EXCERPTS
It may be the first International Women's Day celebration where women dance the "Hokey Pokey."
Lyndsay Macdonald, a fourth-year early childhood education student at Ryerson University, is organizing a Tuesday afternoon rally at the university's downtown campus. She has set up a Facebook page and is expecting more than 200 fellow students from across the city. The rally will begin with a Hokey Pokey "flash mob," says the 23-year-old.
Although the dance may seem frivolous, she says the related issues of child care and women's equality are not.
"Advocacy for students and early childhood educators is really lacking," she says.
"With a federal election on the horizon, now is the time to act. We need to mobilize our community and our fellow students to start demanding better choices for quality early childhood education."
Rachel Langford, director of Ryerson's School of Early Childhood Education, teaches a 4th-year course on contemporary issues in which she recounts the 30-year quest for a national program.
"That's a pretty grim story," she notes.
"We need a new generation of advocates and this group of students has really embraced the struggle. It's very reassuring for those of us who have been working on this for so many years."
The rally is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the corner of Victoria and Gould Streets. Participants are invited to bring their dancing shoes and outside voices.
- reprinted from the Toronto Star