Friday, June 7

 Hi parents,

We had a fantastic week at the YMCA!

Here's the summary of some of the highlights... (apologies if some days are mixed up - it was a busy week)

Monday

-Toured the YMCA, did introductions, talked about health

-Participated in a Blackfoot Pow-Wow and learned basic steps for the Grass Dance, the Fancy Dance, and Jingle Dress Dance (sadly couldn't take any pictures, but this was an amazing experience.)

-Played cooperative team-building games

Tuesday

-Visited the YMCA library, saw the 'behind-the-scenes' rooms, learned about all the awesome free programs at the library

-Inclusive sports activity - we went to the YMCA gym and played volleyball, bocci ball, tag, and basketball. We altered each game to help students understand how barriers can exist in sports, and how we can change the activities to remove them and let everyone get involved

- E-Sports - we played Mario Kart and Rocket League as a class, and learned about healthy vs. unhealthy habits for gaming. Our instructor was a professional gamer and stressed the importance of playing with friends (in-person whenever possible!), including exercise breaks, healthy eating, and getting lots of sleep.

Wednesday

-We learned about charities, and how the YMCA is involved in many charitable causes. The students designed their own charities based on things they felt should change in the world. They presented their charities, and then used monopoly money to donate to the charity of their choice.

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-We played Basketball games outside and worked on shooting, passing, and defensive skills

-We wrote persuasive letters to the YMCA staff to politely ask them to open the waterslides on Friday

Thursday

-We talked about community, and did a community building activity where students created their own circles, cut them into quarters (fractions connection!) and then combined them with their classmates' circles

-We went to the walking / jogging track for some exercise, and talked about 'track etiquette'

-We made 'cabinet of curiosity' sculptures to capture favourite moments from the week

  

-We made Bracelets to celebrate the core value of the YMCA - Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, and Caring. The bracelets will be sold to raise money for children's charities!

Friday

-Sadly, we were unable to swim :(

-We played a little bit of table tennis in the main lobby

-We finished sculpting

-We learned about public art and murals, and used chalk to make our own mural outside the YMCA to showcase empathy and compassion

YMCA Vouchers!!

Students were given water bottle and not one, but two vouchers for admission to the YMCA pool and other facilities, to compensate for us not being able to swim today. I hope everyone can arrange a time to swim with their friends this summer!

I want to say a huge thank you to all the parents who volunteered this week, we couldn't have had this amazing experience without you!

Stay tuned for next week's spelling words, and have a nice weekend!

Zac