Students from the Grade 12 Society class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School will be attending the P.A.R.T.Y. Program (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) at Hôpital Régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital on March 1, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. The P.A.R.T.Y. Program is a nationally established one-day in hospital injury awareness and prevention program for youth. The program targets teens to educate them about the consequences of poor decision making in relation to risk-taking behaviours such as drinking and driving, lack of seatbelt use, not wearing a bike helmet, etc.

Students follow the course of injury from occurrence, through transport, treatment and community reintegration. During this day they interact with a team of health professionals directly involved in the care of trauma patients including paramedics, nurses, physicians and therapists.

For more information on the P.A.R.T.Y Program, please contact Lisa Veronese’s at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School ph. 523-9235.

The 4th Annual Bears-Flames Elementary Boys Basketball Tournament was held recently at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. Eight teams, from both the Sudbury Catholic and Rainbow District School Boards were involved in the double elimination tournament. Wembley Public School edged out St. Francis B for the Consolation side while Notre Dame (Hanmer) defeated Jessie Hamilton (Lively) to capture the Bronze. The championship game was a nail biter; St. David had a 19-12 half-time lead but fell to a determined St. Francis A squad by a final score of 43-39. Top scorers for St. David’s were Kevin McCoshew with 14, Zack Szycliak and David Nanez with 8 while St. Francis was led by Chad MacNeil with 12, Micheal Fabris with 9 and Kersey Kalubs with 8.

MVP t-shirts were awarded to K. Boisvert of Notre Dame, Kevin McCoshew of St. David and Chad MacNeil of St. Francis for being instrumental to their teams’ success. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the Bears-Flames have played host to this prestigious tournament.. The organizers of the basket ball tournament would like to thank all participants, parents and volunteers for their support and special appreciation to the Sudbury Catholic District School Board for supplying the plaques and medals.

Teams from all four of the City of Greater Sudbury’s school boards took part in the girl’s and boy’s Early Bird elementary basket ball tournament hosted by St. Francis Catholic School over two consecutive weekends recently.

In the girl’s division, first place honours went to Carl A. Nesbitt Public School, second place was awarded to MacLeod Public School while Marymount Academy finished third. In the boy’s division, Landsdowne Public School took first place honours while St. Francis Catholic School and St. David Catholic School teams finished second and third respectively.

This marks the seventh consecutive year that St. Francis Catholic School has hosted the tournament involving all four boards and 14 schools. The organizers of the basket ball tournament would like to thank the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, all participants, parents and volunteers for their support in helping to make both tournaments such a huge success.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board in conjunction with the
Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) played host to a Smart Kids Child Safety presentation recently at Corpus Christi Catholic School. Robin MacDonald, Marketing Manager for OTIP (adjacent photo), illustrated a number of key safety tips that students should be aware of through the use a highly informative video which included a “talking dog.” The presentation was followed by a question and answer period which helped students to learn about such topics as;

• Home Smarts – How to stay safe when students are home alone
• Street Smarts – What to do when they are approached by a stranger
• School Smarts – What children should do if they are being bullied at
school
• Internet Smarts – How to keep safe in a virtual world

“As a result of this video program, thousands of elementary teachers and pupils will have access to this valuable learning resource,” stated Robin MacDonald, OTIP’s Marketing Manager. “In this latest session, students watched different scenarios followed by brief discussions to help them relate to potentially dangerous situations. The ultimate goal of the Smart Kids Child Safety Program is to allow the students to develop the awareness and confidence required to keep them safe, whether it be at home, school, on the street or on the internet.”

In addition to providing each school in Ontario with a free copy of the video, OTIP consulted with several elementary teachers to develop
primary and junior level Smart Kids lesson plans. The free videos have been made available thanks to the Sudbury Unit of the Ontario English Teacher’s Association (OECTA) and OTIP.