Students at Bishop Alexander Carter faced a bridge building challenge this past week in their woodshop class. The students had been given the task of building model bridges and then the completed projects were subjected to weight tests. The rules allowed only for glue and wood 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch to be used. In the end the majority of the bridges were able to remain stable even with a weight of 300 lbs pulling down on them. Savanna Lamoureux, one of the woodshop students said that the day was a lot of fun and it was a great opportunity for the students to express their school spirit. “We really had a lot of fun.” said Lamoureux. “Not only building the bridges, but also destroying them after it was all done!”
Month: February 2010
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Launches New Breakfast Program
On Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School opened the doors to its new Breakfast Club. The program is a partnership between Breakfast Clubs of Canada, the Human League Association and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. The Breakfast Club provides a healthy breakfast for the students in a relaxed environment and is operated by volunteer staff members and students. The club is open five days per week in the morning and allows students to help themselves to menu items such as fruit, fruit juice, yogurt, cereal and whole wheat bagels to name a few. This is the forth breakfast program operating in the SCDSB secondary schools. The primary goal of the program is to feed students who do not have the opportunity to have breakfast, allowing them to focus on their academics rather than being distracted by hunger.”
Bishop Alexander Carter Launches 2010 Heart and Stroke Campaign
Students at Bishop Alexander Carter gathered on February 5, 2010 for an assembly to launch the school’s Heart and Stroke campaign. The school had several guests speak to the importance of fundraising and awareness of Heart and Stroke issues. Michelle Toner, spokesperson for the foundation talked of the personal family members that have had heart disease or strokes and the impact it has had on her. “Great things can happen if you put your mind to it.” said Toner. “Go get ’em Gators and do the best you can to raise as much money as you can for Heart and Stroke!” Deputy Mayor Ron Dupuis also told the students of the importance of this campaign to the city of Sudbury. As a survivor of a massive heart attack back in 2006, Dupuis knows that the community of Sudbury has top-notch doctors,in fact, he believes “the best cardiologists in the world.” By raising funds, he explained how this money was put right back into the community with dollars going to research, medical technology and support. He thanked all of the students for their past donations and told them that they were heroes for so generously giving their time and funds to support such a worthy cause. The students will have several ways to raise money for this year’s campaign. First, the students have been asked to go out and canvas their communities for donations. As well, the students have the opportunity to participate in a co-ed ball hockey tournament on February 18, 2010 as either a player or a spectator by buying into the game or as buy out of class to cheer on the teams. The students will also have a dress down day they can buy into on February 24, 2010. The students hope to beat their donations from last year which were close to $3000.
Pius XII Catholic Elementary School Holds Second Annual Health Fair
Pius XII Catholic Elementary School held it’s second annual Health Fair on February 4, 2010. Approximately 45 second year nursing students from Laurentian University visited the school and held different sessions for the J.K. to Grade 8 students including Winter Safety, Benefits of Physical Activity, Teeth and Oral Hygiene, Handwashing and Bullying. The sessions were in various classrooms throughout the school and the students rotated between presentations. The nursing students are required to do community involvement hours and this Health fair allowed them to fulfill this requirement as well as teach the students about really important health issues. Megan Murphy, Vice-Principal of the school said that the students found the day to be really engaging and educational. “The students expressed excitement about the day.” said Murphy. “They were thrilled to have learned about so many different health issues and couldn’t wait to share their newfound knowledge with their families!’
St. James Student Council and Custodian Unite to Create Hopes and Dreams for Haiti
Five hundred dollars was collected during a recent theme day hosted by the St. James student council for Haitian relief. The student council has forwarded the donations to Mr. Sunny Fournier, staff custodian and accomplished musician. Mr. Fournier, who hopes to raise $10,000 will be hosting a benefit concert for Haiti relief later this month and monies will be forwarded to aid Haitian Children.
Synthesizing in the Classroom
Grade three teachers met at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre on February 1, 2010 to learn about Synthesizing in the classroom. Lianne Perreault-Raymond, Curriculum Consultant for SCDSB inserviced the teachers looking at different reading strategies and comprehending in action. Synthesizing allows students to make meaning out of what they read so the teachers who attended the workshop learned different ways to use this strategy in their classrooms. This inservice helped the teachers examine the different ways to improve higher order thinking with their students.
Six Bishop Alexander Students Now Published Poets
Six students from Bishop Alexander Carter teacher Lori Roy’s Grade 11 English class didn’t realize that by submitting their poetry assignment, they would end up as published poets in a national anthology. Ms. Roy had asked her students to write a poem based on their independent study novels. The students had 5 different books to choose from that all had to do with “us versus society”. They were asked to write a comparative poem and were given the option at the end of the assignment to submit their work to Creative Communications which is a website dedicated to a “celebration of today’s writers.” Thousands of poems were submitted and only the best are picked to put into their yearly publication entitled “A Celebration of Poets”. Poems submitted by Amanda Phillips, Austin Seguin, Evan Spurrell, Brittany Marmen, Stephanie Thorne and Kaitlyn Charette were all selected to be published in the book. “We were really surprised to be picked.” said Marmen. “I would say that I am definitely inspired to start submitting more of my work to different publications in the future.”
Teachers Getting Even “Smarter” with the Smartboard
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board Technology Integration Mentors (T.I.M.’s) have been very busy the last few months inservicing our teachers in Smartboard training. Every elementary teacher who currently has a Smartboard in their classroom has been receiving Smartboard inservicing to help them better use this unique technology. Jennifer Connelly, one of the SCDSB T.I.M’s teachers said that by February 12, 2010, all of these elementary teachers at our board who have a Smartboard will be Level 1 certified trained.
St. Andrew’s Grade Three Class Raise Funds for Haitian Relief
The grade 3 students of St. Andrew School and their teacher Mr. Laurin held a bake sale on February 2nd in support of the Red Cross efforts to help the people in Haiti. To make this a learning experience for the children the teacher had each child be their own salesperson and several grade 6 students helped with the money counting. The students brought in tasty treats and also had a snowman cake to raffle. They raised $298.42 in their one day project.