Specialized Programs at Western

CyberARTS is an Art & Design Program focusing on Visual Communication. We integrate technology and traditional fine arts with academic subjects to create a unique program of high-level knowledge with employable and transferable skills. CyberARTS is a Specialized High Skills Major and its curriculum focuses on the student’s development as an independent learner and creative/critical thinker. All activities are student-centred and project driven.
Application - CyberARTS

The Engineering Robotics Program @ WTCS builds on a long history of excellence and success. Combined with a world class facility, exciting projects, industry certified instructors, extracurricular competitions and delivered through the new Ministry of Education’s Specialized High Skills Major Program, your daughter or son will get an engineering foundation not available at any other high school in the GTA. Robotics is the new standard for high tech design and manufacture with opportunities in industries ranging from aerospace to medical to zoology.
Application - Engineering Robotics

The Enriched/Gifted Program fosters critical thinking, academic challenge, cross-curricular collaboration, and community leadership. Students enhance their intellectual growth and social development through cooperative inquiry, specialized courses and technological exploration in an environment that fosters creativity and nurtures curiousity. Involvement in diverse learning situations and groups prepares students for exemplary achievement at the post-secondary level. Students emerge from the program with well-rounded and real world skills and knowledge.
Application - Gifted
Application - Enriched


The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is an Ontario designation that allows students to focus on a career path that matches their individual skills and interests. Enriched/Gifted students at WTCS are encouraged to enroll in one of our SHSMs. These students learn with industry standard equipment and instructors who have worked directly in the field. They also experience on the job training with employers at skills training centres and have the opportunity to enroll in up to two post secondary courses with no tuition costs. Students who complete the SHSM requirements will graduate with a red seal on their diploma. This indicates a universal provincial designation of a higher level of achievement to all post secondary schools no matter what program the student may choose to pursue. For more information go to: More Student Success

Come experience our Specialized Program night - Wednesday November 28th at 7pm

Honours Celebration:

On Thursday November 8^th, Western celebrated the outstanding academic achievement of our students. Thirty-eight students received several awards some of which included money. We also celebrated all the students in grades 9-12 who were on the honour roll meaning they received an overall average of 75% or greater in the 2011-2012 school year. Staff, students and parents enjoyed participating in the ceremony as over 200 students received these certificates honouring their achievements. And the cakes were delicious! 

College and University Applicants

College Applicants:

Students wishing to attend College in the fall of 2013 should apply on or before Feb.1^st, 2013. Students must apply online at www.ontariocolleges.ca

Students requiring any information and/or assistance with their on line application should make an appointment with Ms. Madeira, in the guidance office.

University Applicants:

Western hosted a very successful University Fair on the afternoon of Thursday, November 1^st for our grade 11 and 12 students. Representatives from 16 Universities were on hand to answer student inquiries about their various programs. The Ontario University Application Centre will soon be open for business - the deadline for students to submit their application is Wednesday, January 16^th, 2013. Students requiring assistance with their applications should make a guidance appointment with Mr. Amadio.

The School Newspaper In Virtual Format

     It took a ton of work, but the Semester 1 Writer's Craft class has pulled it off. The latest edition of Western's Newspaper, "The Hidden Agenda" is now ready for print.
     The paper was designed by Stephen Quach using the schools latest InDesign software. A program that is suitable for all commercial and industrial publishing. "It was certainly above anything I've ever used," said Mr. Bailey the Writer's Craft teacher. "I'm not quite sure how we would have made our publishing deadline without Steven's expertise."
     Creating a school newspaper is just one of the many assignments for the Writer's Craft class. Once the final editing touches are complete the paper is relayed to the TDSB print shop. It should be out within the next week. If you'd like to get a look at the virtual addition, follow the link below.
     This week the Writer's Craft students are sitting in the Director's Chair. They've just completed a three week workshop on script writing for short films. Now they're filming their short scripts... Stay tuned for the WTCS Short Film Festival. It's coming to a classroom near you.

Link to a pdf version of the school newspaper - "The Hidden Agenda"

Your Job Is To Joust!: A Coop Placement With A Twist

Jousting at Medieval Times


      Meet Alannah. She's one of Western Tech's many successful co-op students. Alannah was recently selected for the position of Events Co-ordinator Assistant at "Medieval Times" a dinner theatre in the West end of Toronto that tries to re-capture the complete experience of eating, drinking and jousting in the 15th century.

    The position of Events Co-ordinator Assistant was a very difficult one to win and Alannah had to compete against a  number of co-op students from other schools in Toronto. Through determination and hard work, she won. Now, she is gaining valuable experience in both preparation and execution of VIP nights and school matinee performances. Not only does she collect surveys, compile data, and prepare gift bags but she also greets guests in  medieval costume prompting many guests to ask to take their picture with her. It's an experience with a real twist of excitement and fun. How'd you like to start off your day dressing up as a medieval knight?

The Grand Tour of Learning At Western Tech

      "Welcome to the Grand Tour of learning at Western Tech," is how the Student Leader started off her grade eight orientation for prospective students to WTCS. "It's a pleasure to serve you, and I'm happy to be your guide."

     On Tuesday November 13th, over 800 grade 8s were in the building to investigate the programs and facilities that Western offers. Western receives students from many different elementary schools in the neighbourhood such as Runnymede, Swansea, Annette, Brock, Carlton Village, Essex, Parkdale and High Park Alternative School. In fact, almost any student from anywhere in the city can choose to study here, and many do.

      The tours are organized and run through Western's Guidance Department and Leadership classes and are meant to highlight all the possible options for courses and learning a student has at WTCS. Western has one of the widest program selections of any high school in the TDSB. We offer almost every type of program imaginable:  from ESL to Gifted/Enriched Learning; from Robotics, to Food Technologies; from Coop Education to French and Spanish.  And that's what makes it such a special place.

          The Robotics and Mechanical Engineering classes presented futuristic "quadracopters" that hovered over the eastern end of the cafeteria. The Food Technologies classes presented baked goods and cookies and discussed the importance of nutrition in maintaining health and weight, and the Physics Department showed how simple and ingenious Da Vinci's invention of the "camera obsura" really was.

     "We're proud of our building and we're proud of the students and teachers in it," said a beaming Principal Ms Virginia Pang. "We want to let the community and the whole city know that Western really is the place to be, and we'd be delighted if they chose to send their child to learn here. This is a very special place."
       Our Student Leader was right. The day really was "The Grand Tour of (Western) Learning."

College Pathways

The Guidance Department will be hosting a College Fair on Thursday Oct.18^th from 1:30- 2:30 in the Cafeteria. Representatives from George Brown, Centennial, Seneca, Humber and Sheridan will present information about the many programs offered at their school. This is an excellent opportunity for students to learn about each College, their specialized areas of study, facilities and the general College experience. This fair is open to all grade 11 and 12 students.

The Ontario College Information Fair will take place on Tuesday Oct. 25^th from 10:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place. There will be display booths for the colleges, as well as numerous external agencies and professional associations. In addition to the display booths, there will be information sessions scheduled throughout the day including in-depth presentations on financial aid. 

Western Students Get Real Medical Engineering Experience

Three Western Technical-Commercial students qualified to compete at this years MedTech Challenge. The program, created to inspire high school students to pursue education opportunities in biomedicine and engineering, is being held at The Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto. Hosted by the Centre for Image Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention in partnership with Logics Academy and Kids Science, the six week program gives 24 students from across Ontario the opportunity to utilizes robotics and medical tools, supplementary equipment and a medically focused robotics curriculum to design and develop a creative solution to perform a benign tumor craniotomy procedure on phantom pediatric-sized skulls, gelatin-based brain models and grapes (representing tumors).

On the final day, teams will showcase their working
prototype along with a presentation that discusses design rationale, clinical workflow with their robotic tooling, procedure efficacy (in terms of precision and speed) as well as the benefits of their design, challenges they faced and future improvements they would like to make.The teams of 4 are ultimately judged by a panel of engineers and surgeons.



Good luck WanQi, Mohamed and Fernando.

A Great Partnership: Student Teachers At Western Tech

A Brief Interview with Ms. Harris

by Koji Umezawa

There’s always been something special about “student teachers”. They are similar to "regular teachers" in the sense that they teach us things and give us marks, but it is easier to socialize with them because they don’t have the stigma of being our regular teachers. So it was a pleasant surprise for me today when I came to school to find a student teacher in my Writer’s Craft Class. Ms. Harris  from OISE at the University of Toronto is the student teacher for Mr. Bailey’s Writer’s Craft class, and was kind enough to speak with me. 

At the time of the interview, she had only been here for 2 days, but she was impressed by what she had seen of the staff and students, “I was surprised, all of the students were well-behaved, to be honest. I’ve worked in other schools where thats not the case. I was expecting some more drama, so that’s a good thing.”

Ms. Harris will be teaching a unit in Writer’s Craft on script writing, a subject she is very excited to be teaching: “I’m really passionate about that because I did a lot of film in my life experience. I took some courses like theatre, and some George Brown courses,” she said with enthusiasm. She is also excited to be working with senior students, because she has never worked with them before.

Ms. Harris will be sitting in on all of the Writer Craft classes, so students can expect to have a very passionate and attentive student teacher, who will be looking to gain as much insight out of these next few weeks as possible, “My thing is student engagement, trying to use what you’re teaching to engage the students and get feedback from them and make the classroom more democratic. I'd like, to open the class up and have some variety. I want to get some of the students'  ideas and input.”

The student teachers are with us for the next four weeks and will be helping students personally with their work as well as teaching in front of the whole class. I, for one, am looking forward to being taught by one of the new fresh faces around the school. It's a great break from the regular routine.