Healthy Living
YMCA Academy TEDx event highlights innovation in education
11 February 2014 - by ymcablog
Education must innovate to keep pace with a rapidly changing world and the evolving needs of today’s students. That’s why The YMCA Academy is bringing together some phenomenal speakers to explore groundbreaking ideas in educating students who learn differently at Edumakers, the 2014 edition of the school’s annual TEDx event. You can be a part of it — and best of all, admission is free.
Edumakers starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1 at our Toronto Central Grosvenor St. YMCA Centre, which is home to the YMCA Academy, an alternative school for youth with learning disabilities and learning style differences. Click here to register to attend.
Featured ideas and initiatives include:
- an all-girls technology camp
- uniting schools with their surrounding communities
- rethinking classrooms as coworking spaces, purpose-built for collaboration
- helping students connect with career options that don’t require university or college
- connecting investment to the non-financial assets of young people
- high school courses in which computer games are an essential part of the learning process
— and much more.
The themes to be explored at Edumakers continue the discussion started at The YMCA Academy’s last TEDx event, which introduced educators to the concept of wrap-around services for youth. Schools operate within a community, but often have trouble reaching out to collaborate with outside agencies. Model schools, like The YMCA Academy, have envisioned and implemented a pedagogical experience where social and emotional supports and referral services are intricately woven into the school’s fabric.
Scheduled speakers include Zareh Demirdji from The YMCA Academy, Girls Learning Code’s Ashley Lewis, Eric Rosenberg of Rosenberg Development Studio, Ryan Porter from Raise Your Flag, Jay Romano of Classpace, Andy Lewis from Maker Kids, Ilana Ben-Air of TwentyOne Toys, Architext’s Zahra Ibrahim, teachers York Region teacher Tom Seliotis, Peel teachers Douglas Vallance and Matthew Henderson, Hive Mozilla Toronto’s Kathryn Meisner, Ryan Burwell from the Centre for Social Innovation, and Juan Gonzalez of Fabspaces.
For more information, or to register to attend Edumakers, visit the TEDx YMCA Academy website.
