5th annual Skating Trip at Nathan Phillips Square

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On Friday December 12th, The YMCA Academy embarked on their fifth annual skating trip. The inaugural trip was the brain child of an alumni of the Academy and has since become an exciting tradition we look forward to each year. A few slips and falls were not enough to discourage fun, excitement and Timmy’s hot chocolate.  We love this trip as a time to hang out with friends, get a breath of “fresh” air in downtown Toronto and enjoy some physical winter fitness.

“One fun thing that happened is that I got to race my new friends on the ice,” said Zach, a Grade 9 student at the Academy.

One student even learned how to skate for the first time. He started by sitting down, then he put his feet on the ice. Then, two nice kids brought him a thing to push to help him skate and stand up on the ice. After, he stopped using that thing and started skating on his own, but he always had someone on his side.

“You don’t have to be good at skating to go on a skating trip,” said Adam, who is also a Grade 9 student at the Academy. “It only matters if you have fun.”

By Zach DS and Adam V.

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Feast of Thanks Potluck Lunch 2014

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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!

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

First Spirit Day of the year!

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Academy staff and students celebrated the school’s first spirit day of the year in style. Thursday was “Hat Day,” and participants donned a colourful array of headgear throughout the school day. Spirit days are meant to be fun, of course, but to us they’re something more: They’re a way to show our inclusiveness and to build our sense of community. Siobhan (one of our teachers) offered up her supply of hats to students who didn’t — or couldn’t — bring their own, and students who don’t often socialize with one another found a shared experience and a reason to connect. Stay tuned for more spirit days throughout the school year.

 

Mar 5th, 2014 – LDAO Breakfast at the Sheraton

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom

5 students from the YMCA Academy had the pleasure to attend LDAO’s 7th Annual learning & Leadership Corroborate Breakfast at the Sheraton Centre Hotel on the morning of March 5th. We were treated to a gourmet breakfast, and Jonathan Mooney’s inspiring story about his experiences navigating school systems throughout his youth. Thank you LDAO once again for the opportunity to participate! We had a blast!

A litte more about the LDAO’s learning & Leadership Corroborate Breakfast:

“This year’s event promises to be at once entertaining and educational. Welcome to a new world, where the good kid doesn’t sit still. A world where some of the smartest kids in the class don’t read well or don’t read at all. A world where the popular kids don’t make eye contact, don’t shake hands, and definitely don’t back slap. Renowned writer, neuro-diversity activist and author Jonathan Mooney vividly, humorously and passionately brings to life this wonderful world of neuro-diversity: the research behind it, the people who live in it, and the lessons it has for all of us who care about the future of education. You will leave this talk fundamentally changed and empowered.”

 

Mar 4th, 2014 – QSA student interest group

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom

The YMCA Academy proudly presents our school’s first Queer-Straight Alliance student interest group.  This group was inspired after Planned Parenthood’s T.E.A.C.H. program (Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia) presented a workshop at our school last fall.  The QSA meets every few weeks to discuss issues pertaining to gender and sexual identity and ways to ensure that our school community is a safe, inclusive place for everyone.  This past week, staff and students worked on a mural inspired by artist and social justice activist Keith Haring.  We had pizza, played tunes and enjoyed each other’s company.  Stay tuned for more updates about the cool stuff we do in this club!

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