Meet the Academy’s Student Advisory Council

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Student Spotlight No Comments

YMCA Academy Student Advisory Council 2015-2016Today, during our monthly Taking a Pause (TAPs) assembly, the students of The YMCA Academy elected seven representatives to serve on the school’s Student Advisory Council.

Congratulations to Ronnie, Benny, Josh, Archie, Heather, Dakota, and Mahadir; these students will represent their peers and help organize and deliver extracurricular activities like spirit days, special events, and clubs.

Each student representative was elected from one of our seven Advisor Groups — small student communities within the school that meet regularly with a teacher facilitator to discuss life skills, personal management strategies, and the day-to-day goings-on here at the Academy. The Student Advisory Council is both a leadership opportunity and a great chance for these seven representatives to demonstrate their commitment to the YMCA core values as they work hard to help create more fun and engaging activities at the school.

Four Reasons to Support the New Health Curriculum

YMCA Academy Healthy Living, In the News No Comments

HealthPhysEdCurrIn September, the YMCA Academy will implement Ontario’s new Health and Physical Education curriculum — a document aligned with the foundation of inclusiveness, health, and respect that our school has fostered since we opened our doors.

The new curriculum moves beyond simply teaching students about abstinence, safe sex, reproduction, and sexually transmitted infections, to discuss how social, mental, and emotional health connects to sexual identity, behaviour, and expression. It is, on multiple levels, a forward-thinking document — unbound by heterosexuality or the male/female binaries of identity and expression, and designed (as stated in its preface) to help students “be critically literate in order to synthesize information, make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and thrive in an ever-changing global community.”

Here are four reasons why The YMCA Academy supports this new curriculum.


1. It’s about everyone’s health and safety (more…)

Experiential Learning at City Hall

YMCA Academy English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

city_hall_2015Civics students from The YMCA Academy visited City Hall today as part of their culminating activities for the course.

Academy students witnessed democracy in action at Toronto East York Community Council, and enjoyed a private Q&A with Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches / East York).

Civics students at The YMCA Academy learn by doing; their culminating assignment is to choose an issue that matters to them and take appropriate action. Students circulated petitions, wrote letters to public figures, and organized events. At City Hall today, they witnessed citizens deputing about issues that matter to them, and heard about Councillor McMahon’s journey from community organizer to city councillor.

Youth Exchange Canada Toronto

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The Youth Exchange Canada program is a Government of Canada initiative that helps Canadian youth connect with one another, experience the diversity of Canada’s communities, languages and cultures, and get involved in the future of the country. Groups from across the country are paired according to the age and interest of their members. After several weeks of planning, research, fundraising and anticipation, matched participants exchange with their partner from another part of Canada.

We would like to extend our appreciation and gratefulness to everyone who helped make this experience the amazing adventure it turned out to be while we where on our trip, and the amazing experience it’s going to be when it’s our turn to host. From the Youth Exchange Canada program to our staff, students, families and the YMCA community at large who helped out with our silent auction fundraiser, everyone played an important role in making this experience the success that it was.

Visit the YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada Program Website


Day one of the Youth Exchanges Canada Program! We met our exchange group in the early afternoon who travelled from Winnipeg, Manitoba to join us for a week here in Toronto. After some introductory games and a short walk around Toronto we head over to a student hosted dinner to enjoy some great food.


On day 2 of the Youth Exchanges Canada students at the YMCA Academy planned a TTC scavenger hunt for our twins, who spent an hour exploring and learning the public transit system in Toronto. Congratulations to group three for finding the most landmarks! After having lunch down at the waterfront, we visited Ripley’s Aquarium for some deep-sea adventures and proceeded back to the school for dinner after a long day!


On day 3 of the Youth Exchanges Canada students from the YMCA Academy and our twins from Winnipeg participated in a Tour Guys Walking Tour, where we explored Downtown Toronto, the Financial District, and the Eaton’s Centre – Learning many interesting facts along the way! After touring around for a few hours we headed back to the YMCA Academy for lunch and to participate in gymnasium activities planned by the Recreational Fitness and Leadership class. We finished off the day by having dinner and then a well-deserved sleep after a day packed with physical activity.


On Day 4 of the Youth Exchanges Canada, students from the YMCA Academy and our twins from Winnipeg participated in a special workshop hosted by the Professional Engineers of Ontario. Students were tasked with creating the “fastest” handmade car carved from balsam wood; a large track with sensors was used to measure the speed of each model car. Afterwards, we settled in for a late lunch while screening a Hot Docs documentary in our common area. After the documentary, students had a chance to relax and prepare for the Blue Jays game later that evening! We finished the night off with a great evening as the Jay’s beat the New York Yankees.


Day 5 of the Youth Exchanges Canada saw our entire school, along with our twin group visit High Park in order to fulfill our environmental stewardship commitment. Students spent the afternoon under a sun-filled blue sky cleaning up sections of High Park. During the lunch break, students enjoyed throwing footballs and Frisbees around to pass the time, and then continued with the clean-up. The last part of our stay at High Park had us walking through the park’s little zoo, enjoying both the animals and the Cherry Blossoms. The evening portion of the day was spent at a host family’s house where the Youth Exchange group ate a delicious dinner prepared by the host, and had a chance to mingle afterwards.


Day 6 of the Youth Exchanges Canada students from the YMCA Academy and our twin group from Winnipeg visited the CN tower. We spent the morning viewing the Toronto skyline and testing our boldness on the glass floor. In the afternoon we proceeded on a student-led tour through the University of Toronto and Kensington market. Students from Todd’s Civics class spoke about several issues including gentrification, walkability, and street art.

Check out the rest of the photos from our trip on our Facebook page! Day One | Day Two | Day Three | Day Four | Day Five | Day Six

YMCA Academy on HuffPo

YMCA Academy In the News No Comments

At the YMCA Academy, we integrate training and concepts by the organization Mindfulness Without Borders. It’s been part of our daily classroom life at the school for almost five years, and is the focus of many of our all-school gatherings. We’re proud to be ahead of the curve in bringing mindfulness training to our students (a practice that the Toronto District School Board began implementing this practice at the beginning of the school year).

In an essay on The Huffington Post, The Connect Group Founder & Executive Director Lee-Anne Gray, PsyD, argues that our school “demonstrates a high level of empathy and compassion for the lived experience of modern students.” She conducted research into the benefits of mindfulness for young people, and her conclusions demonstrate why we continue to make these practices a part of our learning environment:

“[T]he negative effects of traditional education upon students result from stress and pressure that can accumulate as Educational Trauma. When the YMCA Academy adopted Mindfulness Without Borders’ MAC program, it became a nexus for co-learning, promoting 21st century skills and emotional intelligence, while healing Educational Trauma. Beyond innovative, it represents transcendental education for the 21st century.”

Read the full article here.