The students in the Grade 2 class at St. Bernadette Catholic School sported crowns on Friday, February 10, in honour of the 100th day of school. Superintendent Rossella Bagnato visited the students during their 100th day math lesson where students were able to use one of the new document cameras to interactively work through fun-filled math activities involving the number 100. The entire day was filled with a host of celebratory 100th day activities such as doing jumping jacks, skipping and hula hoop fun each for 100 seconds at a time!
“It was a very exciting way to tie in all of our learning successes to date with the 100th day of school!” stated teacher Jenny Aubin. “The students were enthusiastic and they are eagerly looking forward to the next 100 days of school”.
Month: February 2012
“Beyond the Hurt” Program at Bishop ACCSS Recognized by Education Minister
On Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School participated in a teleconference with Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School in Toronto and the Honourable Minister of Education Laurel Broten on the topic of Mental Health and the dynamics of bullying and harassment in secondary schools.
Bishop Alexander Carter had the opportunity to speak about their school program, “Beyond the Hurt”. Bishop Alexander Carter is a safer school community because of the Beyond the Hurt team. The team led by two teachers Heather Duguay and Shelley Raymond and currently 10 Bishop students, seeks to raise awareness of bullying and harassment while providing a supportive environment for youth.
The dialogue was purposeful and helped to support the direction of the group for future endeavours.
Local Educators Team Up to Provide Students with an Authentic, Educational, Northern Ontario Experience
Killarney Outdoor Education Instructor, Bradley Blackwell, and local grade 5/6 St. David Catholic School teacher, Leo McLaughlin, worked as a team to plan and co-ordinate an authentic Northern Ontario experience for Mr. McLaughlin’s grade 5/6 class – a full day ice fishing at Perch Lake. Both teachers, avid outdoorsmen, thought it important to offer students this curriculum based, beyond the indoor classroom learning experience. St. David Catholic School is located in the heart of Sudbury. The students are from the Donovan, Flour Mill and Louis Street areas.
According to Blackwell, “in planning this ice fishing field trip we based it on our teaching philosophy, which is that our students learn best by doing. They need the opportunity to discover the outdoors and be in nature. They feel better about themselves when they work as a team and see each other having fun while accomplishing a task. Before we went on our ice fishing excursion we covered such topics as outdoor ethics, ice and winter safety and environmental responsibility. We invited a local First Nation Elder to share the teachings of traditional harvesting and protection of animal species for the next generation. Mr. McLaughlin ensured the trip was connected to the Ontario curriculum by teaching about states of matter, fish biology, the food chain and biodiversity.”
The students spent the day at Perch Lake with parents, community volunteers and teachers and learned the most valuable lesson of all: “a Northern Ontario winter can be a beautiful, diverse, and inspiring classroom for all learners”.
Something Interesting for Show-and-Tell!
Noah Knapp-Taillefer – a student in the Early Learning French Immersion class at St. Francis has something really cool to share with his class. For show-and-tell, Noah brought in an x-ray, one that showed off a quarter in his stomach! After a quick visit to the hospital, all was well and Noah thought that his adventure and x-ray would be a great story to share with his friends. Angele Lachance, Noah’s teacher, thought this would be a great opportunity to talk to her students about the dangers of putting objects in their mouths as well as the process of how food is digested through the body. “He was quite proud to talk about his adventure,” Lachance stated. “And we figured what a great segue into safety tips and the human body and how it works – it was an exciting show-and-tell for sure!”
St. James Hosts JK Registration Night
Prospective JK students and their families enjoyed a variety of stations at the Kindergarten registration evening held on February 7th at St. James Catholic School in Lively. The up and coming JKers experienced a glimpse into school life by participating in a wide variety of activities; such as hands-on Smart Board activities, playing with gym equipment, and visiting and exploring the Kindergarten classrooms.
Daily Physical Activity – Northern Style!
Well January may have had it’s fair share of snow days and snow storms, but that did not stop St. Mary Catholic Elementary School School students from braving the weather. They hit the ground running or shall we saying skiing and snowshoeing on several crisp days in January.
Some of the kindergarten students had opportunities to enjoy their first experiences with snowshoeing and the grade 1,2,3 classes learned the steps to cross country skiing. “We are fortunate enough to live in the North where we have opportunities to engage in these types of winter activities,” said teacher Becky Waern. “ We have to take advantage of the snow and winter weather because it will be gone before we know it, “ said teacher Dante Merigioli.
So taking advantage of the winter weather is exactly what they did, and they had a fabulous time doing so! The students not only explored the trails behind their school in Capreol, but they learned how to ski and snowshoe while on their expeditions.
St. John’s Families E.A.T.!
On February 1st, the Sudbury and District Health Unit and St. John Catholic Elementary School came together to offer an informative and tasty evening for families called E.A.T. (Eat Healthy, Anaphylaxis Awareness and Take and Taste). The SDHU began the evening with a presentation on allergies and anaphylaxis awareness. Families then sampled a variety of tasty, nutritious and nut-free lunch items such as egg salad pitas, veggie wraps, snack mix, fennel salad and black bean brownies. Students and their families explored new fruits such as papaya, mango, star fruit and grapples. There were interactive games for the children and recipes for the parents!
Learning to Make Every Penny Count
Two teachers at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School decided to join forces. JK/SK teacher Cheryl MacRury and Grade 7 teacher Kathy Belanger decided they wanted to get their students involved in a community action project, and figured they would have more of an impact if they worked together. The teachers applied for a grant with the Canadian Teacher’s Federation and were successful, allowing them the opportunity to bring their project to life. Both classes decided that they wanted to help animals, specifically the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge. The two classes split the grant money and put it towards a different part of the project. The grade seven students decided to purchase digital cameras so that they could document their project and put together multimedia projects to showcase their progress. The JK/SK class decided that they would take some field trips to the shelter itself so that they could learn more about the animals they are hoping to help. In order to get their project started, the classes decided to visit local businesses and organizations in their community, and if allowed, leave donation cans in support of their project. All they were asking for were people’s pennies. Several businesses immediately jumped on board. After the first collection, they very quickly they realized that their penny collection was going to be a great teaching tool for their students. Every few weeks, the students gather together in one classroom and break off into groups of a few grade seven students and one JK/SK student. Each student is then given a pile of pennies that have been collected and the older students guide the younger student in counting out 50 “penny piles”. “Peer learning is such a great teaching tool for our students,” Belanger commented. “The older students become mentors for the young students and each look forward to our meetings as they enjoy learning from each other!” So far, the students have collected and counted over $70 in pennies over the last couple of months.
“Our students are not only learning numeracy, they are also learning literacy, technology, the importance of compassion, community and virtues.” Stated MacRury. The two classes will continue to meet on a regular basis to tally their collections right into June. The Grade 7 students will then have the opportunity to showcase their media presentations to the rest of the school. The group is hoping not only to donate funds to the shelter, but also donate much needed items like food and cleaning supplies.
“The dedication and hard work of our staff is second to none,” Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board stated. “These kinds of projects really engage our students, and allow them to see beyond the classroom. These are important life lessons that are a foundation for success in life.”
Students at St. David School Welcome Messages of Anti-Bullying and Restorative Justice
Chad Solomon, local artist and author of the graphic novel series, “Rabbit and Bear Paws” presented a series of interactive workshops to the students of St. David School. The sessions were based in restorative justice and advocating for a bully free school environment. Chad Solomon is a member of the Henvey Inlet, First Nation. His grandfather Art Solomon, was a traditional healer and justice activist. Mr. Solomon told stories of his grandfather to the students, always with the hint of laughter and his life lessons learned.
The restorative justice sessions were interactive workshops using the puppets, “Rabbit”, “Bear Claw” and “Strawberry”. The students became the puppeteers and were able to discover how to resolve bullying using restorative justice practices. Mr. Solomon also worked with the intermediate students at St. David Catholic School to help them create a graphic novel page based on the Seven Grandfather Teachings of love, wisdom, respect, humility, truth, bravery, and honesty. Mr. Solomon encouraged students to recall their own personal experiences and use their imagination when creating stories. According to Tara Theriault, the school’s Child and Youth Worker, “It was a great day for the students of St. David School. They heard a message that promotes equality, understanding and respect. Mr. Solomon used humour as a tool when he worked with our students and they really enjoyed the day and walked away being inspired to make a difference”.