Dear Parents / Guardians.
Starting next Monday, all YMCA Academy students will be involved in a very exciting project through one of our community partners, Evergreen. Beginning on February 7 students will be participating in a field trip to Evergreen’s Brickworks (near the Don Valley) – the school has been divided into two groups, and students will go down with their classes every other week, on a rotating schedule. All of the students in the school will be participating with their classes, and the projects at Evergreen are mandatory in fulfilling course curriculum expectations for each of their afternoon classes. It is important that students understand that this project links directly to each of their classes, and that they may miss key mandatory expectations if they do not attend a session at Brickworks. This program will run until late May / early June.
The project is a “Healthy Choices” program and will take place at various locations on the Brickworks property – these may include, but are not limited to, planting in the greenhouse, cooking in the community kitchen, and engaging in hands-on learning about nutrition, cooking, food growing, native plant species, cycling, skating, and all things healthy and environmental. Evergreen received funding from Health Canada to run this program at Brickworks, and we were very fortunate, due to our close relationship with them, to be asked to participate in this unique program. It offers opportunities beyond those that we can offer on our premises and includes components of healthy lifestyles that are important for all students to learn.
All students who were at the Academy last term have already had their parents give consent to class related field trips within class time. These field trips will be covered under the umbrella of that permission form. Students will be released from the Brickworks – they have a shuttle bus that connects to the Broadview subway station (please contact us if you have a particular request). Parents / guardians of new students should sign the attached permission form and return it to the school ASAP, or reply to this email. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact the school. Please note that students who do not have a TTC card will require an extra token on these alternating Mondays.
Thank you very much,