Feast of Thanks Celebration

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Native Studies No Comments

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We enjoyed yet another hugely successful Feast of Thanks today at the Academy in honour of Canada’s Indigenous people. We welcomed Darlene as our special guest from the Native Women’s Resource Center in Toronto. A big thanks goes out to everyone who contributed and especially our amazing staff, students and volunteers who did everything from oven heating duty to photography to set up and clean up. We are grateful for our harvest, our friends and family and especially our Y community. Happy fall!

Check out the rest the rest of the pictures on our Facebook page!

We Went to WE Day

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

We went to WE Day and

  • WE danced
  • WE sang
  • WE sat
  • WE cheered
  • WE lost our voices
  • WE heard about some sad stories
  • WE lunched
  • WE saw a lot of celebrities
  • WE saw Carly Rae Jepsen and Hozier
  • WE screamed for Demi Levato
  • WE became “Imagineers”
  • WE had fun
  • WE lost our hearing
  • WE used our phones as flashlights
  • WE took pictures and videos
  • WE were in a huge crowd
  • WE ate Ben’s Cheetos
  • WE learned many new things
  • WE were educated
  • WE saw inspiring people like Spencer West
  • WE thought about going from ME to WE
  • WE got gift bags
  • WE got sunglasses
  • WE got “We books”
  • WE had the so much fun with Peggy, Rein, and Siobhan
  • WE had the time of our life!

By Siobhan’s Ontario Literacy Skills class

Pajama Day at The YMCA Academy

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom No Comments

Today was Pajama Day at The YMCA Academy — our first spirit day of the year. Students dressed in their finest and coziest jammies for the whole day, and gathered for a photo op in the cafeteria at lunch.

This event was planned and carried out by the school’s new Student Advisory Council. It’s the first of many special happenings that the SAC will organize for and with their fellow Academy students.

Jim Adams Visits the Academy

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Native Studies No Comments

Jim Adams YMCA Academy

On Monday, September 21, Jim Adams came and told us stories while we were sitting in the library at our school.

Jim is a Native story teller and singer. He comes to our school once a year to share his stories about lessons and history. Jim comes to the Academy to teach us about different types of cultures, so we can know about the world a little more.

I like hearing his stories. It wasn’t like other stories that I normally listen to.

By a Gr. 9 YMCA Academy student

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.