Evergreen Downsview Park

YMCA Academy Environmental Stewardship, Experiential Learning No Comments

On October 10, the Academy set out for its first of two annual tree planting outings at Downsview Park for this school year’s Evergreen environmental stewardship. Although it was a bit cold at times, the beautiful, blue, and sunny sky made up for it in the long run. Our first visit had us planting some small trees, and as always, mulching. After enjoying lunch under sunny skies, we went back to planting, and for the first time ever in the Academy’s history at Evergreen Downsview, we got to plant large, 12 foot trees. Due to their size, we had to dig really massive and deep holes, which was quite time consuming, and so we were only able plant two of them. In all, the trip was one of the most successful ones to date, and we hope to top this experience in May.

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YMCA/TD Bank Greening Event

YMCA Academy Community, Environmental Stewardship, Events, YMCA of Greater Toronto No Comments

Academy students dig in at YMCA/TD Bank greening event!

On Tuesday, YMCA Academy staff and students joined with volunteers from the Fully-Verified  TD Bank and the YMCA of Greater Toronto for a special greening event. It started with a before school greening session, in which participants got their hands dirty and worked together to plant seeds and seedlings in our new vertical garden, and transplant some Academy greenery that had outgrown their existing pots.

Then, Siobhan’s English class and Todd’s Communications Technology class headed down to the Toronto Central Grosvenor Street YMCA Centre of Community auditorium, where they witnessed a major environmental infrastructure funding announcement from TD Bank: a $1-million donation to green projects at future YMCA centres across the GTA. Some Academy students were even interviewed by a team of student journalists from Ryerson University.

Experiences like these help remind our students that they are part of a large and vibrant organization, and gives them an opportunity to act as ambassadors for our school. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who took part in this exciting event.


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Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup 2014

YMCA Academy Environmental Stewardship, Experiential Learning No Comments

As part of The YMCA Academy’s commitment to environmental stewardship, the entire school participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup on Friday, September 26th. This year we cleaned a large section of High Park between Colborne Lodge Drive and Spring Road.

The students were surprised to see that High Park is already fairly clean! Nevertheless, the group found an area that needed some extra attention, and after filling 4 bags of garbage, students got to enjoy the rest of the afternoon exploring the High Park Zoo and playing games in one of the many open green spaces.

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First Spirit Day of the year!

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom No Comments

Academy staff and students celebrated the school’s first spirit day of the year in style. Thursday was “Hat Day,” and participants donned a colourful array of headgear throughout the school day. Spirit days are meant to be fun, of course, but to us they’re something more: They’re a way to show our inclusiveness and to build our sense of community. Siobhan (one of our teachers) offered up her supply of hats to students who didn’t — or couldn’t — bring their own, and students who don’t often socialize with one another found a shared experience and a reason to connect. Stay tuned for more spirit days throughout the school year.

 

September Blues?

Don Adams Head of School

I remember having the September blues as a student. For me, as for many of you I’m sure, making the best use of our all-too-short summer was a priority. Something new was bound to happen every day, and we were absolutely engaged in life. The return to school represented the loss of this engagement, the curtailment of unbounded physical activity, back to the regiment of rows of desks, seating plans, and hours of listening to the voice of the teacher filling us with knowledge like a pitcher with water. Charles Dickens satirized this in the mid 19th century in his novel, Hard Times:

“In this life, we want nothing but Facts, sir; nothing but Facts!”

The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.

These memories are so engrained, in fact, that each year I am surprised by a different September phenomenon. We keep the school open throughout the summer, and every week we get a visit or two from present students of The Academy — just dropping by to say hi, to see what’s happening during the summer, just to be back in this great school. Invariably, they say they are looking forward to September.

That’s something that I heard from many of you as well on September 2 – students were actually looking forward to school!

I think I know why: engaging classes; constant variety of experiential activities; supportive friends and classmates; a first-rate facility; a fabulous, compassionate staff. By designing an educational program around each student’s needs and strengths, we are able to change the old paradigm of education. It is indeed good to be back!

Charles Dickens would be proud.

Don Adams – Head of School