Arkells Are Selling Toronto District School Board Hats to Support ‘Healthy Breakfast Programs’ for Students

Arkells love public education, and they’re raising money for it.

In support of World Teachers' Day earlier this week, the Toronto/Hamilton rock band has started selling vintage-inspired baseball caps with the Toronto District School Board’s apple logo embroidered on them. All proceeds will be donated to the Toronto Foundation for Student Success’ nutrition programs to "support healthy breakfast programs."

According to the website, the foundation supports nearly 1,000 school nutrition programs across the city and provides 284,000 healthy meals to students every school day.

While the band was formed in Hamilton, frontman Max Kerman went to high school at Harbord Collegiate Institute, and his mother was a special education teacher for the TDSB and is now retired. "As my mom knows well, it’s hard to learn when you’re hungry," he wrote on Instagram.

The hat was inspired by a vintage-looking cap featuring the school board’s classic apple logo that Kerman has sported for a few years and was made by the band’s merch designer. Kerman told The Globe and Mail that it has sparked many conversations with past and present TDSB teachers, who are excited about it.

“They just see the hat and they want to talk about their school. They want to talk about their education,” he shared with the publication. “Teachers feel really seen by it, teachers really appreciate it, so I figured let’s make this for sale a little bit more widely.”

Earlier this week, Kerman got the school board’s stamp of approval to sell the hats. Two colours and versions of the hat are available for preorder online, including a green rope hat with a thin decorative cord and a classic gray baseball cap. Both are $40.

In a social media post, the group shared other notable homegrown acts — all of whom went to Toronto public schools — who have been spotted wearing the two different hats, including Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, Noah Reid, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, former Barenaked Ladies member Steven Page, Leandra Earl of The Beaches and PUP’s Stefan Babcock.

Canadian actor Dan Levy expressed interest in receiving one of the hats, commenting “🙋🏻♂️,” and “My teacher at North Toronto C.I. inspired me to write. 🤍,” on another post. Canadian-American singer Grandson simply said “need” on the band’s two posts promoting the hat.

“We need to look out for each other. So sure, there are some schools that are in more well-to-do neighbourhoods, but we’re going to use our resources to support schools that don’t have as much, or whose parents are working three jobs and don’t have disposable income to be supporting school fundraisers,” Kerman told The Globe.

Since the announcement, the initiative has drawn support from parents of TDSB students, teachers and local community members and will continue to do so. The hats will begin shipping in November.

Currently, Arkells are between tour dates, with shows slated for Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Niagara Falls across November and December.