Dec 6th, 2013 – The life of Nelson Mandela

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, English and Humanities

Celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela.

Students from the Ontario Literacy Course led a school-wide an assembly to celebrate peace and human rights. We gathered in the afternoon to hear about the life of Nelson Mandela, his work as a global activist for equality and peace and as well to honour the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. We were reminded of the importance of peace in our lives and the work of those who have come before us. We ended with the reading of “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson. This is a poem made famous around the world by Nelson Mandela and became symbiotic with his message of peace.

Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Oct. 17th, 2013 – Feast of Thanks Celebration

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Native Studies

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.

 

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

Oct. 8th, 2013 – SPIRIT DAY: Nuit Blanche

YMCA Academy Arts, Beyond the Classroom, Student Spotlight, Technology

In honour of the annual art celebration that takes over Toronto streets every fall, we held our very own Nuit Blanche celebration this past Friday.

Students created custom-designed white t-shirts, and wore them during several special events throughout the day. Siobhan’s Grade 12 English class staged a Living Gallery performance in the morning, Todd’s Communications Technology students organized a green-screen Photo Booth at lunch, and Alexi and Siobhan’s Visual and Media Arts classes held an interactive stencil workshop in the afternoon.

Our first Nuit Blanche celebration was a big success. We plan on making it an annual event, and we’re already looking forward to next year!

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

Sep. 30th, 2013 – Upcoming Event: Feast of Thanks

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Native Studies

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

Sep. 27th, 2013 – Oh what a day WE had!

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community

Academy students from the OLC class represented the school at this year’s WE Day kick off on September 20. A very early (yawn..)7:30 am departure from school got us down to the ACC in time to meet thousands (20 thousand actually) of other Ontario students coming together to celebrate a year of action to better our global community. WE day is a spectacular non-stop show with this year’s performers including The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, The Barenaked Ladies, Imagine Dragons, Austin Mahone and Serena Ryder. And if that wasn’t enough, inspirational speakers included the founding Kielburger brothers, Martin Luther King III, Premier Kathleen Wynne, Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Molly Burke, Michael “Pinball” Clemons, Spencer West, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and more. We were excited to be there but over the moon when due to a ticket snafu and a sprinkling of magic from our volunteer extraordinaire Peggy we ended up in the Air Canada Club Restaurant with the best seats in the whole ACC and a delicious pizza lunch. We were in heaven! It was a very special day.

And now it is our turn to contribute! Keep an eye out for the WE Scare Hunger and the WE Create Change campaigns that will be run by students this Fall.

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