Cross-Curricular Education at the Academy

Zareh Demirdji Beyond the Classroom, Community, Experiential Learning No Comments

At the start of this year, the Academy embarked on a mission to incorporate cross-curricular learning experiences into students’ educational journeys. Many, if not all things in life can be seen and analysed through multiple lenses. Baking cookies can be explored through the lenses of food and nutrition, chemistry, business, entrepreneurship, English, maths, and multiple other subjects. Exploring problems, issues, or topics from multiple perspectives is exactly what cross-curricular learning is all about. Instead of learning one subject at a time, cross-curricular learning aims to solve real world problems, issues or topics from two or more different disciplines.

In order to incorporate cross-curricular learning opportunities into the curriculum, the Academy adopted a new schedule that had students focus on two instead of four subjects per day and added a half day cross-curricular block on Friday afternoons to afford students time to explore various themes (Black History, Peace, Mental Health, Women’s History) or other class projects decided upon by two or more different courses merging together. To help teachers plan these cross-curricular experiences, we had the luck and pleasure of enlisting the guidance and mentorship of Pam Moran and Ira Socal for three professional development sessions throughout the year.

Pam and Ira are authors of the book Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation, and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools. Pam, a retired superintendent, former principal and teacher, and Ira, a former Chief Technology and Innovation Officer in Virginia schools, have many decades of experience between them. They have led the development of some of the most contemporary learning spaces in the United States, and we were lucky to have them give their time to help us in better understanding how to incorporate cross-curricular learning into our school in a way that was engaging, relevant and fun for both students and teachers alike. One of the major outcomes of our professional development sessions was the idea to have a cross-curricular week where students worked on a single cross-curricular project for multiple days. Below is an account of what ended up transpiring.

From Wednesday June 1st to Friday June 3rd, 2022, students at the Academy embarked on four different cross-curricular projects they had previously signed up for weeks earlier. Three of the projects were on-site at the Academy while one was two hours away in the wilderness at Camp Pine Crest. The four projects students had options to pursue were as follows:

Project 1: Choose Your Own Adventure Coding

At the start of this year, the Academy embarked on a mission to incorporate cross-curricular learning experiences into students’ educational journeys. Many, if not all things in life can be seen and analysed through multiple lenses.

In this project students explored the ins and outs of the design process of a Choose your own adventure story/game. Groups explored aspects of game design as well as the writing process, including flowcharting, project management, and other planning practices. The end goal was to create a short choose your own adventure “game” or “story”. Using free and open source applications such as Piskel, Twine, and Diagrams.org students prototyped, created, and playtested their own unique ‘choose your own adventure’ games. Students worked on creating their own pixel art (and animations), stories, and embedded music into their games using HTML and CSS (The basic coding languages of the web).

The project encompassed traditional storytelling as well as HTML and CSS styles to further immerse readers into the story. Over three days, students created short choose your adventure stories that were colourful and engaging (to the point where students from the other projects asked to have access to them for their personal entertainment).

These basic games ranged from the surreal, to a zombie apocalypse game. Students not only worked on concrete skills such as coding, writing, and workflow management but also cooperation, teamwork, time management, and creative expression/problem solving. By the end of the three days, teams were very proud of their work, as were we as well.

Project 2: Hyperbolic Crochet

Have you ever paused to admire and wonder about the patterns in nature that surround us? Did you know corals grow in hyperbolic planes? Even if you’ve never heard about hyperbolic planes, you can learn to crochet them! Over the course of three days, students in this group made connections to science, maths, art, and various topics while learning to crochet wild and beautiful creations that mimicked the shapes and patterns found in the ocean’s own art: the glorious but endangered coral reefs. This creative and collaborative project was a fascinating sensory journey that soothed the minds of both students and teachers all while stimulating their imagination.

Project 3: Pinecrest Canoe Trip

This alternative project was an outdoor orientation event run by the YMCA Academy and Camp Pinecrest in beautiful Muskoka where students went on a canoe trip. Over three days, students experienced sleeping in tents and cooking outdoors. They learned the basics of canoeing and wilderness camping skills. This was also the perfect setting for storytelling, campfires, environmental awareness, swimming and games.

Project 4: Rocketry

Groups of students in this project built stomp rockets and measured how high they flew. Each group reflected on their launch and evaluated and explored how to change various aspects of their rocket to make it fly higher and built further prototypes which they proceeded to launch. Aside from building and testing rockets, students also explored the challenges associated with space exploration, the technologies developed for space exploration via space shuttles, Canadian contributions to space exploration, and the environmental and societal impacts of rocketry.

At the end of the last day, students presented their projects to other groups, discussing what they did, and what they learned throughout their experiences. For a first attempt, the experience was memorable for everyone who took part. We are hopeful that we can build on this experience in order to offer students more cross-curricular experiences in the future with the desire to make future experiences ones that are constructed and designed with student input. Life is multifaceted and collaborative, and so too should education.

Annual Cedar Glen Trip

Zareh Demirdji Community, Events No Comments


After missing our beloved yearly trip to Cedar Glen for the first time in 2020, Academy staff and students made the yearly trip once again. Given current circumstances, this year’s trip was a day trip instead of our usual overnight outings. Students departed from the Academy at 9:30 am on the morning of October 22, new maroon and navy swag baseball caps on their heads. The excitement level on both buses was high as staff and students travelled down the highway.

After arriving and disembarking from the bus, the school was greeted by Cedar Glen staff, who after a brief welcome, led us in various short games. Afterwards, students split into one of 2 groups for the morning activities. One group participated in archery while the other in low ropes activities and games. At the halfway point of the day, the entire school gathered at the amphitheater where we were served pizza.

With lunch and the morning activities complete, the trip’s main event was ready to begin. Students were split into their advisory group squads (maroon and navy) and began the yearly anticipated Academy Games. Groups from each squad rotated amongst five stations, racing against the clock. Rock climbing, archery, trivia, and ragata challenges awaited every group as they ran from one station to the next. The game culminated at the fire building station where both squads raced to be the first to build a fire and burn through a string. After a competitive race, the maroon squad ended up on top, winning their third consecutive Academy Games. In a show of sportsmanship, the maroon squad cheered on the navy squad until they too could burn through their rope. We can’t wait until we can do it all again!

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

Digital Aristotle: A Reflection of Virtual Learning

Zareh Demirdji Beyond the Classroom, Science and Math, Technology No Comments

It’s somewhat hard to believe that a year in lockdown has already gone by. To say it has been an interesting year would be an understatement. After all is said and done, and this human experience is in the rearview mirror, there is a lot that will be looked back upon and analyzed. One of the major realms that will undoubtedly receive a lot of attention will be education, particularly virtual learning.

Virtual learning is by no means a new idea or phenomenon. Virtual schools have existed for years now, but such schools were created for educational reasons and designed for specific situations. The pandemic, however, has thrown the vast majority, if not all of the world’s education systems into some form of virtual learning. Those who choose to attend virtual schools do so (for the most part) of their own volition. Over the last year, everyone has been thrust into virtual learning whether they wanted to or not, whether they thrive in such a situation or languish.

There is a notion in education as to whether or not the growth and implementation of technology will one day lead to a future where students can learn solely from an artificial educator. The current education system is built on top of a framework that was designed to educate students to have the skills and knowledge to be effective and efficient factory workers. In the early days of education, students would sit in desks and listen to a teacher at the front of a classroom. The teacher was a source of information that they would disseminate to their students, a sage on the stage. Fast forward to today, and the only difference in many of today’s classrooms is the colour of the board at the front of the room.

Education has gone through many “revolutions” where this, that, or the other thing was going to radically change how students learned. From radio to television and tablets, no one invention or innovation has really changed education in a fundamental way. The internet, however, offers one place that holds more information than anyone can ever hope to consume, and essentially renders the idea of a person at the front of a classroom who knows a lot of information obsolete. So who needs teachers? Are they commodities who will one day be completely replaced by screens and algorithms?

In my estimation, the past year of learning mostly online – which has had teachers using a lot of digital resources such as videos, podcasts, and the like – has shown us that replacing a classroom teacher with digital content is not a scenario that leads to optimal learning environments. Granted, our small school full of dedicated and passionate teachers has been able to make the best of the world’s current situation; it is likely that many students have found virtual learning less than ideal. Although having one-on-one guidance for each student would be the ideal scenario, even if you could fabricate a digital Aristotle to tutor every student based on his or her individual needs, it could never replace a real – in the flesh – educator. As technology continues to advance, the sage on the stage needs to transform into the guide on the side, helping students navigate the world wide web of information overflow and teach them how to learn and not necessarily what to learn.

Applications of Acid-Base Reactions in Everyday Life: Antacids

Zareh Demirdji Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

Acid-Base reactions are a part of everyday life. In the previous lab, students identified everyday substances found in the home as acids or bases. In their second chemistry lab, the grade ten science class explored the practical applications of acid-base reactions, specifically looking at the use of antacids to stop acid reflux (“heartburn”). The antacids used were: Alka-Seltzer, Tums, Rolaids, and Life Brand.

In the experiment, the different antacids were reacted with an acid (soda pop – coke) to determine which one neutralizes the acid best (increases the pH). After the experiment, students explored the results, and reflected on the effectiveness of the antacids and considered possible explanations for their observations.

Identification of Acids and Bases

Zareh Demirdji Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

Although we have temporarily returned to fully online learning, the show must go on. One of the more “colourful” experiments in chemistry is the one where students try to identify everyday household items as either acidic or basic, and not having access to a lab wasn’t going to stop the grade ten science class from the experience. Having “commandeered” some basic pieces of equipment (test tubes, litmus paper, and a funnel) the identifying acids and bases lab was relocated to my kitchen. Students were given a list of everyday household items (vinegar, pepsi, lemon juice, liquid soap, baking soda, orange juice, mouth wash, and milk) and had to hypothesize whether they were acids or bases.

Each substance was reacted with a bit of red cabbage juice, which contains a natural pH indicator that changes colors depending on the acidity of the solution (very acidic solutions turn the indicator a red color, and basic solutions a greenish-yellow color). This gave students a quick, surface level indication of whether the substance was an acid or a base. To be a bit more accurate, however, we also tested the pH of each substance using a piece of litmus paper. This lab nicely sets up our next experiment where we will look at the applications of acid base reactions.