Distance Learning @ YMCA Academy

Don Adams Head of School, Updates


 

For ten months each year, YMCA Academy provides vital, daily support for all aspects of our students’ lives. With the closure of all school facilities in Ontario due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of such daily supports could negatively impact the lives of our students and their families. So, during March Break, Academy faculty and staff put a plan into place to continue offering its full range of supports while students remain safely at home. Each Academy course has an online presence. Here, students and teachers can continue to meet. With webcams and microphones, teachers deliver lessons, and students collaborate with their teachers and peers. Our Counsellor and Educational Assistant maintain their support of students in the same manner. We can even monitor physical activity while the gym remains unavailable. We were up and running immediately after March Break!

YMCA Academy and its students are able to move forward in their courses — with changes to be sure, but with little interruption. We are ready and able to continue the school year in this manner as long as is needed. We will be blogging about our experiences regularly, so stay tuned!

COVID-19 update: Temporary school closure

Don Adams Head of School, Updates


 

Dear Parents & Guardians,

As you might be aware, the Ministry of Education is closing all publicly-funded schools for the weeks following March Break as a precaution to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19. We think it is prudent for us to do so as well.

Therefore, YMCA Academy will be closed during the weeks of March 23-27, and March 30 – April 3. In order to support continued student learning, however, we are developing a strategy and schedule for students to continue classes through Google Classroom sites. Teachers will be available on their sites to support student learning, to give lessons, to assess, and to answer questions. We are presently developing the schedule for these online meetings.

I will communicate details about the plan as they are developed over the next few days. In the meantime, please stay safe and enjoy the rest of March Break.

Don Adams
Head of School

Academy Dance Committee Events

Zoe Rutherford Community, Events

The YMCA Academy’s very own Dance Committee helped to organize two awesome dances so far this school year! We held a Winter Dance on December 19th. There was lots of candy, gingerbread house making and karaoke. Special catering was provided by alumni-run catering startup “Setonah Catering 2k19”. We held an Academy Alumni Group meeting before hand, so lots of alumni showed up to the dance which was great! The second dance was on February 13 with a Palentines (note: not Valentines) themed dance. We switched rooms from the auditorium to a smaller room where we could turn the lights off completely.

The set-up of the dance looked very cool! There were fairy lights and a black light that made everyone in the room wearing white glow! Somehow, skipping rope was made out of glow sticks and students (and teachers) attempted to jump rope. Pizza was provided as well as delicious snacks made by the fabulous Cooking Club. If this sounds like fun to you, please be in touch with Zoe or Dayna to join the Dance Committee or to attend a future dance. We are hoping to hold the next Academy dance in the Spring! We hope to see as many of you there as possible!

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

The Academy Show!

Katie Freeland Arts, Community, Events, Student Spotlight

Again this year, the afternoon of the last day of classes in December features an exciting annual tradition: the Academy Show! Students were once again encouraged to pair up or collaborate in groups, and in total, twelve acts shared their passions and talents with the school community. From popular songs to dance performances to original spooky Christmas stories, and even a Shakespearan monologue, the performers’ courage and creativity was a delight to witness.

Our student MCs — Ali, Alex, and Dot — not only introduced the performers, but also kept us entertained with jokes and skits between acts. There was even a special performance by Brandon and Todd, who had been rehearsing their rendition of “I Do” from Bob’s Burgers, all week.

We hope that seeing their peers (and teachers) get up on the makeshift stage inspires even more students to sign up next year!

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

The Shoebox Project for Women

Katie Clay Community, Events, Experiential Learning

This November the YMCA Academy embraced the spirit of giving and ran its second annual Shoebox Project initiative.

Our school came together to first learn about the issue of homelessness in Toronto and Canada and then to do our part to support members of our community in need. In advisory groups, students brainstormed what gifts might help women feel special and devised a plan to purchase all of the items. Each group carefully decorated a shoebox, wrote a card with an inspiring message, and filled their box with thoughtful gifts.

The Shoebox Project for Women operates throughout Canada and the United States, delivering gift-filled shoeboxes to women in need. In Toronto the shoeboxes are distributed to women accessing a variety of services such as the YMCA Women’s Shelter, CAMH, Native Women’s Resource Centre, Covenant House etc. The aim of the project is to remind women that they have not been forgotten and that they are a valued and respected member of their community.

Once again this project raised some questions among our youth about homelessness and about the unique challenges faced by women and girls and provided excellent learning opportunities. It encouraged our students to foster empathy and to be engaged citizens. It also promoted collaboration among our students who had to work together to complete the various tasks and achieve their goals.

Our students and their families were very generous and even though we only have 8 advisory groups, we had enough donations to put together 19 boxes! Our shoeboxes contributed to the over 57,000 total boxes delivered in Canada, the USA and the UK for the 2019 holiday season. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this another successful project!

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!