Last month 15 students from St. Charles College went on the vacation of a lifetime. From April 12 – 20, 2013, as part of the school’s Specialist High Skills Major (S.H.S.M.) in Health and Wellness, these students, accompanied by two teachers, had the opportunity to visit the country of Guatemala to work with a restoration group in local communities. Based on the belief that “if you can keep a community environmentally healthy, you can keep the community physically healthy” teacher Tim Kingshott led the students to support the Chico Mendez Project which is a non-profit organization based out of Guatemala which works towards reforestation of the forests, the provision of environmental education, and the generation of oxygen for the world. The students helped collect soil and loam to mix and prep for the next round of trees that were scheduled to be planted in the areas they visited.
As well as the community service, another aspect of their trip was a homestay with a family from Guatemala. Each student had the opportunity to live with a Guatemalan family and experience their traditional culture.
In order to prepare for this trip, the students were required to learn the basics of First Aid, as well as travel and health/safety. The group even learned a little Spanish in order to support their communication skills during their adventure.
Kingshott, who is also an outdoor education teacher, organized many hikes, and other outdoor activities including ziplining. “This is the fourth year I have brought St. Charles College students to another country for the S.H.S.M. in Health and Wellness,” Kingshott stated. “Four years ago I took students to Ecuador, then Costa Rica, then Belize and this year Guatemala. It is such a life changing opportunity for these grade 11 and 12 students as they take part in real hands on learning. At the end of these trips, they take away skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. These experiences are history and learning based, curriculum based, and most importantly adventure based – all the while pushing the students beyond their comfort zone – there is no better way to learn!”
Month: May 2013
Students and Staff to Return to St. John School in Garson
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that students and staff of St. John Catholic school on Second Avenue will be returning to their home on 181 William Street in Garson effective March 1, 2004. The move was announced following a “walk through”of the school by the Chairperson of the Catholic School Council, the school’s principal and representatives from the Catholic school council, teaching staff, Stantec, Health and Safety as well as the Facility Services Department of the Board on February 9, 2004.
“Although the official results regarding air and mould testing will not be ready until February 23, 2004, the Board has every reason to believe that the test results will be favourable and that the move will take place as planned on March 1,” stated Rossella Bagatto, Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. Bagatto also reaffirmed that some renovations to the school are now complete which include new steel cladding, new windows on the entire older sections of the school and four large air exchangers to supply clean fresh air to all classrooms. Other renovations that may be needed will be completed in the near future. “The Board will be notifying students and parents regarding busing schedules as soon as possible. Now that all areas of concern have been addressed, we are looking forward to having our students and staff return to their home in Garson,”concluded Bagatto in the Board’s News Release.
Taking the Pledge at St. Charles College
On Tuesday, May 28, almost one thousand students at Sudbury’s largest secondary school – St Charles College – signed a pledge to end drinking and driving. The pledge banner was sponsored by several local businesses and provided for the school by the Impact 6/21 Foundation.
The Foundation was developed by the parents, family and friends of three Greater Sudbury teens were run over and killed in the wee hours of Father’s Day, 2009.
The parents of Jazmine Houle, Steven Phillippe and Caitlin Jelley also spoke at the presentation.
The Impact 6/21 provided the students with a hard hitting presentation complete with a police presence and a first hand account from the first witness on the scene of that tragic accident four years ago.
The presentation hits close to home because Caitlin Jelley attended St. Charles College when she was killed. She would have graduated last year.
St. Charles College Student Takes Top Writing Prize and Becomes a Published Author
Emily McCarthy has worked tirelessly to take the top prize in The Learning Partnership’s Turning Points Essay Contest this year.
Each year, the essay contest forces students to explore their character development through the use of literacy.
McCarthy’s personal essay of 500-700 words reflects on how individuals deal with conflict in their lives and how that changes them to become different people.
She shared the story of her cousin who died in 2009 and how she went through a dark stage in her life. To overcome the darkness, she turned to her family and found a better relationship with God.
This is a first-time win for Emily and for her school, St. Charles College.
Ms. Lindsay Morris, her English teacher from first semester says “Emily deserves this honour. As a class, we did a lot of legwork to make the students really think about who they are inside. Emily did many drafts, and worked so hard to take each revision of her work seriously. I would give her tips and the next day she would come back with an entire re-write.”
Emily will receive a cheque and a plaque for all her hard work. She will also have her work formally published.
St. Francis Students Celebrate the Month of Mary
During the month of May, grade 3 and 4 students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School are celebrating the Month of Mary. Students are learning about Jesus’ mother Mary and the special role she had in His life. Each student was given their own rosary from their teacher, Ms. Graziella Visentin, to keep and use during daily morning prayers on the announcements and prayer after lunch in class. Students are developing an appreciation of the rosary as a special way of praying to God that honours Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As students recite the prayers of the rosary, students will reflect on certain stories in the lives of Jesus and Mary. The class is developing a greater awareness that Jesus will be with them in the joyful times of their lives and in times that are sorrowful. The events from the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries are reminders of this as students learn that the rosary can also be used to pray during Advent, Lent and during Ordinary Time in the liturgical year.
Mental Health – It Can No Longer Be Ignored
Students and staff at St. Charles Catholic School welcomed a great guest speaker: Paul Perry, Mental health nurse with CCAC and the SCDSB. They participated in an interesting session on anxiety and mental health. The information was delivered to students in grades 7 and 8, bringing messages of awareness, hope and where resources can be obtained.
St. David School Rocks!
Cold temperatures, rain, sleet and snow did not stop St. David’s Roaring Runners from participating in Sunday’s “Sudbury Rocks- Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes”. St. David Catholic School students have been training for the past couple of months for this race. Through their after school running club, they learned about healthy food choices, how to prepare healthy meals and snacks, the importance of daily physical activities to a healthy lifestyle and how to pace yourself when running in a race. They learned about diabetes and raised money for the charity at school. Local community volunteers ran with the students in the 1 km Sudbury Rocks Race because their teacher and coach, Terri Lynn Lepage, was herself running the half marathon.
“It was a wonderful experience for our students and all of us adult volunteers. It was cold and wet, but we had a great time. Once they started to run, we did not hear a single complaint about the weather. I think this experience has become a great memory for our students and I think there is a very good chance we’ll be back next year!” stated St. David Catholic School Principal, Dawn Wemigwans.
Come Read With Me at St. Charles
During Catholic Education Week at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School, families in the Mme Martin’s JKFI, Mme Daoust’s SKFI and Mrs. Malafarina’s JK/SKR classes came together for a “Come Read with Me” day. At this engaging and hands on session, parents received tips about reading with their children and the importance of oral language. Mme Martin then modelled a read aloud and parents then selected a book from the teacher’s bins of favorites or guided reading books that the students are using and practiced the strategies they learned.
Teachers posted examples of student work around the room that showed parents how picture books are used in all subject areas as a rich and purposeful resource. Parents did a gallery walk to see the artifacts that students created throughout the school year using these books.
Families left with their own read aloud book, an activity, tips sheet for reading at home and a bookmark with reading strategies for young readers.
Soccer Opportunities at St. Benedict
A group of grade 10 students enroled in the school’s soccer focus class from St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School recently had the opportunity to watch a professional match between Toronto FC and Montreal Impact at BMO field in downtown Toronto. Students at St. Benedict can register for this phys-ed soccer-focused course to learn and experience the various aspects of soccer – from playing, to training, to coaching, to refereeing, to nutrition, to strategy, and so on. In the photo, soccer class students with teacher and “A” license coach, Giuseppe Politi, pose at the entrance gate of the stadium.