Students from all four of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s high schools were in attendance at the Student Voice Initiative on Friday, February 26, 2010 held at Locker by Composite School. This initiative includes three main components which are Speak-Up Projects, the Minister’s Student Advisory Council (MAC) and the Regional Student Forums. The students gathered together to give their input into the review of the Civics curriculum as well as looking at explicit leadership development strategies for students. The day involved larger discussions and presentations and then breaking off into smaller groups to have more focused and in-depth discussions. The Student Voice Initiative was also going on in several other cities simultaneously including London, Thunder Bay, Ottawa and Toronto, with all of the cities connecting via videoconferencing at different times throughout the day. The new Minister of Education, Minister Leona Dombrowsky also connected with the Sudbury student group to be a part of the day’s conversation. Elizabeth Urso, one of the Student Trustees for Marymount Academy as well as President of the English Catholic Board Council was in attendance and spoke about the day’s events. “It gives us a better understanding of the importance of the student voice.” said Urso. “It also allows us to network with people that we don’t normally have a chance to meet or talk to.” Samantha Shewring, a grade 12 student from Marymount Academy was the only student from the Greater Sudbury area selected last year to sit on the Minister’s Student Advisory Council. “The experience was fantastic.” said Shewring. “ It was a great opportunity to get students involved with the Ministry of Education and to be able to go right to the source to make things happen. It is a significant opportunity and being a part of today reinforces the importance of students being involved in their own education.” The Minister of Education’s message spoke to the importance of increasing student engagement and that there was tremendous value in having school guidelines and policies be student driven and be representative of students’ educational needs.
Month: February 2010
One Room School House Opens its Doors to Welcome Full Day Junior Kindergarten
Located in the small village of Killarney, St. Joseph Catholic School welcomed junior kindergarten registrations by planning a student run Winter Carnival afternoon with help from the Killarney Shebanoning Outdoor Education Center. The seven current students and their teachers welcomed the new registrations and their families by organizing an afternoon of fun – Olympic games in the gym, First Nation drumming and singing with an Elder, peer story telling, healthy snacks, bird feeder construction and an outdoor scavenger hunt. Teacher Irene Dembek explains, “It is important to integrate the new kindergarten children and their families into a welcoming and safe school environment”. Students, parents and grandparents all celebrated this special school welcome with current staff and students. Fun and education went hand in hand during the “welcome to kindergarten” afternoon at St. Joseph Catholic School.
St. Charles College Supports Haitian Relief
The staff and students at St. Charles College recognize the importance of continuing to raise funds for the devestated country of Haiti. While the school’s mission collection is ongoing daily, the students decided they wanted to do something extra to add to their mission donations. A group that is new to the school this year – P3 – which stands for People, Peace, Power – is a student run club that works towards social justice and peaceful relationships within the school and community. It incorporates the already established E.S.P. group at St. Charles College which is the Empowering Student Partnerships. These students decided to have t-shirts made to sell to boost their fundraising efforts. The t-shirts are being sold for $10 and there are only a few left as the sales have been a huge success. Including the mission collections, the students and staff have collected over $3000 and their donation will go to Haitian relief through Chalice which is a Catholic Aid organization that is sponsored by the Bishops. Patty Mardero, principal of the school felt that it was a real team effort by the entire school and was very pleased and proud of their accomplishment.
Torch Run Kicks Off St. James Winter Olympics
St. James Catholic School was thrilled to have Olympic Torchbearer Chris Jeffkins lead the school in a Torch Relay to officially open their Winter Olympic Day. Chris shared his amazing, once in a lifetime experience of being a part of the Olympic Torch run and explained how the torch “symbolizes Hope” and in carrying the torch Chris “felt like he was holding Canada in his arm”. Pictured with Chris are the Grade 6 torch run organizers Madison Kvaltin, Nikki Lemieux, Evan Collins,Vanessa Larocque and Holly Gran and Kindergarten students Bradley Markic and Aaric Rautiainen.
B.A.C.C.S.S. Students Enjoy Safe, Fun Snowmobile Riding on the Trails
Several students from Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School had an amazing opportunity on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 when they got the chance to enjoy a day of snowmobile riding for their winter carnival activity. Students that chose the ride as their option met with staff and several Greater Sudbury Regional Police officers in the parking lot of the Knights of Columbus Hall in Hanmer before heading out for a day long ride that involved a stop at Rocky’s restaurant where they enjoyed a lunch provided by the Sudbury District Health Unit. The day before the ride, the students spent the entire day being inserviced on different health and safety topics related to safe snowmobile riding. The students listened to presentations on survival techniques, how to read maps, safety on the trails, as well as one woman’s experience of being hit by a speeding snowmachine. The officers were some of the presenters of the day and felt that it was very important to have the students ride informed of all safety information. “ I want the kids to go out informed and educated.” said Constable Bilcik. “We went out on the weekend to make sure the trail was safe and by educating the students, it is the only we can do rides like this.” This ride along program with the police provided the students with the confidence that they were learning important lessons to keep them safe on the trails. As one father dropped off his son before the ride, it was evident he was aware of the theme of the day as he patted him on the back and said, “Have fun, son… and be safe!”
Immaculate Conception Students and Staff Full of Olympic Spirit
The students and staff of Immaculate Conception showed up to school on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 dressed from head to toe in red and white and Olympic gear. The entire group was excited to show their Olympic spirit as they gathered together for a picture showcasing the school’s enthusiasm and love of the Olympics. The grade 1 / 2 class also took it one step further as they held their own “mini Olympics” including bobsledding, speedskating biathlon and curling. The class created their own bobsleds in groups with the help of some of the grade 6 students. Tania Lacroix, the grade
1 / 2 teacher explained her students’ involvement with the Olympics. “Our class has been penpals with Christina Groves, one of Canada’s speedskaters at the Oympics.” said Lacroix. “ She has been writing back and forth with the class and even has one of the school’s banners with her at the Olympics and showed it on T.V. last Thursday. This experience has definitely had a positive impact on my students.”
Lacroix’s class is also responsible every day for reporting on the Olympic results and upcoming events on the school’s morning announcements. As well, there is a big bulletin board outside the class that keeps track of all of the medals that have been won by Canada. “It really is a big deal for all of the students.” states Lacroix. “They are having a lot of fun with it and are really showing their tremendous Olympic spirit!”
“Gangs and Youth. A Community Action Plan.”
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is proud to be a partner in the “Gangs and Youth. A Community Action Plan” initiative in conjunction with our fellow school boards and community agencies in Sudbury.
Representatives from the Board staff and Trustees participated in a “Gangs and Youth” Media Conference held at the Greater Sudbury Police Service to promote awareness around gang activity. The Board took this opportunity to reinforce the fact the Sudbury Catholic District School Board works hard to engage our students in our educational programs and extra-curricular activities. We believe that our school communities offer the best opportunities for our youth, thus enabling them to become positive members of society. Our Board supports and maintains positive school climates that enhance safety and focus on prevention and early intervention with opportunities for reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration of the community.
S.C.C. Hosts Feeder Schools for Winter Carnival Fun
On Tuesday, February 23, Grade 8 students from St. Raphael, St. John, St. Paul, St. David and Pius XII were bussed to St. Charles College to take part in their annual Winter Carnival. Upon arrival, all of the students were brought into the gym and are divided up into mixed teams and, in a tribute to the Olympics, were assigned a country. The first challenge for each group was to come up with a cheer for their country and then had to perform it in front of the entire crowd. The leadership class was the official host of the 5 feeder school students and set up many different activities for all of the groups to participate in including ball hockey, dodgeball, relay races and bocker (a combination of basketball and soccer). Patty Mardero, Principal of St. Charles College explained that it was a really great day of winter fun challenges for the students. “It is such a positive day on two different levels.” stated Mardero. “First, it is a great way for the Grade 8 students from the feeder schools to get to know each other before they start here in grade nine, and secondly, it is also an opportunity for S.C.C. staff to meet with Grade 8 staff for transitional activities.” Twenty teams in total participated in the day’s events.
Pilot Apple Technology Project Huge Success for St. David’s Grade Fives
The Grade 5 students were so excited they could hardly sit still as their St. David teacher Jennifer Gran asked them to open their macbooks and turn on their ipods. Gran along with Leann Laframboise, one of the Sudbury Catholic Technology Integration Mentor Teachers had put together a proposal and submitted it to Apple Canada with the hopes that the Grade 5 class would be selected to pilot a technology project. Luckily, the two teachers’ proposal was selected out of the hundreds of proposals submitted from across Canada. Apple selected Gran’s class which allowed the students the use of ten MacBook computers with wireless connectivity, digital still and video cameras, and iLife ’09, Apple’s award-winning digital media software as well as ten ipods. For the last four weeks, the class has created podcasts, comics, digital stories, movies and posters. As well, the students used ipods for different activities such as reading, navigating apps and browsers and literacy and numeracy games. Gran was thrilled that her class had the opportunity to have some really hands on learning time with the provided technology. “If you have a high number of identified students, the technology really levels the playing field in regards to learning. “said Gran. “The technology gives the students many different options for learning. They don’t all learn the same way and with the macbooks and ipods, they can choose the way they learn most effectively, which makes teaching easier for the teacher.” For each different activity, the students were divided into groups and sat down with either Gran or Laframboise to consult on their projects. All of the students got the opportunity to use both pieces of technology daily. After St. David’s, the next school to receive the kit will be St. Francis Catholic Elementary School which was also one of the schools to be selected from across Canada.