Students in Mrs. Smrke’s grade seven class at St. Raphael School helped staff and students remember why we celebrate Easter this weekend. The students acted out each station of the cross.
The twelfth station
Jesus died on the cross.
They left you nailed to the cross to die.
You died for us.
Jesus, thank you for giving us your life and your love.
Month: April 2011
Sudbury Students Teach Their Peers the Real Meaning of Easter
The grade 7 class at St. David Catholic School worked for weeks preparing a performance of the “Stations of the Cross” for the school student population. The students, with their teacher’s assistance and direction, played the parts, edited the script, built the set and made the costumes. Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus and the devotion commemorating the Passion. “I liked the performance because we actually felt like we were there. I liked that the grade 7’s used props and costumes and that they told us how we could be better friends to each other and make good choices. They taught us about how Jesus died and why he died for us. I really liked it and can’t wait until I am in grade 7 and I can put on this performance for the little kids in the school”, said grade 4 student Sequoia Wemigwans. Mrs. Mansourian, grade 7 teacher at St. David School, said that “the integration of the arts into the curriculum is an effective strategy to engage student learners, especially when they (students) feel empowered with the responsibility to teach younger students in the school”.
St. Anne Kindergarten Students In Disbelief As Gingerbread Man Runs Away Again!
“Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” This was the phrase the English Early Learning Kindergarten students at St. Anne School in Hanmer had being practicing as they used the story of the “Gingerbread Man” to practice story retelling. A culminating activity was to actually bake their own gingerbread cookies. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that their baked cookies had run away just like the cookie in the story!
An all points bulletin was aired over the school’s p.a. system by the Kindergarten children. They then proceeded to design and post lost and found posters. With the entire student body and staff eagerly searching for the fun away cookies, the children received a phone call from Mr. Thomson, an Intermediate teacher within the school. The run away cookies had fled to Mr. Thomson’s classroom. When asked why he thought the cookies would run to him, Mr. Thomson was quoted as saying, “Everyone knows I like cookies and I also like to say ‘Hello’ to the littlest people within our school, so I guess my classroom was the perfect place to go.” The Kindergarten children were ecstatic and relieved at the same time. Mr. Thomson received a gingerbread cookie as a reward for helping the students and providing a very happy and yummy ending to this tasty fairy tale mystery!
Bishop Alexander Carter Students Fight World Hunger
Students from Bishop Alexander Carter did their part in fighting world hunger this past month by taking part in a 30 hour famine.The group of 90 students formed groups of 12 to compete in several character, team, and global awareness building activities such as a community clean-up, a scavenger hunt, and several art activities. Students were even lucky enough to have a guest speaker, on behalf of Development and Peace, from Sierra Leone. While students were hard at work on a full length motion picture movie being produced by the specialist high skills major class, teachers taking part were also hard at work making a chocolate and vanilla marble cake with crisp maple bacon to garnish – a treat for students after the famine was over, and that is when the hunger began to set in. But determined to make a difference and stick to the goal, students fought the hunger knowing that it would all be over after the 30 hours.
Wrapping up the events before the big luncheon, students and staff took part in a morning prayer service. “We all really had a good time, and we met so many new interesting people,” stated Kelsey Blais , Bishop Alexander Carter student. “At the end of the day, it was great to know that each and everyone of us is changing someone’s life, maybe not forever, but even for just a second, that’s what counts.” Raising well over $1 400, students were proud of their efforts and knew that they had made a difference not only in their community, but in the world as well.
ST. JOHN SCHOOL 5/6 COED BASKETBALL TEAM BOARD AND CITY CHAMPS!
Congratulations goes out to the St. John School 5/6 Co-Ed Basketball Team who powered their way through the St. Raphael Royals 3rd annual 3 vs 3 Tournament and the Greater Sudbury Board of Basketball Officials Wrap Up Tournament with a combined total of 11 wins and 0 loses to take first place in both tournaments! The St. John School community along with Coaches Ms. Hluchaniuk and Mr. Whalen wish to thank and commend the efforts of team players: (front row l-r) Shane Poitras, Logan Daniel, (second row l-r) Sara Gardner, Allison McLean, Hope Joly, Nick Chokan, Brandon Labre and Tommy Vlahos.
St. Raphael Royals Send Not One, Not Two but THREE students to the SCDSB Speech Finals
There were three students sent to the board public speaking semi-finals at St. Anne School last week to represent St. Raphael School. Believe it or not, the three students are all moving onto the finals.
Ashlynn Philion took first place in the junior division for her speech on bubblegum – the history, the chemical make-up and the trend that never pops.
Hailey Moskal took first place in the intermediate division for her speech on the history of newly acquired camp, and how the recent purchase has bonded her family together.
Brittany Thornton took second place in the primary division for her speech on saving polar bears.
The SCDSB finals are scheduled for Wednesday, April 20th at St. Francis School at 6:30 p.m.
Lifting The Hopes For Cancer Research At St. Anne School
“Is cancer contagious?” This was the simple question that Gr. 8 student Corey Demers asked Sudbury Catholic Board teacher, Dawn Restoule. Corey had been exposed to dealing with cancer with a younger cousin and was aware that one of St. Anne’s Intermediate teachers was presently undergoing cancer treatment. It was a question near and dear to his heart so both Corey and Ms. Restoule researched the topic of cancer to discover some of the facts and myths. Corey’s unit in religion encouraged him to give back to those in need. Corey came up with a proposal to raise funds for cancer research which he presented to his principal, Mr. Guy Mathieu. The proposal was passed and Corey and his teacher began their fundraiser. In association with the Canadian Cancer Society, Corey has dedicated his lunch hours to the selling of rubber wristbands engraved with the school’s name. Each bracelet sells for $3.00 and during the first week, Corey has raised approximately $400.00. The fundraiser will continue until all wristbands are sold. Congratulations Corey and Ms. Restoule on your efforts to fighting such a worthy cause!
Continuing to Message the Importance of the Gift of Life
The entire student body at St. Charles College had the opportunity on Tuesday, April 18 to listen to a very simple, but powerful message – give the gift of life. Back in December, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board launched their Trillium Gift of Life Challenge and the school’s presentation was a continuation of this message. The Board challenged the Greater City of Sudbury to have over 50% of its residence register as organ donors and have since had several different events at their schools supporting this message. The student senate students organized assemblies at all four of the Board’s secondary schools to reiterate this most important initiative. On hand were several members of the Irish Heritage Club who spoke about their own involvement both personally and as a club with organ donation. As well, the students watched videos which reinforced the importance of donor registration. Jessie St. Amour, a former student of St. Charles College was also in attendance to support the cause and as both he and his mother Anne are organ recipients. Jessie’s father, Richard, also addressed group and spoke of his own connection and to reinforce the day’s theme of giving the gift of life. Student Senate member David DiBrina (grade 10) explained to the student body how this one simple act of donor registration can positively affect many, many lives. “It is so important for students to know much hope the gift of life gives to others and that we all need to be educated about how imperative registering and then talking to your family about your decision really is.” Teacher and Student Senate moderator Paola Gutcher reiterated DiBrina’s message. “It is key that students are the ones speaking to students about this most important cause as it is an issue that can happen to anyone as age is not a factor,” Gutcher stated. “It really is a simple act that can literally change the lives of many and I am so proud of our students both at St. Charles College and board-wide for taking up this cause with such passion and determination.” Board Chair Barry MacDonald echoed Gutcher’s comment. “I speak on behalf of the Board of Trustees when I say that we are most proud of our students and staff for embracing this mementous initiative and I encourage them to continue to dialogue with their friends and family to spread the word of the importance of organ donation.”
The students were informed that t-shirts are now available for sale at all four secondary schools to help raise awareness and funds for the Gift of Life challenge.
As well, students were encouraged to fill out registration forms for organ donation as they were being passed out in homeroom.
The student senate has several other events planned around this initiative in the upcoming months.
A link has been added to the main page on the Board’s website for those who wish to register right on line – visit www.sudburycatholicschools.ca to find the link.
One Student’s Trash is Another Student’s Treasure!
Students in teacher Todd Rayne’s Grade 5/6 class are working on a conservation project, but this one is pretty unique. These Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School students have decided to collect garbage. Rayne is the school’s Dearness Conservation Lead, and has had several conversations with the school’s staff about how the students could reduce their energy and water usage, as well as increase their recycling efforts. One of the things that Rayne noticed in his own classroom was how many school supplies were being swept up at the end of the day and thrown in the garbage. This is when the D.C. team decided to make some changes. Over the past fifty days, the grade 5/6 students have visited all the junior classrooms and collected all of the discarded and forgotten school supplies that would have otherwise been thrown in the garbage. The results after their collection were astounding. After the first weigh-in, he students recorded that they had collected over 10 pounds of school supplies. Instead of being thrown out, the collected supplies are now returned back to their classes to be reused. As well, the students have tracked all of their findings for each class on a spreadsheet so that each week and month they can take their data to help support their cause and show each class where they need improvement. The next step for the class is making the school aware of their findings. Through the use of student created podcasts played over morning announcements, the class teaches the student body about the importance of recycling and taking care of their belongings. “We started this because I was noticing a lot of discarded supplies in my own classroom,” Rayne said. “As the D.C. lead, I knew it was our responsibility to make others aware of the waste and by getting the students so involved, there is much more buy-in on their part. Now they have become the teachers for the rest of the school and it is a win-win situation as we have all become conservation champions!” The students will be continuing this project until the end of the school year along with several other conservation initiatives, and it is their hope that they can reduce the waste significantly, possibly even to a “zero pound” collection.