At St. Benedict CSS poetry comes alive as students follow the spoken-word tradition of oral literature from long ago. Performance poetry is a different art form from the usual printed version, and was the original method used by poets in Ancient Greece to reach audiences with their work. After a week of poetry writing, editing, polishing and practicing their delivery, they are ready to showcase their piece in front of attentive classmates, teacher and published poet Tanya Neumeyer using the same medium of ancient times. At the end of all their performances, the students involved were said to have graduated from Neumeyer’s week-long poetry course when they cried out unanimously “We did it!”.
Month: April 2012
“Egg-citing” Time for Young Students at St. Anne Catholic School
Over the past few weeks, the French immersion full day kindergarten students at St Anne Catholic school in Hanmer investigated a new inquiry about eggs. This inquiry allowed student’s in teacher Alice Desormeaux’s class to formulate different ideas about eggs. They realized that some eggs can be eaten and some eggs have chicks. They explored the possibilities that eggs can be all different sizes and cooked different ways. They cracked eggs, decorated eggs, and discussed the different egg textures.
On one day, they even experienced two visitors that joined their class for the afternoon. A parent brought in two, one day old chicks for the students to observe and hold. “The overwhelming response to their presence in our classroom was, ‘Can we keep them'”, said Alice Desormeaux, Kindergarten teacher. They were fascinated with the idea that these chicks had only hatched from their eggs the day before. They also learned that chicks need water, food, and heat to survive.
“The chicks were so cute,” said 4 year old Cameron O’Daiskey. “It’s so neat that they have a blue dot on their head to tell that they’re boys.”. Both chicks that visited had a blue marked dyed on the top of their head to indicate that they were male. The students were excited to see these chicks and have furthered their inquiry into the life cycle of a chicken.
Marymount Academy Student Wins Mining Week Poster Contest
Five grade 5-8 classes in the city had the opportunity to win a Discovery Mining tour April 30-May 4 through a poster contest for this year’s Sudbury Mining Week – and one of them was won by Hanna Knutson. Hanna, a grade 8 student at Marymount Academy was thrilled that she was one of the five contest winners. Her teacher, Debra Michaud, suggested to the class that they enter the contest, so Hanna figured she had nothing to lose by submitting an entry. “I love to draw,” Hanna quipped. “I gave it my all and am so glad my hard work paid off!” As a result of the win, Hanna’s classmates get to join her on a trip to Dynamic Earth on Monday, April 30th, as her prize. “It was so amazing to find out that I won,” Knutson stated. “And the fact that my whole class gets to enjoy the trip to Dynamic Earth with me makes it even better!” The theme of this year’s Mining Week is “Mining and Technology for the next generation.”
“Bullying is not Cool – Keep it out of our School!”
Three members of Canadian Half-Pints basketball team visited Immaculate Conception school recently. They spoke to the students and staff about how they were bullied in elementary and secondary schools. Farmer Pete shared with the students that he was teased and called names because of his size and appearance. He explained that he may look different, but he can still do everything any other person can do, including playing basketball. The Canadian Half Pint team spoke about the harmful effects of bullying to students and staff. After the presentation, the Canadian Half Pints played a half court basketball game againstt students and staff. Staff and students cheered on the Canadian Half Pints, and they couldn’t believe how many baskets they made. Principal Louisa Bianchin thanked the Canadian Half Pints for coming to the school and teaching them how “we all belong, we are all brothers and sisters, and together we are better.”
“Think fast” at Thinkfest
Grade 7 and 8 students from New Sudbury Catholic elementary schools recently had the opportunity to “think fast”. On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, these students took part in St. Charles College’s annual Thinkfest. For the seventh year in a row, teachers at S.C.C. organize a day of academic challenges for students from the feeder elementary schools. Teams are made up of six students – two grade 7, two grade 8 and two grade 9. Each team takes part in a series of academic events covering subjects including mathematics, science, English, pop culture, etc. S.C.C. teacher Mina Thornton has organized this event for the last several years and sets up the day with the help of her grade 10 enriched math class. “It is a great day for some of our elementary students to come over to St. Charles and get taste of what secondary school is all about,” Thornton stated. “ It provides students with an opportunity not only to represent their school with the academic competition, but also provides an opportunity to meet students from other Sudbury Catholic elementary schools who will be attending St. Charles College with them in a year. This way, they will recognize some familiar faces when they are here in grade 9, making their transition to secondary even easier.”
The day’s events end with awards for top teams and top marks.
Poetry Slam at St. Benedict
St. Benedict grade 9 students Fraser MacLeod and Dennis Leblanc listen to the rules of poetry competition as given by professional performance poet Tanya Neumeyer. One parameter is that the performance is timed, so students run the risk of being penalized if their poetry is too short or runs too long. During this poetry battle their classmates enjoyed actively participating as judges giving points for delivery, while other students got to cheer, clap or snap their fingers if they liked the score given or ‘boo’ if they disagreed with a low score. Poetry slams are now a widespread form of popular poetry.
Sudbury Catholic Students to Take Part in Walk for a Second Chance- April 28
Student from all four Sudbury Catholic Secondary Schools will be taking part in the Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury’s Walk for a Second Chance on April 28th, 2012. This walk is organized to support organ donation awareness and the Gift of Life which is an initiative that is fully supported by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and its students. On December 13, 2010, the Board launched its own challenge to the Greater City of Sudbury to be the first city in the province of Ontario to have 50% or more of its residents be registered organ and tissue donors, and have continued to spread the word to schools and the community about the importance of organ donation. Catherine McCullough, SCDSB Director of Education is very proud of Sudbury for embracing this initiative. “I am very proud of our Board for partnering with the Trillium Gift of Life Network for this very important initiative, and I encourage the entire community to join us in this challenge – to not only have Sudbury reach or even surpass the 50% registration for city-wide donation in Ontario, but more importantly, to recognize that there is no greater gift than the gift of life.”
David Dibrina, Sudbury Catholic Student Trustee, has been working with the Irish Heritage Club of Sudbury to continue to keep organ donation awareness a priority with students. “Organ donation is so important in saving the lives of others,” Dibrina stated. “It truly is one of the most selfless acts that we can do that can positively impact so many people. Students need to make sure they are registered (beadonor.ca) and talk to their families so that they know what their wishes are.”
The walk will take place on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the Bell Park Amphitheatre, Sudbury.
This is a walk for organ donation awareness and there are no monetary pledges.
For more information, please call (705)566-1328, or contact David Dibrina at St. Charles College at (705)566-9605.
Free Writing at St. Benedict
St. Benedict grade 9 students, including their English teacher Mr. Closs celebrate April as Poetry month by work on a ‘free writing’ exercise. Free-writing involves self-expression by keeping your pen moving continuously for a short period of time without concern for spelling, grammar or neatness. This technique helped students to collect ideas on paper which later lead to more formal pieces of poetry writing. Both students and teacher were inspired by a spoken-word workshops given by visiting Toronto-based poet Tanya Neumeyer.
Dog-Bite Prevention at St. David Catholic Elementary School
Sudbury District Kennel Club’s Bite Prevention Program and St. David Catholic School worked in partnership to teach students about fear biting and aggressive biting dogs. The grade 2/3 and 4/5 classes learned how to approach a dog, what to do if they are being chased by a dog, and how to protect themselves if they are ever attacked by a dog. This presentation is highly recommended to all teachers and students.