The Sudbury Catholic District School recognizes the importance of technology infused curriculum and is making efforts to introduce students as young as Junior Kindergarten to this technology. This past month, students in some of the Sudbury Catholic Kindergarten classes have been working on developing their literacy and numeracy skills with a pilot project involving iPod Touches. The four year olds are very excited to recognize letters and numbers as they practise phonics and number recognition on the iPod touch screens. The classroom teachers have said that the students are excited to share their success with staff and their classmates. Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board Catherine McCullough feels that the use of ipods in the kindergarten classes allows these young students to feel comfortable with technology at an early age, and becomes a really positive learning tool to support student success right at the beginning of the students’ education. “Through the use of the ipods, our kindergarten students are given a really positive opportunity to explore technology,” McCullough said. “This pilot project is one of many that really speaks to the focus on 21’st century learning environments at all of our Sudbury Catholic Schools.”

January 20th, 2011 marks a historic occasion for Aboriginal Education in the City of Sudbury. Over 150 people packed St David Catholic School gym on Jean Street to witness the Sudbury Catholic District School Board being gifted with an Eagle Staff. This is the first time in the City’s history that such an honour has been given to any School Board and is a symbol of the strong relationship and commitment to Aboriginal Education which Sudbury Catholic Schools is fostering with First Nation, Metis and Inuit communities. Whitefish Lake First Nation Chief, Steve Miller welcomed students, staff and special guests to the Anishnawbek traditional territory during the presentation and community Elder and Native Language teacher Verna Hardwick and her student drummers welcomed the crowd with a traditional song and prayer.

Traditional teacher, Vince Pawis spoke to the students and staff about the importance of recognizing the youth as our future leaders and their role in keeping First Nation culture alive, as well as sharing it with others in the community. The Eagle Staff represents “a celebration of our strength in maintaining our language and culture” says Aboriginal Education Program Lead, Shelly Moore-Frappier. The Eagle Staff was made by Wikwemikong Elder, Robert Pheasant.

During the feast, Pheasant spoke of how the vision of the Eagle Staff came to him and how he build the staff. Pheasant also emphasized the teaching of patience. and focused on the students and shared with them that patience will help them become successful leaders and that perseverance and hard work also needs to be part of their lives in order to become successful members of the community.

The Eagle Staff’s new home will be at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. Kyle Taylor, a grade 11 student at St Benedict accepted the Staff on behalf of the School Board and has been named the Guardian of the Staff. Taylor, humbled by this honour, spoke to his fellow students and thanked the people in his life who supported and cared for him making special mention of his grandmother who raised him and who he currently lives with. He thanked her for always being there for him, showing him how to love, teaching him right from wrong, and supporting him in becoming an independent teenager. Taylor also thanked Vince Pawis and Lorney Bob, two Elders who he states were, “his two greatest teachers”.

After the ceremony and fest, Catherine McCullough, Director of Sudbury Catholic Schools, stated that “the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is very proud to have this opportunity and takes this responsibility very seriously. The Eagle Staff is there for all students. It is there to help them with any difficulties they may be having and it is there to remind us of the strength and beauty of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit culture”.

They practiced for hours, afterschool and on weekends, but the students in teacher Jaime Sauve’s Grade 12 Academic Law class really didn’t expect to be the Hennessey Cup Mock Trial champions. “These kids put in a lot of really, really hard work and effort,” Sauve said, “and we went into to the competition bringing our absolute best, but we didn’t anticipate such a great final result!”

The St. Charles College Mock Trial team practiced for several months on their assigned case which involved an impaired driving incident. The students had to be prepared to argue both for the prosecution and defence, and only found out at the trial which side they would actually be arguing for. In the end, the team had to argue for the defence both for their initial presentation, as well as in the final round againstt the team from Lockerby. Each team had a lawyer assigned to them to assist them with their preparation for the competition and the team from S.C.C. worked with James Ross from the law firm of Conroy Trebb Scott Hurtubise LLP as well as with local lawyer Len Walker. Both lawyers were very committed to helping the team prepare for the competition and the students are very grateful to them for all of their help.

In April, the students will travel to Toronto to compete at the Provincial Mock trial competition and recognize that they have a lot more work to do to prepare. “Now we are representing Sudbury and that is a huge deal to us,” Sauve said. “The students are committed to continuing their focus and are excited about the upcoming competition.”
Mock trial competitor and student Kayla Dumont was thrilled with the result at the courthouse and feels that this whole experience will help her for he future career path. “This mock trial and all of the preparation involved really gave me insight as to what a real career in law will be like,” Dumont said. “It has now inspired me to explore my options for a possible career in this field.”

Fellow competitor Sara Rovinelli also enjoyed this whole experience. “This competition has taught me how really think on my feet and how to adapt quickly to situations and respond under pressure – all qualities that will help me later on in life.”

The students wanted to make sure to thank their teacher Jamie Sauve for her dedication to the team, lawyers James Ross and Len Walker for their commitment to helping the students throughout this whole process, as well Madame Justice Patricia C. Hennessy for providing them with this positive learning opportunity.

As well as winning the overall competition, students Sara Rovinelli won the Best Advocate Defense award and Noel Walker won Best Witness award.

On Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Marymount Academy hosted a Wellness Day for all students in grades 7 – 12. The day was a student driven initiative planned by teacher Allison Simpson’s Grade 11 Peer Leadership and Support class. The students had been working on this day for several months and wanted to bring health and wellness experts to the school to allow their classmates the opportunity to learn about positive life choices in health, life and careers.
Some of the 35 experts included several different types of health professionals, journalists, chefs, and fitness instructors. The students were also treated to a visit by Greater City of Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk who spoke to entire student population about her personal life and career experiences, as well as women in non-traditional roles. Teacher and wellness day co-ordinator Allison Simpson was really pleased with the day’s events and felt that the students thoroughly enjoyed listening to the experts and learning about ways to make positive changes in their health and well-being. “For the students who organized this event, I am really proud of their hard work and development of their leadership qualities which is what this course is all about,” Simspon said. “And the entire student population benefited from this class’ hard work and were able to take advantage of this great experience through different workshops and guest speakers – all in all a great day for the Regals!”