Sept. 30th, 2011 – Picture from We Day Toronto

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community

On September 27, The YMCA Academy Me to We club joined 18,000 other young idealists at the Air Canada Centre for a full day of musical performances and motivational speakers at Free the Children’s We Day. Artists included Nelly Furtado, Shawn Desman, Joe Jonas, City and Colour and Classified, and speakers included Danny Glover, Patch Adams, Spencer West and Free the Children founders Craig and Marc Kielberger. The Me to We Club left inspired to begin a full year of activities and initiatives promoting change at a local and global level. Stay tuned for more from the Academy Me to We club!

Academy students cheering at We Day Toronto 2011
We Day 2011 Toronto at the ACC
Group Shot of YMCA Academy students & staff at We Day 2011 Toronto

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Sept. 16th, 2011 – Esther Osche visits Academy

YMCA Academy Community, English and Humanities, Experiential Learning
Esther Osche, master storyteller from the Ojibwe First Nation
YMCA Academy students in a group photo with Esther Osche

Students and staff were treated to a special event to herald in the new season.  Esther Osche, master storyteller from the Ojibwe First Nation, visited the Academy and shared stories that were told to her by her grandparents such as Bear and Crow, How the Seasons Came to Be and the Creator’s Gift.  She also shared her knowledge about the tradition of oral storytelling and the talking stick.  We’d like to acknowledge the Mariposa in the Schools program for making this event possible.

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

Jun. 29th, 2011 – Craig Verner’s stencil workshop

YMCA Academy Arts, Community, Experiential Learning

In addition to flowers, plants and wind chimes, the toddlers down at the Metro Central childcare can now enjoy some art in their outdoor space.  The Academy’s grade 11 media arts class just completed an exciting unit on multi-layered stencils led by artist and creative facilitator Craig Verner.  Students came up with ideas for stencils of sports equipment, toy robots and greenery that would spruce up the space in an artistic way.  The stencils were an interesting addition to a beautiful hand-painted mural by Zack.  Thanks to Kathryn at the daycare centre, Craig for a great workshop and the media arts students for their talent and collaboration!

Visit Craig Verner’s Website

Jun. 15th, 2011 – Social Justice in Action!

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community

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!

Academy students with staff at We Day!
Tree planting at Downsview Park for Evergreen
Academy students donating food during the Halloween for Hunger food drive
Cleaning up Budapest Park during the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
Academy Peace Tree created by students for Peace week
Cleaning up our local parks on Earth Day
Academy students take a vow of silence for an entire day

Free the Children Website

Evergreen Website

Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup Website

Earth Day Canada Website

Peace Week Website

Jane Goodall Foundation Canada

Jun. 7th, 2011 – Healthy Choices celebration pics

YMCA Academy Community, Experiential Learning, Healthy Living

Academy & Evergreen Healthy Choices program celebration

On June 6th , the Academy staff and students gathered with Evergreen’s Healthy Choices team to celebrate the Healthy Choices program end. The grade 10 Physical Education class researched and planned the menu, organized logistics and (with the help of the Managing Personal and Family Resources class) generated a grocery list to feed 45 people.

Jamie, John, Jaiden, Jacob, Joseph, Chad, Grant and Theo facilitated the menu with ALL students and staff contributing to the meal preparation.  The celebration meal was a huge success. The menu was delicious and the preparation flawless.

Thank you to all who made this possible!

Special thanks to Aimee and Brian at Evergreen. You were amazing program leads.

Thanks to the program funders:

This program introduced students to a variety of healthy active choices. A few highlights include:

  • Food prep skills – Everyone at the Academy has knife safety mastered
  • More healthy nutrition options with mastery of “from scratch recipes” – KD no more! We are all able to make Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese!
  • Food labels – Now we will read them!
  • Local foods – Now we will support them!
  • We are inspired to cook more often
  • We are more familiar with the Toronto trail system – we biked and hiked and walked (sometimes in the rain!)
  • We were outdoors! In rain and shine we built shelters, fires and maps

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