YMCA Academy

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On a very rainy Sunday morning we met the exchange group at their hotel and went to Spadina station to do some icebreaker games. Then we went on a scavenger hunt on the TTC. We had to find things about the TTC with the kids from New Brunswick. We started at Spadina station then we had to go to the different subway stations. Some of the subway stations were on line 1 and some were on line 2. We had to end at a food court in the underground path where we had to wait for the last teams to arrive. Rein’s team was victorious and received Spadina station buttons as a prize.

After lunch we walked to the Rogers centre to see a Blue Jays Game. Many of our visitors were excited for the game, including some who had never who had never been to a baseball game before. We all sat together in the 200 level outfield section. Some people bought Blue Jays clothing and lots of snacks for the game. It wasn’t always an exciting game, but it was fun to hang out with everybody.

After the game we came back to the school and a delicious meal prepared by parents was waiting for us. We ate in different classrooms and got to know each other better. After dinner some students chose to play basketball in the gym and others stayed at the school and hung out. This was the first full day of the exchange week and despite the weather it was a lot of fun!

By Bailey and Alex

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

 
On our first day of the YMCA Youth Exchange a small group of our students went to go and greet the exchange students from New Brunswick who had just landed after their flight. We guided them on the TTC from their hotel to one of our exchange student’s neighbourhood where we had a feast at the local community center. Each student’s family had to contribute at least one dish to the feast, and those dishes ranged from pasta salad all the way to mini pulled pork sandwiches.

Before the feast started we introduced our new guests to a brief history of Toronto, which included the Indigenous history, and what the city was used for in the past. We then introduced them with a traditional Indigenous song and drumming. We then had Pauline Shirt, a Native elder who lives in Toronto, welcome all of the guests.

After that was finished we all ate the food brought by the parents, and then socialized with each other to get to know each other. Some teachers led the group back to the hotel and we said goodbye, before we met the next day.

By Phoenix