Walk with Excellence 2024 Celebrates Achievements of Graduating Students from Five Local High Schools

BY: York University

Walk with Excellence 2024 celebrates achievements of students from five local high schools

Now in its 11th year, the Walk with Excellence is an annual event celebrating the achievements of graduating students from C. W. Jeffreys Collegiate, Downsview Secondary School, Emery Collegiate Institute, James Cardinal McGuigan Catholic High School and Westview Centennial Secondary School. This year’s event took place on June 6 and saw more than 500 Grade 12 students walk up to York University’s Keele Campus – signifying the beginning of their journey to post-secondary education. 

“The Walk with Excellence signals new beginnings and a new season,” said Itah Sadu, founder of the Walk with Excellence and a York University honorary degree recipient. “Walking with the graduating students in this annual urban rite of passage is pure joy.”

Organized by a coalition of community partners – including the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre, local school principals and high-school leaders, the Blackhurst Cultural Centre and A Different Booklist – Walk with Excellence 2024 featured brief musical performances from each participating high school, remarks from community leaders and a reading from Toronto’s seventh poet laureate, Lillian Allen, who a wrote a poem specifically for the occasion. Organizers also presented several student bursaries, funded by CUPE Local 4400/Toronto Education Workers, Blackhurst Cultural Centre and York University.

“We are proud to stand alongside our students and school board partners in celebrating the hard work and dedication that define the Jane and Finch community’s collective journey toward excellence,” said Byron Gray, manager of the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre which offers teaching and research resources that nurture partnerships between the community and the university. “Together, we are fostering a brighter future for all.”

Marcia Annisette, vice-provost academic of York University, is already looking ahead to Walk with Excellence 2025 by launching a fundraising campaign for student bursaries. Bursaries will be offered to five future York students – one from each of the five participating high schools. 

“This event exemplifies the power of community, resilience and academic achievement,” said Annisette. “It is our vision that a newly initiated campaign will engage all of York University in funding an ongoing Walk with Excellence Bursary.”