Ben Anderson speaks to YMCA Academy students about the Youth Leadership Corps.
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Jun. 15th, 2011 – Social Justice in Action!
Congratulations, YMCA Academy students on making us proud once again! We received this “thank you” from Free the Children for all of your outstanding work and commitment on social justice and environmental issues.
This year has gone by quickly, but let’s recap and celebrate some of our amazing projects: We Day, Halloween for Hunger, The Vow of Silence, Peace Week, The Good News Newsletter, Greening of the FDC childcare playground, Earth Week, Earth Hour, tree planting, Free Hugs, That’s Not Fair to Me, seeing Dr. Jane Goodall speak, Sasha’s presentation on her work with Free the Children in Kenya, the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup and the Healthy Choices Program with Brickworks!
Whew, it’s been a busy year of doing good, Academy students! You are a shining example of youth committed to social justice – well done!
Jun. 14th, 2011 – Toronto Island Field Trip
On Friday June 10th, the YMCA Academy embarked on its second annual year end Toronto Islands outing. After hosting a farewell to 42 Charles Street building wide breakfast, staff and students made their way to the island ferry docks. After a 20 minute ride across the water we settled in and as part of their year end culminating assignment, the grade 10 phys-ed class organized an action packed and fun-filled game of soccer-baseball. After the game we had lunch followed by some ice-cream for those who still had room to eat. Proceeding lunch was an exciting game of capture the flag which lasted until our cleanup and departure from the island. It was a great day to celebrate a great year. We can’t wait to do it again next year!
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May 10th, 2011 – Student Transition Presentations
Congratulations on your first presentation, Transition Team!
As part of our strategy to become further involved with the outside community and to better inform the public about our school, a group of very eager students have joined together to form the “Transition Team.” The aim is for them to visit Grade 8 schools to talk to junior students about high school, about the transition process, and to introduce them to the YMCA Academy. In order to collect information about what this process was like for our students, we did a short survey a few weeks ago, and the information was compiled by the BTT class and transformed into an educational Powerpoint that was used during the presentation. Members of the team were very dedicated, practicing at lunch time and after school.
We had our first presentation last Thursday (May 5) where the students did an outstanding job of presenting to students at Dunblaine School. Not only does this project benefit the Grade 8’s that we visit, to help calm their worries about their upcoming transition, but Academy students benefit through this service learning project by earning volunteer hours. Our Academy students represented our school well, as they shared their experiences about their Grade 9 year, and mentored the younger students on strategies to help them through the process.
If you would like more information about our Transition Presentation or would like to recommend a school that would benefit from our youth mentor “Transition Team”, please call the school at 416-928-0124 for more information.
Apr. 4th, 2011 – Arcade Construction Phase Two
After many brainstorming and ‘theory’ based sessions, where we hammered out all the electrical and design details, construction of the arcade can finally begin! We assembled the structural frame last Wednesday, only a few finishing touches are needed before we can start installing the electrical components. Check out some of the great pictures below!
Thank you to both Kerry and Chris, for your dedication to this project, we couldn’t do it without great volunteers!
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