Colombia: The Last Days on the farm

Susan Couprie Community, In the News, YMCA of Greater Toronto No Comments

 

Susan Couprie at the beginning of the hikeThe camp was a success- 24 people in attendance. Youth were the campers and young adult volunteers from the YMCA Medellin were being trained so that they can run this camp in the future. Mel and I along with 3 volunteers taught all about the process of farming and the English words associated with it. We learned all about the parts of a seed, how to prepare the soil- it started off as a grassy area, how to plant corn, composting and we spent some time with the farm animals (chickens, goats, my friend the parrot and the rabbits who have 18 new little ones). We also went for a hike around the countryside to see the local crops and of course played many leadership games and had a campfire. A fun and much appreciated time were had by all.

After 2 days of camp and a long sleep, we were up and ready to get going on our last adventure of the trip. We travelled to Guatape where we climbed the El Peñon de Guatape rock. If you remember, in a previous post, I talked about climbing a mountain in Strata One, well this climb was even more challenging. There were 740 stairs on the side of this650 foot rock and every step was challenging as we twisted and turned all the way up.

My last day on The Farm was filled with chasing chickens (they all got out of the pens overnight, so off me and the farmer went chasing them around the farm and back into their pens), checking out the little bunnies (almost impossible to take a picture as they kept jumping!!) and of course packing.

Thank you all for following my trip to Medellin. I hope you enjoyed my adventures and learned a lot about the YMCA along the way. It is with a hopeful heart that I said goodbye to all those I met here. If all goes well, I will see many of the friends I made on this exchange in the next couple of years. Until my next adventure, with my friends and colleagues from the YMCA Medellin….

Colombia: What does an exchange look like?

Susan Couprie Community, In the News, YMCA of Greater Toronto No Comments


Monday morning I was back at Soliera School. This time, the objective was to promote the upcoming exchange next year to The Academy and to invite the students to an English Immersion camp that we will be running next week. I visited with all the grade 8 and 9 students as they are the target for the exchange. It was important to get their feedback and concerns to help us create a meaningful exchange.

Looking down on Soleira School from above
Looking down on Soleira School from above

In the afternoon, I led a teacher meeting with two focuses. One – presentation on what an exchange might look like based on previous exchanges run by The YMCA Academy (again asking for feedback and concerns) and Two – a presentation and discussion on inclusion in the classroom for students with exceptionalities focusing on ADD/ADHD (as requested by the school). Unfortunately we ran out of time before I finished the workshop on inclusion (when the buses arrive, all the teachers need to leave as this is their transportation down the mountain). I left the rest of the workshop with the school, so they can continue it at a later date.

With all the feedback from staff and students, it was time to sit down, reflect on the feedback we had received so far and make some decisions about the exchange. We agreed upon:

• The objectives of the exchange
• The criteria for participating
• The possible dates
• The student/staff ratio
• A list of tasks to do before, during and after the exchange.

We were well on our way!!

At 6am on April 5, I was back on the road to visit the Catholic University (1 ½ hours away) to present a sample exchange to interested parents. Although we ran into some traffic issues and ended up being late, we had a warm and welcoming meeting.

We were kindly invited for lunch at Diego’s home (volunteer at the YMCA and one of my interpreters) with his father (YMCA Board Member) and back on the road we went to arrive in time for me to participate in three evening classes. All three were English classes. The first was a children’s class and the other two were adult classes. Every class is run by a volunteer. What a wonderful wealth of dedication I see every day in the volunteers here.

Diego
Diego

It was now time to solidify the exchange, so Carlos (Director of the YMCA) and I sat down and discussed options of activities that would fall under the objectives of the exchange which included:

• English immersion
• Environmental theme
• Cultural exchange
• Tour around Canada’s largest city and surrounding areas
• Experience the life of a student at The YMCA Academy
• Experience YMCA Camp
• Become actively engaged in the Toronto and surrounding community

We presented our exchange to the Director of the Soliera School the next day. We ended that meeting with my first “high five” from Carlos and a celebratory ice cream snack. All ends well as this was the closing of the allotted time for organizing the exchange. Although there is a lot of work left to be done, we have the groundwork of a great exchange. I anticipate changes to the work we have done here as a lot can change in the next 12 months and I am sure that there will be feedback from staff in Toronto. The important thing is the relationship building that I have been a part of and the dedication and interest of all.

 

Four Reasons to Support the New Health Curriculum

YMCA Academy Healthy Living, In the News No Comments

HealthPhysEdCurrIn September, the YMCA Academy will implement Ontario’s new Health and Physical Education curriculum — a document aligned with the foundation of inclusiveness, health, and respect that our school has fostered since we opened our doors.

The new curriculum moves beyond simply teaching students about abstinence, safe sex, reproduction, and sexually transmitted infections, to discuss how social, mental, and emotional health connects to sexual identity, behaviour, and expression. It is, on multiple levels, a forward-thinking document — unbound by heterosexuality or the male/female binaries of identity and expression, and designed (as stated in its preface) to help students “be critically literate in order to synthesize information, make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and thrive in an ever-changing global community.”

Here are four reasons why The YMCA Academy supports this new curriculum.


1. It’s about everyone’s health and safety (more…)

YMCA Academy on HuffPo

YMCA Academy In the News No Comments

At the YMCA Academy, we integrate training and concepts by the organization Mindfulness Without Borders. It’s been part of our daily classroom life at the school for almost five years, and is the focus of many of our all-school gatherings. We’re proud to be ahead of the curve in bringing mindfulness training to our students (a practice that the Toronto District School Board began implementing this practice at the beginning of the school year).

In an essay on The Huffington Post, The Connect Group Founder & Executive Director Lee-Anne Gray, PsyD, argues that our school “demonstrates a high level of empathy and compassion for the lived experience of modern students.” She conducted research into the benefits of mindfulness for young people, and her conclusions demonstrate why we continue to make these practices a part of our learning environment:

“[T]he negative effects of traditional education upon students result from stress and pressure that can accumulate as Educational Trauma. When the YMCA Academy adopted Mindfulness Without Borders’ MAC program, it became a nexus for co-learning, promoting 21st century skills and emotional intelligence, while healing Educational Trauma. Beyond innovative, it represents transcendental education for the 21st century.”

Read the full article here.

Nov 20th, 2012 – Academy featured on Global TV

YMCA Academy In the News

On Monday, November 19th The YMCA Academy was featured on Global TV’s ‘Making a Difference’. The host Susan Hay spent several hours at the Academy in order to experience student life and gain an understanding of our individualized, student focused approach to education. The crew was on site for several hours observing classes (including some fun science experiments!), mindfulness circles, a physical education lesson our state of the art recreation facilities, as well as conducting interviews with our Head of School Don Adams, Central Y Vice President Mehdi Zobeiry and an Academy student who shared his experience of joining The YMCA Academy.

We were thrilled to have Susan Hay and her crew join us in support of our efforts to increase public awareness of learning style differences, learning disabilities and the services available to help young people flourish and succeed.