Jan 16th, 2014 – Holiday Talent Show

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom

Staff and students were treated once again to an annual Holiday Talent Show just before the break. We had performers doing a wide range of acts including lip syncing to a familiar Bon Jovi tune, playing compositions on the keyboards, strumming along on guitars and reciting the beloved “Who’s on First” comedy sketch. After the show our community celebrated the season with board games, movies, a craft station and a delicious array of treats brought in by staff and students. It was great way to “rock” into the holidays.

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

Jan 13th, 2014 – Upcoming TEDx Event

YMCA Academy Events, TEDx

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YMCA Academy TEDx event highlights innovation in education

Education must innovate to keep pace with a rapidly changing world and the evolving needs of today’s students. That’s why The YMCA Academy is bringing together some phenomenal speakers to explore groundbreaking ideas in educating students who learn differently at Edumakers, the 2014 edition of the school’s annual TEDx event. You can be a part of it — and best of all, admission is free.

Edumakers begins at 10:00am on Saturday, February 1st in the auditorium of the Toronto Central Grosvenor St. YMCA Centre in downtown Toronto, home of the YMCA Academy. Click here to register to attend.

Featured ideas and initiatives include:
• an all-girls technology camp;
• uniting schools with their surrounding communities;
• rethinking classrooms as coworking spaces, purpose-built for collaboration;
• helping students connect with career options that don’t require university or college;
• connecting investment to the non-financial assets of young people;
• high school courses in which computer games are an essential part of the learning process — and much more.

The themes to be explored at Edumakers continue the discussion started at The YMCA Academy’s last TEDx event, which introduced educators to the concept of wrap-around services for youth. Schools operate within a community, but often schools have trouble reaching out to collaborate with outside agencies. Model schools, like The YMCA Academy, have envisioned and implemented a pedagogical experience where social and emotional supports and referral services are intricately woven into the school’s fabric.

Scheduled speakers include Zareh Demirdji from The YMCA Academy, Youth in Technology’s Ashley Lewis, Eric Rosenberg of Rosenberg Development Studio, York Region teacher Tom Seliotis, Peel teachers Douglas Vallance and Matthew Henderson, Hive Mozilla Toronto’s Kathryn Meisner, Ryan Burwell from the Centre for Social Innovation, Jennifer Chan, Rob Whent of Thriver Inc, and Juan Gonzalez of Fabspaces.

For more information, or to register to attend Edumakers, visit the TEDx YMCA Academy website.

Jan 8th, 2014 – Phone System Update

YMCA Academy Updates

Please be advised that the main Academy phone number: 416-928-0124 is once again reachable.

Jan 6th, 2014 – Parachute Egg Drop (Part 1)

YMCA Academy Experiential Learning, Science and Math

The grade 12 physics class has been learning about energy and how it is transferred from one object to another, as well as how it is transformed from one form to another. As part of their second end of unit assignment, the students had to use their knowledge of energy transfer and transformation to build a device out of a limited list of materials that would encase an egg, and prevent it from breaking when thrown from a height of 2-3 storeys.

Each student was allowed one test drop with an egg. The drops were filmed and students had the opportunity to look at the footage to assess what they felt were issues that needed to be rectified whether or not they had a successful drop or not. Look out for part 2 of this blog when we talk about the actual launch and the results.

 

Jan 6th, 2014 – Phone System Down

YMCA Academy Updates

Please be advised that we are experiencing inbound call issues as of this morning (January 6th). Inbound calls to our main number (416 928 0124) are not being routed.

We have opened a support ticket with our service provider, if you need to reach the school during please email Bonita.