Artist Mentorships are offered to grades 7 - 12 teachers based on teacher application and equity of access framework (e.g. Learning Opportunies Index;  if you had the program last year). Artists are matched with Arts classes or extra-curricular groups for a series of in-person classroom visits. This program invites teachers and artists to collaborate, while mentoring and guiding students through the creative process. At all times, students will remain the authors and creators of their own work. 

Art forms include Dance, Drama, Film, Music, Photography, Spoken Word, Visual Arts, and Multidisciplinary Arts.

The role of the mentor artist is to:

• provide feedback and ask guiding questions,  and support students as they realize their artistic goals

• help students clarify their message, find connections to the theme

• assist students with the development of specific techniques or skills

• work individually or with small groups of students within one class or extra-curricular group in a school

At the end of the artist mentorship sessions, the Arts Department will host an in-person Performing Arts Festival and Visual Arts & Film Exhibition, celebrating student voice and choice in both the process and finished pieces. 

tdsbCREATES Mentorship for Grade 7-12 Classes/Extra-curricular groups (February-May)

Culminating in a Performing Arts Festival and an Art and Film Exhibition Celebration in Spring 2026, this program provides artist mentorship to help students realize their creative goals both in the classroom and in extra-curricular groups or clubs.  

Mentorship Application Dates:

Applications open: December 1st, 2025

Applications close: Friday, January 9th, 2026 at 4:00 pm

tdsbCREATES Mentorship Program Launch Meeting: 

Online Professional Learning  for  Gr. 7/8 Teachers, Secondary Teachers new to the program or within the first 5 years of teaching (for successful candidates only):

January 28th, 2026 - 4:00-4:45 pm

Culminating Festival Dates:

Performing Arts Festival:  April 20th -21st, 2025 at Northview Heights SS

Art & Film Exhibition:  April 7th-21st at Daniels Spectrum

Art & Film Exhibition Opening Night Celebration:  TBD

This year there is no set theme in order to center student voice within the creative process. Students are free to create work that is truly meaningful to them!

The tdsbCREATES Performing Arts Festival and Visual Arts & Film Exhibition are celebrations of student voice, choice, learning and creative expression. They will happen at the end of the artist mentorship sessions and require teachers to make a couple of check-in points. Participation is open and optional. 

Steps:

1. Reflect on your students and community and learning goals in your Arts discipline. 

2. Devise or identify a project or initiative that centers student voice and student creation where students would benefit from mentorship from a professional artists. 

3. Review the slide deck from our recent information session before applying:

tdsbCREATES Mentorship Pre-Application Information Session 7-12 

4. Submit an application for your proposed project, which includes a guiding question, learning goals, plans on what students will be doing, and sharing how a matched artist mentor will support the initiative.

5. Successful candidates will register for tdsbCREATES Mentorship Program Launch Meeting (only for Gr. 7/8 Teachers and Secondary Teachers new to the program or Teachers within the first 5 years of teaching) on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026  @ 4:00 pm- 4:45 pm. Links and further information will be sent directly to you.

Important Mentorship Program Dates:

• Friday, January 9th @ 4:00 pm: Mentorship Application Due

• By January 23rd: Successful  candidates will be notified via board email

• February - May 2026: In-person Artist Mentorship Program

• Spring 2026: Program Culminates with In-person Festival & Exhibition

PLEASE NOTE: Completing an application does not guarantee an artist mentorship match. If you teach multiple groups, please select one to participate in this application (maximum 35 students). 

Each teacher is invited to complete one application form, with a maximum of two tdsbCREATES Artist Mentorship allocations per school.

Content Advisory

tdsbCREATES student work will be shared with an all ages audience, and must be free from cultural appropriation and/or violent, sexually explicit or inappropriate content. We require all teachers to uphold TDSB Equity Policies and Frameworks, and ask teachers to commit that all work and performances reflect the authentic voice, choice, abilities, and identities of your students before making the commitment to participate in the Festival or Exhibition. Intentional choices must be made in music, lyrics, language, choreography, imagery and content that are appropriate for a family friendly show. Concerns regarding cultural appropriation or sensitive subject matter in student work should be addressed with students as early as possible.  

All materials are the responsibility of the Teacher to ensure that they meet the above requirements before submission.  All work will be reviewed by our team for approvals for participation in the Festival or Exhibition. Please reach out for assistance when needed.

If you are considering working with Black or Indigenous content, please consult the Urban Indigenous Education Centre and/or the Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement.  If further support is required, please contact the Arts Department. 

Guiding Questions

Before you create, review the Guiding Questions, to support Centering Yourself, Intentional Practice Reflections, and Resource Selection. 

Pre-Planning Session:

• Teachers will connect and plan with their artist BEFORE the first in person session. Artist are allocated 1 hour for this pre-planning session.

• Use this time to schedule all session dates and discuss the mentorship process. Please book all of your session dates before you begin mentorship. Do not wait to schedule sessions. 

• Consider dates and times:

  • • Grades 7 - 8: 5 sessions of mentorship (7.5 hours total) 

    • Grades 9 - 12: 4 sessions of mentorship (6 hours total) 

• Artist Mentorship sessions must be each be 1.5 hours in length

*Please consider how this works with your teaching and extra-curricular schedule.  Talk with your administration if you need to make arrangements. 

Mentorship Preparation: 

• What are students working on? 

• What are your goals for the mentorship?

• All work created during tdsbCREATES will be student generated and celebrate student voice

• Remember - Teachers must have a plan for a creative project or activity that artists can support before applying. 

• What do you want your artist to know about your students and classroom needs?

• Where will mentorship take place in the school? (classroom, library, school gym). Please note that there must be a teacher in the room during all mentorship sessions.

• Each artist will facilitate mentorship sessions with the approved class or extracurricular group that engages students in creative work and exploration as part of the program. 

• If Teachers or Artists must cancel a scheduled session, they must give the other party a minimum of 1 week notice and work together to reschedule the session. 

• In the event that a session must be cancelled by a Teacher within 24 hours of the scheduled session, Artists will be compensated for the time they would have worked during the session. Those hours will then be subtracted from the total approved mentorship hours for that school. 

• If sessions are cancelled by a Teacher within 24 hours of a scheduled session, Artists must email  immediately. A list of scheduled session dates must be on file with Prologue in order to confirm cancellation. 

• If Artists cancel a session with a Teacher, they will not be compensated for the session and are required to contact the Teacher directly with as much notice as possible and reschedule the session.

Further Questions?

If you have any questions about Arts or classroom practices during the mentorship process, please reach out to  ruwani.defonseka@tdsb.on.ca,  will.snodgrass@tdsb.on.ca, or miranda.blazey@tdsb.on.ca