Month: October 2007
St. Christopher Students Enjoy Thanksgiving Soup
Sudbury Community Foundation Sponsors St. Michael School Seedling Event
Staff and students from St. Michael Catholic School are making the City of Greater Sudbury a better place to live thanks to the donation of sprouts from Deborah Viisimaa and The Sudbury Community Foundation. “The sprouts” were distributed to each child and staff member to be taken home to be nurtured and planted at a later date.
“By taking part in this sprouts project, we are officially champions for the environment,” stated school principal, Sandra St. Denis.
Through the sprouts project the students learned that “each tree that they planted will grow to consume harmful carbon dioxide and give back the oxygen required to sustain life.”
St. Theresa Catholic School Students Fit for the Challenge
St. Theresa Catholic School is the winner of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s 2006-2007 Fitness Challenge. The goal of the program is to lower the resting and exercise heart rates of the Board’s students over the course of the school year. Staff and students in the Junior Division participated in this program under the supervision of Mr. John Tarini, Coordinator of the Fitness Challenge for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.
The heart rates of the students were measured three times during the 2006-2007 school year. Throughout the year students participated in various activities such as intramural sports, outdoor exercises and the “School Fit Program” to improve their physical fitness. The school whose students displayed the “lowest average increase in heart rate” from the “resting to the exercise mode” was deemed the winner of the Fitness Challenge.
Students from St. Theresa Catholic School received a plaque and a small token of appreciation from Sudbury Catholic District School Board Vice-Chair, George Middleton during a recent board meeting for winning the Fitness Challenge.
“We Are Called”
Sudbury Catholic District School Board Celebrates Faith Day
Sudbury Catholic District School Board students, parents, teachers, vice-principals, principals, staff, trustees and clergy joined support staff from the SCDSB school communities in Faith Day celebrations St. Charles College on September 28, 2007.
This year’s theme “ We Are Called” was a celebration of community and Catholic education. In Catholic Education we are called on many levels, depending on our responsibility, but the foundation call for all of us — is the call of our Baptism, a call that is our common bond with the whole Church. The call of our Baptism is a call to discipleship with Jesus Christ.
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary Presents a “University Information Program Evening”
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School will be hosting a University Information Program Evening on Thursday, October 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the school. Throughout the evening, students and parents will have the opportunity to attend three forty minute university information sessions along with a “Q & A” session with representatives from Ontario’s twenty universities as well as affiliated university colleges.
The event is open to all high school students in the City of Greater Sudbury. Grade 10 and grade 11 students are encouraged to attend and begin to plan course requirements for future programs. Students considering a college program are also invited since many colleges and universities have articulation agreements.
For additional information, please contact Mr. Maurizio. Visentin, Program Leader Academic Services, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School at ph. 523-9235.
St. John Catholic School Students Help Stock the Shelves of Local Food Bank
Six thousand, five hundred! That’s the number of food items that students at St. John Catholic School raised in support of the Garson Food Bank.
Tricia Dowdall-Cirelli, Principal of St. John Catholic School is very proud of the efforts of her students in helping the less fortunate. “St. John Catholic School students are learning through Christ’s example to be selfless, charitable and champions of social justice,” states Cirelli. “The students are also being empowered through example to make a difference by affecting change not only in their own backyards but in our city, country, and world.”
Student Representatives on Board of Trustees
T.J. Pugliese, a Grade 12 student at St. Charles College, and Matt Harris, a Grade 11 student at Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School were sworn in as Student Representatives by Sudbury Catholic District School Board Trustees at a regular meeting of the Board on October 2, 2007.
T.J. Pugliese will assume the role as Student Representative for the 2007-2008 school year while Matt Harris will be the designated Student Representative Elect. Students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s four secondary schools will rotate through the position of Student Representative and Student Representative Elect with the latter learning from the former before assuming the role of Student Representative.
The students will act as ambassadors for their schools and will play an integral role in bringing the concerns and issues of their peers to the forum of the SCDSB Board meetings. Meetings of the Board are held on the first and third Tuesday of every month at the Catholic Education Centre and are open to the public.
Former Sudbury Catholic Board Principal Returns to Oversee New Ministry Initiative
Sudbury Catholic District School Board has hired Laura Kuzenko as its newest principal in charge of the Ministry of Education’s Schools Effectiveness Framework – (a Ministry directed initiative designed specifically for the purpose of improving student achievement).
Kuzenko is a former principal of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board having served in that position at both St. John and St. Theresa Catholic Schools before leaving to become Science North’s Director of Education. Kuzenko’s zeal and enthusiasm coupled with her commitment to bringing about increased effectiveness and improved student achievement in both the public and private sector make her an ideal candidate for the job.
In May 2007, the Ministry of Education established a working group representing supervisory officers, principals, federations and diagnosticians to develop an effective school framework which would be used in school boards across Ontario. The key purposes of the School Effectiveness Framework are to;
■ ensure specificity and intent in instruction that responds to student learning needs
■ build board and school capacity in diagnosing strengths and areas which require attention
■ foster introspection, reflection and analysis
■ act as a catalyst for student improvement from within
■ implement high-yield research based strategies
■ provide a forum for consensus building around school improvement
■ communicate, celebrate and build public confidence around school effectiveness
■ assist in planning district strategies as a response to needs identified in school evaluations
Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic School Board, Catherine McCullough welcomes the Ministry of Education’s initiative to support boards in working with their schools to identify strengths and to target areas of improvement. “The School Effectiveness Framework headed by Laura Kuzenko will implement strategies which will continue to improve student achievement at our Board,” stated McCullough. “We will also be able to equip those who work in our schools with the diagnostic skills they need to bring about or sustain improvement.”