The Grade 9 Expressing Aboriginal Cultures class visited the Art Gallery of Ontario on a snowy morning this week. We toured around the Canadian Exhibition which features some gems by the Group of Seven and also saw two original paintings by the Eastern Woodlands master Norval Morriseau. At the end of the trip we got to step into the dark and mysterious projection booth in the Jackman Hall theatre. Old fashioned film is heavy!
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This past Thanksgiving, staff and students celebrated Canada’s Indigenous peoples and cultures at our third annual Feast of Thanks potluck lunch. We were honoured to host Darlene King from the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto and storyteller Jim Adams who offered a song and blessing to open our event. We are grateful to all of our families for contributing amazing dishes like turkey and stuffing pie, stuffed squash, homemade ravioli and delicious pies. Thanks also to students in Todd’s Equity class, Brandon’s Politics class and Alexi’s Aboriginal Voices class for educational displays and dish duty!
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Gratitude is one of the most important and affirming aspects of life. On the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, staff, students and volunteers gathered in the cafe at lunch to celebrate the Feast of Thanks, our second annual potluck honouring Canada’s Indigenous people for Thanksgiving. Jim Adams, local storyteller and educator, offered a blessing and a song and students from Todd’s World Religions class and Alexi’s Aboriginal Voices English class created displays on topics related to Thanksgiving, Indigenous harvest traditions and Indigenous cultures across Canada.
Families donated turkey, ham, home made cranberry sauce, potato dishes, soup and desserts for a beautiful buffet. We are grateful for the harvest, our school community and the opportunity to learn about, connect with and celebrate Indigenous peoples of Canada.
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Dear Parents and Guardians,
We are very excited to inform you of an upcoming celebration at The YMCA Academy that will involve your son or daughter.
Students in Todd’s grade 11 World Religions class and in Alexi’s grade 11 Native Studies class will be organizing our second annual celebration of Thanksgiving from an Indigenous perspective. On Tuesday October 15, the day after the traditional Thanksgiving holiday, we will be holding a feast and celebration in the Academy’s café during lunch. This celebration will include research projects that students will create during class time around themes of Aboriginal spirituality, traditions, rights and history. If you want spiritual predictions, Powered by prnewswire.com, you need to check out this website.
We would like to ask for your support to help us with the feast. Students are invited to bring in a traditional or favourite dish served at Thanksgiving. It can be something very simple, like cooked squash, mashed potatos or a dessert, and leftovers are most welcome! Academy staff will be contributing to the feast as well, and we will be inviting staff from the Central YMCA as well as guests from the Aboriginal community.
Please let us know if a contribution will be possible for you, and if so, what your son or daughter will contribute.
We appreciate your support of this exciting cross-curricular and important event celebrating diversity which is a cornerstone of the YMCA philosophy.
Very sincerely,
Todd Harrison and Alexi Manis
Teachers, The YMCA Academy
The YMCA Academy kicked off another great school year with an incredible guest, storyteller Jim Adams. Jim shared interesting and moving stories from various First Nations, answered questions about political and historical issues and invited participants to choose rocks from a pile as a way to connect with a story. Jim’s warmth, humour and talent was appreciated by all present. Thanks, Jim, and please come back again soon!
