All money raised will go towards the global relief efforts of the Canadian Red Cross.

Etienne and Beauvais greatly appreciated the money raised. Etienne, however, appreciated the sense of community that came out of it even more.

“That’s how we are in Haiti. Together,” she said. “Even if we are poor as hell, we are still very together. That’s one thing that I liked about today and reminds me so much about Haiti.”

For Etienne and Beauvais it is important to remember that tragedy can strike anyone, anytime and that’s why compassion for others and a willingness to help those in need is so important.

“That’s what people really have to know. (This crisis) is not Haitian only.  It’s human. Next time it will be somewhere else,” Etienne said.

One needs smarts, savvy and sophisticated technique in order to survive in the cutthroat world of modern business. 

Phil Knight has learned to hone these essential attributes, and has used them to become a successful entrepreneur. His return to his alma mater’s East York campus on Oct. 14 highlighted his journey from fledgling graphic designer to running his own company.

Knight, who runs Modern Knight Inc. out of Mississauga, told art students at Centennial College’s Carlaw Avenue building that they have to be ahead of the curve when it comes to making the cut in business.

 “You’re not just competing locally anymore — not even just in North America. You’re competing on a worldwide level,” Knight said. “There is a guy in Ecuador who charges $10 per hour for the same work. You have to learn how to compete with him.”

Knight said that one of his most lucrative endeavours is his website 4bizprint.ca, which allows him to provide quality printing services to a global market with minimal actual interaction with customers.

 “We made over $1 million in a year. You definitely want to have a website that sells stuff online,” Knight said. “I now have printing presses in China and I have full-time employees in the Philippines.”

The graphic design program that Knight took at college gave him the tools to build his empire from the ground up, he said.

 “The more tools you have in your belt, the more you can do. [The program] introduced me to so many tools that can help,” Knight said.

Knight said he went to college after leaving his previous job feeling unsatisfied. 

 “I had a falling out with the company I was working for and I needed a career change,” he said, adding that the practicality of his courses bolstered his re-entry into the work-world.

 “You have to blow someone away before you get there,” he said, “and the broad introduction to the software was a great help.”

Knowing how to tell stories takes practice.

Sugith Varughese is a professional teller of stories and teaches screenwriting at Centennial College’s East York campus. For him and his students, telling a story is not as simple as it might seem.

 “There are things to learn about how to tell a story and you may have a great story to tell, but if you don’t know how to tell it, nobody’s going to hear it,” Varughese said.

Varughese is this year’s “storyteller-in-residence” at the college. Several of the programs at the Carlaw Avenue campus, such as journalism, game design and film, incorporate various forms of storytelling.

Although he is now in his second year at Centennial, Varughese, who also plays a recurring role on the television show Little Mosque on the Prairie and has been nominated for several Genie and Gemini awards, never anticipated teaching.

 “I’m not really a teacher by profession,” he said. “I have taught, but I’m a screenwriter by profession. They wanted somebody who would crank up the level of storytelling in the program.”

Varughese teaches the second year film and broadcast students using various key techniques.

 “My approach is kind of holistic in that we go to square one in terms of what is a story and I start the semester by asking that question,” he said.

He helps students get a better understanding of storytelling and encourages them to develop their own liking towards story.

 “(We) try and analyze how great stories have worked and by using that analysis figure out some principles,” he said.

Varughese grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and was the first student at the University of Saskatchewan to complete two years with a pre-med/drama double major. He then transferred to the University of Minnesota and graduated with a major in Theatre Arts.

After returning to Canada, Varughese remembers his first job in the business while studying film at York University.

 “It wasn’t what I was learning in school, it was that the guy who was teaching was a producer at CBC television in the drama department,” he said. “I gave the script to him to read as part of my course and he liked it and invited me to pitch an idea for a TV series he was producing…. I learned screenwriting by teaching myself by learning on the job. My course is the course I wish I had taken.”

Since breaking into the field, Varughese has written for such TV series as “Fraggle Rock,” and “Blue Murder.” He has won various awards such as a Governor General’s medal and a Writers Guild of Canada award, although he admits winning an award in Canada doesn’t guarantee winners a set path in life.

 “I won a thing called the York Trillium Award for the most promising writer in television and I didn’t work for 11 months after that,” he said. “I get nervous when I get nominated now.”

As for the future, Varughese has no plans to leave the East York campus, as it continues to help him.

 “I’m not interested in giving any of it up because it’s all important,” he said. “The teaching helps me be a better writer. The teaching helps me be a better actor. The acting helps me be a better teacher. And I’m only interested in getting better as I get older. Story is how humans communicate.”

Hosts Laura Barney and Angela Willatt are on desk for CSTV’s first-ever all-female sportscast.

That’s right, anything boys can do, girls can do better. And there’s more.

For the sixth edition of the show, they’ll take a deeper look at women in sports and give you a taste of something new.

Victoria Quarmby takes you down to Marc Garneau Collegiate for some girls-only ball. Not basketball, it’s something better.

For all of the tennis fans, Jordan Reginato serves up a three-day diary of the Riverdale girls tennis team and you don’t want to miss out on the action.

And finally, Matt Padanyi packs a punch in women’s boxing this week as he goes ringside at Fight Factory IX.

Don’t feel left out, gentlemen. This show is for you as well. We haven’t forgotten all that’s Centennial College sports and other local high school games.

Join the team Friday October 30 at 8 p.m. online ondemand.centennialcollege.ca.

Tune in to this week’s edition of Centennial Sports TV for updates on scores and stories in the East York area.

Join Matt Levicki and Jordan Reginato Friday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. for all your community sports action.

In this week’s episode, Stephen Colomvakos hits the court with the East York Goliaths to see if the senior girls basketball team can continue their remarkable undefeated season.

Elena Pagliarello scales the walls of the Toronto Climbing Academy to find out why this sport is on the rise as an exciting new way to keep fit and have fun.

And our curling expert Craig Richenback checks out a weekly social event with a twist.

You’ll also get your Centennial sports fix with the most recent scores and upcoming games for the school’s varsity teams.

Watch it live on Friday at www.ondemand.centennialcollege.ca at 8 p.m.

Last year’s first-team all-star connected on eight three-pointers as Duran dictated play for most of the night.

It was his play and fellow 2009 all-star Jermaine Duke that had Barclay’s team reeling at times.

“It’s our first game [and] they’re an experienced playoff team,” Barclay said. “They’re probably ranked first or second in our division.”

Jovain Wilson added 21 points and Duke blocked four shots for the Knights on the way to their victory.

Guard Andre Bell led the Colts with 17 points, as part of a balanced Centennial attack.

But it was two large runs by Fleming in the first half that set the game on its course.

The Knights began the contest on a 15-0 run and Barclay called two time-outs during that stretch, but it didn’t help. Not until 3:38 into the game did Centennial find the basket for the first time. 

After the Colts went on a 17-4 run of their own to bring the game to within two, the Knights put together a 23-1 stretch that had them leading 42-18 at one point.

Without those two runs by Fleming, Centennial outscored the Knights.

“If it wasn’t for the bad start, the first five or six minutes, and about seven or eight minutes just before halftime, we’re in it.” Barclay said.

Passing skills strong

Fleming kept their starters in for most of the game, and their superior passing skills left Barclay’s defence in a knot.

“They got way too many second chances on us,” Barclay said. “[They had] guys driving right to the basket without anybody stepping up, that hurt.

“We blocked one or two shots and they blocked about eight. It makes a big difference.”

Six different Knights hit three-pointers, as the team connected on 17 over the evening.

“They have some very fine shooters, and even though we talked about not letting those guys get open, talking about it and execution is not always the same thing,” Barclay said.

“They get excited about doing something, and they’re supposed to stay there and see something happen. They go away and the ball comes back.

“If they’d stayed there like we told them to, [Fleming] wouldn’t have gotten that many shots on us.”

Wilson led the Knights from the foul line, going seven-for-8, all in the first half. Both teams went 10-for-16 for 63 per cent at the charity stripe.

Second half dunk

The highlight of the second half was Wilson’s slam dunk, where he got just high enough on a clean break to drop the ball in.

Teammate Orlando Palmer had a longer hang-time, but did so without the ball and consequently was given a foul.

Bell started the Colts on the right track in the second half, nailing a three-pointer. He scored a pair of free throws shortly after, but a defensive breakdown led to an 11-0 run by Fleming that quashed any comeback hopes for Centennial.

Fleming led 50-29 at half-time.

Other than the first half run, Centennial didn’t have any large scoring spurts. Fleming continued a steady stream of putting points on the board, not allowing the Colts to get back into the game.

Students and faculty at the Centre for Creative Communications, at Mortimer and Carlaw avenues, were asked to leave the building at 11:20 a.m.

Police arrived on the scene at 10 a.m. and shortly thereafter faculty were called to an emergency meeting and informed of the situation.

Fire crews  were called to the scene but as of noon no bomb had been found.

The school was scheduled to be reopened again on Wednesday morning at 7 a.m.

As of now police have released no comment.

 The loss extended Centennial’s losing streak to five games as it fell to 0-5 while Seneca improved its record to 3-1. 

 With only six games remaining and the Colt’s sitting dead last in the Central East division, coach Julian Carr is not optimistic about his team’s chances. 

“Right now we are sitting on the outside without a hope and a prayer to make the playoffs,” said Carr after the game, while reflecting on his team’s lacklustre performance. 

“I coach 12 year-old kids who put in more of an effort than we have in the last two or three games.”

Seneca thoroughly dominated the Colts in the first half placing relentless pressure on their undersized defence.

Centennial goaltender Blake Williams made a great dive to his left early on to deny the Sting a great opportunity. 

But on 25 minutes, midfielder Shawn Tatham, making a great run up the right side, crossed it into the box to a sliding Murphy, who put it into the open goal to give Seneca the 1-0 advantage.    

Just 11 minutes later Mirsadeghi scored on a rebound, after a fine save by Williams, to put Seneca up 2-0.

The Sting increased it’s lead to 3-0 at the 43rd minute when Murphy tipped in a low corner kick past a sprawling Williams to earn his second goal of the evening.

With his team down losing control of the game Williams was replaced with rookie netmider Philip Liscio, to give Williams the opportunity to help at the forward position.

According to the coach, it was also to make sure the veteran goaltender would not have to feel hung out to dry by his teammates. 

“[He was replaced] also to keep him from exploding [at his teammates],” said Carr. ”He was about to come unglued and rightfully so.  After the third goal I would have come unglued if I was him.” 

But even with William’s 6-foot-3 presence up front, Centennial continued to fall apart as Mirsadeghi got loose again, walked into the box, and hammered a shot into the far corner past Liscio to complete Seneca’s four-goal first half.

Sting goalkeeper Silvano Posca who was not overly tested throughout the match took a hard knock early in the second half while battling for ball possession with a Centennial forward.

He stayed down for a couple of minutes but would get back to his feet relatively unscathed. 

Defender Mitchell DeSouza scored the Colt’s only goal, on 80 minutes, when he quickly jumped on a rebound off a sizzling free kick taken by Williams.

The Colt’s starting goaltender, who is also seen by his coach as the team’s best striker, had a great chance earlier in the half, but was denied by both Posca and the crossbar.

As the game was winding down, forward Jari Martin got the Sting’s fifth marker with a left-footed strike into a gaping net as the Centennial defence got caught up in miscommunication. 

Carr cited a lack of experience as one of the main reasons his group has not responded well thus far in this campaign.  

“To put it quite bluntly we don’t have players.  As cold and as wrong as that might sound we don’t have enough guys who have played at a high enough level to come and play at this level,” he said.

Recruiting able bodies to fill the roster was an arduous and challenging task for him and the rest of the coaching staff.

“Unfortunately all the players we could have fielded this year are all academically ineligible, not eligible yet or concentrating on school.  So unfortunately we feel we have to field players who are of lesser quality,” he said. 

Notes: The Colts will try to put an end to their drought as they square off against Cambrian College this Saturday afternoon at 3pm…the Centennial Women’s soccer team is also winless this season (0-4-0) as they lost 3-1 to Seneca (5-0-0) in an earlier matchup on Wednesday.

Jim Barclay

Centennial’s new men’s basketball coach Jim Barclay has a message for the rest of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association.

Don’t expect the same 5-15 Colts they faced last season.

“I think we’re going to surprise some people,” Barclay said. “I think some teams that are maybe taking us for granted are going to be surprised when we get out there.”

Barclay brings an impressive coaching resumé to the fold, as just two years ago he led the Pickering High Trojans to a 70-2 record en route to winning the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Quad-A championship.

The strength of this year’s squad will be in the guard play, Barclay said.

“Right now, I’d say that in the backcourt – the one, two, and three positions – I think we’re pretty solid,” he said.

“I’m a little concerned about the four, five position and my concerns would be alleviated if some people who I know are going to Centennial, and I thought were coming out, were there.”

Knowing that defence and rebounding is vital to any team’s success, Barclay will be ensuring his team focuses on helping one another when without the ball.

“Great defence causes turnovers, and turnovers causes fast breaks,” he said. “If we’re going to be small, then we really have to take care of boxing out and not just worry about big guys getting the ball.”

The new bench boss also recognizes that given the athleticism and offensive imaginations of this year’s crop of players, “what you have to do is harness that and put it into some kind of [defensive] system that works for everyone.”

Barclay is also confident players returning from last year will provide the on-court leadership necessary to complement what he will be preaching from the sidelines.

“Andre Bell came out for the first time last night, and he looks like he’s going to be a really good player,” he said. “Calmar Morgan has been involved with the program to some extent, and he is a real good player as well.”

Barclay will be joined on the sidelines by his long-time friend and assistant coach David Joseph.

“When [David's] oldest boy came to Pickering in Grade 9, David came to Pickering to basically help coach with me, and we’ve been coaching together ever since,” Barclay said.

“So the fact that we go back so far really makes it a lot of fun for us.”

The team will be without former player Roderick Robinson this year.

Last season, Robinson averaged 26.39 points per game, which was tops in the entire OCAA. There is no official word yet why this is the case.