Halloween: Designing a Haunted House!

MJ Duggan Arts, Beyond the Classroom, Community No Comments


Hello we are Sasha and Ryla, and we’re here to talk about the middle schools first ever collaborative project!

Since we are in the month of October we have decided to make and design a haunted house in honor of the upcoming holiday, Halloween. The first thing the middle school class did was brainstorm different themes for our haunted house. We then decided on the themes of this year’s YMCA Academy haunted House which are “World war 2 zombie apocalypse” and “zombie hospital apocalypse”. And for a bonus there will be a tax evasion room! Next, we brainstormed and discussed ideas for the layout of the haunted house. Finally, we began to build! We had some setbacks along the way but we kept on working hard and working together.

Everyone in the middle school class also made sure that the haunted house was safe and socially distanced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the ongoing pandemic we are only allowing teachers, as well as staff and students in Grade 7/8 to go through the haunted house. Since the high school students won’t be able to go through the haunted house in person our handy dandy photographer and videographer, Lucas M, also known as McChicken, will be taking the high school students on a virtual tour of the haunted house.

Happy Halloween!

Cooking Club Feasts on Fall Flavours

Katie Clay Community, Experiential Learning No Comments


For our first Cooking Club session in October we embraced fall flavours and put together stuffed sweet potatoes. We used quinoa, onions, and kale for the filling and topped them off with cranberries and goats’ cheese. Some students followed the recipe closely and made stuffed sweet potatoes for the whole family. Others made a variation on the recipe or used the theme to make something different, including one student’s full Thanksgiving plate.

It was a good week to make something on the healthier side as we made pizza in last week’s meeting and are planning cookies for this week. It also helped gear everyone up for the Thanksgiving weekend!

Students continue to enjoy the chance to see each other, albeit virtually, and it is extra special that a few alumni regularly join us so that we can remain in touch. Many students use Cooking Club as an opportunity to socialize and often phone numbers are exchanged and plans are made. So, there is definitely truth to the saying that “food brings people together”!

Cooking Club is back with a Classic!

Katie Clay Beyond the Classroom, Community No Comments

This past week, the YMCA Academy’s Cooking Club served up its first session of the school year. With so many changes to the classroom, schedule and our day-to-day lives, it is nice to have a familiar activity to turn to. That said, Cooking Club continues to run via video call with students preparing food from home.

For our first meeting we went with the simple, but beloved, classic – grilled cheese sandwiches. All of our chefs had their own take on grilled cheese. We had many types of bread and cheese represented, spicy versions filled with hot peppers and different dips (ketchup vs. BBQ sauce). We also learned a grilled cheese hack of using mayonnaise instead of butter – give it a try!

In-between the slicing and grilling, there was a lot of talk of summer breaks, but also how the school year has been going. With our adapted schedule, students only see their classmates in their cohort at school, so it is important to have these extra-curricular activities where students can socialize with more peers. It was a good turn out with mostly regulars, including a few alumni, but we had a new student join as well and we look forward to welcoming more in the coming weeks as the school year ramps up.

We’re Back!

Don Adams Community, Head of School No Comments

Important Update Banner

As we approach the two week mark of this school year, we are monitoring Ontario COVID-19 case numbers and public health advice in order to ensure the successful continued operation of our program. At the same time, I am happy to report that the school year has begun with much positivity and enthusiasm. While the sanitization, distance and masking protocols are obvious, most of us seem to be operating in ways that are approaching the old normal! With our already small class sizes, the ability to separate high school class cohorts, and our design of keeping the high school cohorts separate from the middle school, we have created a sense of safety at the same time as being able to offer comprehensive educational support for all.

As we move forward, we are further developing our support of remote only learners. This will involve some changes to our in-school classes, as we make them virtually available to students who choose to learn from home. I will have more to share on this soon.

In the meantime, we continue to refine the safe, sustainable model of learning we have in place to support all of our learners.

Year-end Retrospective

Don Adams Community, Head of School No Comments

Important Update Banner

Friday, March 6, 2020. The last day of school before March Break. While the signs of the pandemic were getting more ominous, few of us thought that we would not be in school until at least September. In these unprecedented times, we have asked a great deal of ourselves and others. We have shut down most businesses and services; we have isolated ourselves from all social relationships outside of immediate family; we have experienced fear and loss. Many of these restrictions are still in place as I write.

Simultaneously, we have seen, unmistakably, the signs of the continued mistreatment of racialized populations here and elsewhere. The continuing protests, the calls for justice and equal treatment under the law, have provoked many to consider what Dr. King said long ago — “justice delayed is justice denied”.

With protest and pandemic as a background, YMCA Academy has tried to provide our students and families with access to structure and support to keep their educational momentum going, to provide social opportunities for interaction with their peers, and to experience systems that are thoughtfully designed and considerate of their needs.

It is my hope that our students have learned that while some systems need change, some can be trusted to work towards their best interests. There is still refuge within structures designed and implemented for their care and support.

We hope we have provided such a refuge — a place for thoughtful discussion, impassioned expression, and positive social interactions.

We look forward to continuing this process in September.

Have a safe summer,

Don Adams
Head of School