WWII Newspapers – Touching History

Brandon Stewart English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

YMCA Academy Grade 10 Canadian History students excitedly crowded around a Montreal Star newspaper dated August 11th, 1943, laughing at the prices of new business suits at $5.95. Once the stack discoloured papers were distributed to each student they were asked to become historical investigators and look for clues about the past in the articles and advertisements. Primary sources offer a window into historical perspective that many historical texts, and papers can’t match. There is something exciting about being able to reach out and touch the past.

An advertisement for Leg Tint caught the eye of some students, leading to a discussion on why women from Canada in the 1940s would want to tint their legs. The concepts of rationing, standards of beauty, price inflation, modesty, and paratroopers all organically sprang up from the conversation around a single advertisement from 1943. It made sense that nylon was being diverted to making parachutes making nylons to come by for women during the war. It was surprising to learn, though, that women would use makeup to tint their legs and draw fake seams in order to give the appearance of wearing nylons.

Students also discussed the feelings that people from the past might have had when reading about certain victories and defeats in the newspaper. These stories may have inspired pride, or fear, or anger for a variety of reasons. The hands-on, experiential inquiry that can happen with objects and documents from the past allowed the Grade 10 Canadian History class to get a little bit closer to seeing the past through the eyes of those that lived there.

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Remembrance and Peace Ceremony

Brandon Stewart Community, English and Humanities No Comments

On the morning of November 10th students at The YMCA Academy gathered for the yearly remembrance and peace ceremony. The Grade 10 Canadian History class ran the event, introducing the idea that Remembrance Day is an opportunity to reflect on the significance of armed conflicts, and the steps we can all take within our communities to promote peace. The presentations focused on honouring the past through poetry and first hand accounts, acknowledging the present by learning about the Canadian Legion and current conflicts, as well as looking to the future through a discussion on how to promote peace.

The remembrance and peace ceremony was echoed the next day with a minute of silence at 11:00am, to mark the anniversary of the end of the First World War. In class students continued the conversation about the importance of remembering past conflicts, and how it can help us today to promote peace in our everyday lives.

‘We Scare Hunger’ Food Drive

YMCA Academy Community, English and Humanities No Comments

YMCA Academy students participate in the 'We Scare Hunger' Food Drive for the Fort York Food Bank.

Our annual ‘We Scare Hunger’ Food Drive for the Fort York Food Bank was a success in giving! We had a goal of six boxes and we ended up with 10!

Thank you so much for all the amazing contributions. One family even chose to forgo giving out candy at Halloween and went shopping for their donations instead.

A special thanks to the Integrated Arts class for their organizing, promotion and schlepping. Well done!

The Elephant Toothpaste Lab

Zareh Demirdji Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

Chemical reactions occur all the time around us. Whether it is a cookie baking in the oven or a battery producing electricity, chemical reactions drive the world around us whether we notice them or not. There are eight types of chemical reactions, four of which we focus on in grade 10 chemistry. These reactions include:

  1. synthesis
  2. decomposition
  3. single displacement
  4. double displacement

Learning about the chemical formulas that represent chemical reactions although important, is no where near as exciting as seeing what these chemical reactions look like in real life. In order to help students see past the equations, we can carry out slightly scaled up chemical reactions in the classroom to bring them to life. One such reaction that is a perennial favourite is the “Elephant Toothpaste” reaction, so called because the end product looks like a large tube of toothpaste being squeezed out of a bottle large enough to clean an elephant’s teeth.

The reaction is an example of a decomposition reaction. Hydrogen peroxide is mixed with some dish soap (and food colouring for effect) and then mixed with either potassium iodide or baker’s yeast mixed with warm water. The hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen. With the aid of the potassium iodide or baker’s yeast as catalysts to speed up the reaction, the oxygen enters the soap bubbles causing the substance to quickly expand out of its container and overflow like squished toothpaste all over the table. The result is an exited room of students and a happy science teacher.

Another demonstration of a chemical reaction that is very captivating is the dehydration of sugar by sulphuric acid. In this demonstration, sulphuric acid is added to plain granulated sugar. Sulphuric acid being a dehydrating agent strips the sugar molecules of water leaving behind carbon. The outcome looks like a spectacular display of what looks like a giant snake appearing out of no where and which is quite the spectacle to witness.

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Feast of Thanks

Katie Freeland Community, Healthy Living, Native Studies No Comments

On Tuesday, October 11th, the YMCA Academy community celebrated the school’s Feast of Thanks for the fifth year. With dozens of families contributing food — from savoury turkey and ham to delectable desserts — for the potluck feast, we gathered in the cafeteria at lunch, to hear and view presentations from students and from our special guest, and, of course, to feast.

Students from Katie’s Aboriginal Voices class presented to the whole school their research and ideas on the Indigenous past and present of the Toronto area, as well as inquiring into the question of how to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in a way that is inclusive and respectful of Indigenous experiences and perspectives. Meanwhile, Brandon’s Origins and Citizenship class contributed visual displays looking at Thanksgiving and related festivities from a newcomer point of view. As teachers committed to inclusiveness and other social justice principles, we cherish this event as an opportunity for diverse voices to be heard, and for our community to gather together in learning from and sharing with one another. And while students were most vocal in expressing their love of meat and homemade cookies, they also expressed plenty of thanks for such opportunities, and desires to learn more.

For the second time, we were fortunate and honoured to welcome Darlene King, who took time out of her busy day at the nearby Native Women’s Resource Centre to speak briefly to students about her own experiences, as well as to bless and open out feast. After thanking our students for their thoughtful presentations, Darlene spoke of her own background and the importance of learning about, and in some cases reconnecting with, Indigenous knowledge and cultural traditions. She also opened our feast with an Anishinaabe prayer, and then began it by preparing a “spirit plate,” a plate of food reserved to acknowledge our ancestors. Darlene would later take this food with her in order to return it to the earth.

The Academy community is also thankful for the contributions of students from the Literacy class, who helped set up on Tuesday and had created posters to advertise the event.

Of course gratitude should never be confined to just one weekend, but we look forward to seeing this particular tradition of learning, sharing, and thanks continue for years to come.

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