Student Newscast – Politics in Action

Brandon Stewart Community, English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

Last semester, the students of the Grade 11 Politics in Action class at YMCA Academy took on a new role as journalists and news anchors. They headed a project in which they produce an audio Newscast every two weeks in an effort to inform and entertain their fellow students. Stories ranged from upcoming school events, to the weather, to interviews with members of the community.

From brainstorming the content, conducting research, drafting the scripts, recording the segments, and editing the audio files, the grade 11 Politics in Action class put in the work to bring upcoming events, sports, weather, and news to their peers.

One of the installments of Student Newscast included an interview with the then interim Head of School, Steve Saunders. Student Newsroom connected classes to the school, and the school to the world of political change around them.

The last installment of Student Newsroom included a feature piece on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and the school’s Orange Shirt Day assembly.

Viking Shield Games

Brandon Stewart English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

The Grade 12 Adventures in World History class engaged in some hands-on-experiential learning in the park near YMCA Academy. Students have been learning about the adventures of Norwegian, and Danish societies of the Viking Age roughly one thousand years ago. Students researched the lives of everyday Norwegians during the 10th Century, learning that their daily experiences were focused largely on farming, trading, and textile production. Students examined primary evidence to learn that Norse technological developments in ironworking, carpentry, and shipbuilding at the gradual warming of the climate made exploration of the North and Baltic Seas possible.

Students read selections from Egil’s Saga to gain some insight into how later Norwegians perceived their own heroic figures of the Viking Age. They learned about shield heraldry, and Norse symbology in order to design their own Viking Round Shields. Then it was time to test drive the strategies of Vikings on a raid. Students hoisted round shields to test the viability of individual combat as compared to formation tactics, and the benefits of speers over swords. Students employed their round shields, foam swords, and foam-tipped spears to play a variety of games including adaptations of tag, mock duels, and pushing matches that resembled a reverse tug of war. They quickly determined that coordinated formations and polearms provided much better chances of survival against warriors fighting as individuals.

The activities gave students a view into one aspect of the world of the Viking Age; raiding. But in class the students learned that the vicious stereotype of terrifying pillagers only highlights one aspect of Norse culture. Far more often the medieval people of Scandinavia were traders, poets, farmers, and craftspeople. The daily needs of Norse society placed much more focus on food production than on swinging axes at Saxon monks. The class still had a blast testing their combat skills during a day of Viking Shield Games.

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

Student Vote

Arnold Chan English and Humanities, Experiential Learning No Comments

The two Civics classes in the Academy have joined together to work with Student Vote Canada to bring a realistic voting experience to the school.

Before the voting day, students first create informative videos about the municipal election, then create posters for candidates to investigate their stories and platforms. On the voting day, students take on different roles such as deputy returning officer, poll clerk and scrutineers to help guide other students through the voting process.
It has been an authentic and engaging learning experience for all of us!

Mapping the World

Brydie Smith English and Humanities No Comments

In unit two of our Issues in Canadian Geography class, we have been exploring the concepts of Mapping! This includes learning what a map is, who makes maps, map projections and distortions, the features of a map, and how to read the stories that maps tell!

As a warm up activity, the students tried their hand at cartography by drawing a map of the world from memory. Within seconds, all of their erasers were frantically in use–which is the point of the exercise. When we think of the world, we often start with the area(s) of the world that we know best or feel the most familiar with, typically North America. When it’s time to move on to other continents and countries, we realize that we overestimated the size of North America then have to redraw it to make it smaller and smaller…and smaller. The fact that all maps (not just the ones we draw) are drawn from someone’s perspective s an interesting concept to discover with the students, and from there we can further explore how we view the world outside of our community.

See the above photos for our interpretations of the world!

Neighbourhood Prototype Project

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, English and Humanities, Experiential Learning, Science and Math No Comments

Alex’s Exploring Technology has been learning about the design process and how it can be applied to urban planning. We began with research and brainstorming to explore what makes a neighbourhood a good place to live. Students generated lists of “look-fors,” and we furthered our research by heading out on a walk.

During the walk students worked in survey teams to notice aspects of the neighbourhood that make it a good place to live, and aspects that need improvement. Teams took photos as evidence, and marked important findings on a map. Back at school, they worked to record their findings on google earth.

One new insight gained during the walk was the importance of art and cultural spaces (murals, theatres etc.) in a neighbourhood.

Based on their explorations, students worked on designing their own prototype neighbourhoods. Some students used Minecraft to create neighbourhood layouts. Others worked on creating a physical model of an ideal neighbourhood.