Dec. 16th, 2010 – NFB Claymation Short Film

Students in the grade 10 art class felt what it was like to be Tim Burton today at the National Film Board of Canada.  With the help of an NFB team leader, they created two very short animations with characters made out of clay and a device called a “lunch box” camera.  Drawing Disney characters, scratching on 16mm film and drawing 12-frame zoetrope strips, students came equipped with a lot of information on the different types of classic animation techniques.  Enjoy the short!  Don’t blink or you’ll miss them.

Dec. 15th, 2010 – National Film Board Field Trip

Grade 10 art students are about to uncover the Secrets of Animation at a special workshop at the National Film Board of Canada this Thursday December 16th!  Students will create claymation characters in the animation studio at the NFB and use contemporary equipment to capture motion one frame at a time.  Students have been learning about all kinds of animation, from how to draw on celluloid film strips like the famous Canadian animator Norman McLaren to the wacky world of Tim Burton’s characters and storylines.  One of our students gave a lesson on the history and development of early cartoon characters like Felix the Cat and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  Stay tuned for postings of the NFB claymation workshop!

National Film Board Website

Dec. 14th, 2010 – Never Too Old to Use Blocks!

Building blocks and other manipulatives are used in a math class to help the students understand abstract concepts at a tangible level.

The grade 10 math class started a new unit today on quadratic equations.  They were given a real life situation: Luisa is designing an apartment building in a pyramid design.  Each apartment is a square.  She wants to know how many apartments can be built in this design as the number of apartments on the ground floor increases.

The students created the apartment building, collected the data using connecting cubes and graphed the relationship.

Dec. 10th, 2010 – YSAP Peer Mentor Presentation

The Grade 11 Health Care Class (TPJ3M) completed their peer-mentor training yesterday. The training culminated in a school-wide drug and alcohol awareness presentation. The peer-mentors shared their knowledge on:

1. Drug classification

2. The continuum of use

3. Harm Reduction Strategies

Students at The Academy watched skits, participated in discussion and dispelled myths through activities.

If you are a student with drug or alcohol questions and want to speak to a peer ~ feel free to approach any of the Academy’s peer-mentors:

  • Sarah
  • Ben
  • Jamie
  • Jaden
  • Andrew
  • Carson
  • Matt
  • and Alex C

For more information or to book an appointment with a YSAP counsellors, call:

YSAP (Youth Substance Abuse Program)
Phone: (416) 504-9701
485 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON M5V 2A9
Neighbourhood: Queen Street West

Dec. 10th, 2010 – ‘Write for Rights’ Campaign Pics

On December 10th, International Human Rights Day, the grade 11 English class participated in Amnesty International’s ‘Write for Rights’ campaign. The students used their persuasive writing skills to press governments everywhere to stand by their commitment to uphold all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By taking part in Write for Rights, students were part of a global movement to share a vision of human rights for everyone.