The Power of Yet – Growth & Fixed Mindset Exhibition

YMCA Academy English and Humanities No Comments


This assignment was about reminding students their job is to become the person they want to be- citizens who can and should meaningfully contribute something important to the world.
And…how can they start doing this? With the ‘Power of Yet!’

A simple way to start changing to a growth mindset is by the use of a little word, yet –
a realization that some things are worth waiting for and those things take work. No one can be expected to change their mindset overnight. We all have fixed mindsets about certain things without even realizing it. Changing your mindset is a process. It’s not always easy. It takes patience, coaching and lots of practice but the power of this small word allows for success.

In our Learning Strategies class, we learned about the ‘Power of Yet’ and Growth & Fixed Mindsets. We talked about the things we were not able to do before and have since learned how to do, how to reframe mistakes as examples to the class and make sure to use the word yet in frustrating situations. Every student then chose a creative way to promote these concepts-through slideshows, videos, drawings, word art.

“I chose a happy face word art for my assignment because it is a positive image and I covered it with positive words. It fits in with the theme of the Growth Mindset. While I was thinking of words I wanted to give them a bit of flare. Also, there are different fonts because I wanted to shake it up and make the words more interesting.” – S.R.

“I picked these videos because I think they are great and they tell good things about getting things wrong and how we try to make them right. For example, sometimes we think we don’t know the whole song but once we try to sing it, we realize that we do know the song.” – J.G.

“I picked the ‘Power of Yet’ music video by CJ Luckey to include in my assignment because it was inspiring and very helpful. It is very positive with powerful words. Every person will now think positively about themselves and other people and kids will be happy.” – J.G.E.

Here’s the link to a student produced video:

(Movie Compilation by Oliver R. and Lucas F.)

Humber College Innovate-a-Thon

Brandon Stewart Beyond the Classroom, English and Humanities, Student Spotlight No Comments


In partnership with the YMCA Academy Civics and Careers classes, teams of GTA college students had 48 hours over the weekend of October 23rd to create innovative solutions for the YMCA Academy. Humber College Centre for Entrepreneurship, with the help of YMCA Academy staff, students, and alumni put on the Humber College Innovate-a-thon.

Academy students and Alumni conducted interview videos to show the teams of college students what learning at the Academy is like, and what challenges were in the transition to college.

Academy Assistant Head of School, Kaili Glennon gave the opening keynote speech to the teams of college students, introducing the teams to the Academy. Over the weekend the teams worked tirelessly to find an innovative solution to the question: “How might the YMCA Academy better support students as they transition from High School to Post Secondary?”

At the end of the weekend the college teams made pitch videos. The Academy Civics and Careers classes designed score cards, and judged the pitch videos based on a range of criteria that they helped co-create.

Academy students connected deeply with the potential solutions and expressed that they felt inspired by the possibilities of how entrepreneurship and civic action can come together to prepare students for future readiness, solving the problems of tomorrow, and overcoming the challenges of today.

The pitches from the college teams were designed to offer students greater autonomy, supported independence, more access to resources, and a better understanding of the supports that they are entitled to once they transition to their post-secondary pathways.

“Our Rights” ART Exhibit

Brydie Smith English and Humanities No Comments

Every child under the age of 18 has rights. These are things that allow us to live a full life and allow us to live to our fullest potential. Every child around the world has the same rights!

In our “Dynamics of Human Relationships” class, we learned about the rights and responsibilities of children by studying the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Every student chose a right from the Convention and creatively campaigned for it through art, posters, song or video.

This assignment was about celebrating children as active participants in their own lives and in communities, as active citizens who can and should meaningfully contribute to decision-making-being the loudest voice in the crowd!

“I chose Article 31:The Right to Play and Rest. I picked this ‘right’ because I feel like it is very important that we let people have the chance to play and rest and get to experience life in their own way. I think that playing is important because that is how we learn and grow. I wrote a song about my ‘right’ because I really like music and songwriting and it is something that I really enjoy. I feel like it is a good form of self expression and I think that if I write a song then it would be a good way to get the point across.” AB

“I chose Article 38: The Right to Protection And Freedom From War. I chose this right because war is a traumatizing thing to see by young eyes and so I chose it because everybody needs to be protected from hatred. The message I expressed was in a painting. I enjoy painting very much and I decided to put it into a painting. It’s the one way I can truly express myself.” QK

“I chose Article 23: The Right to Special Education and Care If You Have a Disability. I decided to do this ‘right’ because it is significant for me and other children with disabilities to get extra support to practice their writing, speaking, reading and understanding skills so they will get an education to help them for their future and to learn how to get support when they need it.” AE

“I chose Article 31:The Right to Play and Rest because I think that playing and sleeping as a child is one of the most important things you can do to grow up.” I was inspired by the Unicef videos my teacher showed in class so I made my own video to show my ‘right.’ OS

The Power of Words

Brydie Smith English and Humanities, Experiential Learning, Healthy Living 1 Comment

During the first week of Dynamics of Human Relationships, we spent a lot of time learning about self-esteem, self-concept, and how the two factor into healthy relationships. We took a closer look at how our self-esteem can play a role in what we post on our social media accounts, as well as how our self confidence impacts how we interpret what we see online. During these lessons, we had many open discussions in which students shared some factors that influence their self-perceptions. Students shared stories from the past and present, disclosing incidents of bullying, social trends, and online activity. One student shared of an incident dating back to grade 4 and detailed how she still carries the hurtful comments from almost a decade ago. In order to show the lasting impact of hurtful comments and negative self talk, we participated in a class activity.

We started the activity by each taking one crisp, clean, blank sheet of paper. We then took turns “bullying” and talking negatively to our paper, crumpling the paper with each hurtful comment. We heard comments such as “you will never find love”, “you are worthless”, “you are dirty” and “you are weak”. We stopped bullying our pieces of paper once we had them crumpled up into small balls. We then took it in turns to apologize to the piece of paper for what we had said and tried to flatten the paper back out with each apology. We ended up with creased, ripped, holey and damaged pieces of paper. Despite how much we apologized, we could not fully erase the damage that we had done.

The students seemed to connect with this activity and appreciate the visual aid of irreparable damage. Not only is this an important lesson for when we’re talking to and about others, but it’s also important to recognize that the effects of negative self-talk can be just as long lasting and influential to our self-esteem.

Middle School: Reflecting on Fantasy Stories

MJ Duggan Community, English and Humanities No Comments

It is important for students to pause and celebrate their successes – big and small! Particularly, during these weird and sometimes bleak times, we need to encourage students to see their triumphs and accomplishments. Recently, the middle schoolers finished writing their fantasy stories and we took time to reflect and celebrate their hard work. It took the class several weeks to complete the whole writing process – brainstorming, planning, drafting, revising, and editing. During our writing celebration students got to share their stories like real world authors would during a book release. By the end of the unit the students felt incredibly accomplished and proud of themselves! Way to go middle schoolers!