| abstract | - Before the end of the Hundred Year War, the building where Toph would later settle her academy was a firebending dojo owned by Master Kunyo; however, following Fire Lord Zuko's postwar enforcement of the Harmony Restoration Movement, Kunyo and his students departed the building. Around 101 AG, Toph arrived in Yu Dao and founded her academy in this building, using it to teach the art of metalbending to others. Toph's main motive for creating the academy was to boss people around, which she enjoyed; her more noble reason, however, was to help earthbenders reach their potential as metalbenders. When Toph reunited with the group as they were on their way to Yu Dao to assess the situation there, Toph temporarily left the school, ordering her three students, Ho Tun, The Dark One, and Penga, to practice their stances in her absence. Sokka accompanied her upon her return to the school, and they were just in time to find the students on their way out. After Sokka and Toph came down on them, assuming they were abandoning their training, the students defended themselves by saying that they were not leaving, but rather had been kicked out by a rivaling school of firebenders, Master Kunyo's Firebending Dojo. Master Kunyo had reclaimed the school in Toph's absence. He explained that it was a firebending school that he abandoned because of the movement's enforcement; however, now that the Fire Lord had withdrawn his support for the plan, Master Kunyo and his disciples were set on reclaiming the building, stating that it was rightfully theirs. Before Toph and Kunyo could commence a battle over the school and subsequently destroy the building, Sokka intervened and proposed to let the students fight for the rights of the building as opposed to the sifus. He proposed a "match to the sit", meaning that whichever team of students got another student to sit down first would win the match and the school. The duel was to take place three days after that first encounter, and Sokka and Toph used this time to train the students; however, their efforts to make them metalbend proved to be unsuccessful. On the evening prior to the match, Toph realized that she was forcing her students to be something they were not, just like her parents had forced her to be something she was not. She decided to forfeit the rights to the school the next day to the firebending academy. When Master Kunyo and his disciples returned the next day, Toph was about to sit without fighting them, but was halted at the last second by a metal coin to the butt, bent by Ho Tun. Much to her surprise, her teachings of metalbending had clicked with her students overnight, and with the ability to metalbend on their side, Toph's three students decisively defended the school and won against the three firebending students, allowing their sifu to recover the building's possession. After Toph's students displayed heroic fighting skills during the battle for Yu Dao, many people from the area, including the city's police chief, became interested in becoming metalbenders. However, the large intake of students soon led to the academy's enrollment exceeding its capacity, forcing Toph to house the students in earth tents due to lack of funding to expand the academy. While Toph was away with Team Avatar in helping to celebrate Yangchen's Festival, Ho Tun, Penga, and The Dark One took over teaching duties at the academy. They had to leave, however, when Sokka came to the establishment and alerted them that Toph and several others were trapped as the result of a cave-in at the Earthen Fire Refinery.
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