The entire student body of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School has much to be proud of. Over the past couple of weeks, the students have rallied to kick off the Mackenzie Rooney Memorial Scholarship Fund. Mackenzie Rooney was a Bishop Alexander CSSS student who passed away last year. The students and staff wanted to do something in Mackenzie’s name to keep her legacy alive.
Beginning with a pep rally hosted by the New Hot 93.5’s G-rant – the students were challenged to raise $20,000, and proceeded to raise as much money as they could through a series of fundraisers and community canvassing. To end off the event, the students, joined by Mackenzie’s parents, participated in a memorial walk from the Metro parking lot in Valley East back to their school – approximately 8.3 km. All donning pink toques as it was Mackenzie’s favourite colour, the students were led by staff from Zumba-Vibe for a pre-walk warm up, and then the Greater Sudbury Police Services escorted the group back to their school. Once they had returned, the students enjoyed a barbeque and revealed the grand total raised to go towards the fund.
“For our students to have raised well-over $16,000 for this fund is absolutely incredible,” Cassandra MacGregor, Principal of the school explained. “The entire Bishop ACCSS community united together for a great cause, and I am so proud of their efforts. I am sure that Mackenzie would be just as proud. I am so privileged to work with such an incredible staff, and with such an enthusiastic and passionate group of students.”
Month: October 2013
Everyday They’re Shuffling
In secondary school, a culminating wrap-up assignment can look like something that is done with a pen and paper or it can be a little more active and impacting.
That’s why the St. Charles College grade 9 girls’ physical education class run by teachers Chantal Dagostino and Sean Gilroy is training to participate in the Salvation Army’s Santa Shuffle Fun Run and Elf Walk.
Almost forty of the students have been training hard for what they are calling the “First Annual SCC Back to Basics Run/Walk/Santa Shuffle”.
The class has also teamed up with teacher Beverly Belanger’s Leadership class. The students are promoting active living as well as supporting the Salvation Army women and Families of Sudbury to make Christmas a possibility for everyone.
Dagostino says “the aim is to start a yearly trend as well as have 100 participants including staff members and students take part this year alone. This way their culminating activity in this class is far-reaching.”
Career Presentations at St. Andrew
St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School welcomed Michelle Tonner to the school as part of a career presentation to grade 4,5, and 6 students. Students learned about what is involved with being a media journalist and the many varied jobs that are available in the area of television and news reporting. The students are looking at careers that they might like to pursue in the future. A few more career presentations are planned in the months to come.
Paper Airplanes and Space
On Friday, Oct. 18th, students at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School joined Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield in kicking off National Science and Technology Week by participating in a Canada-wide Science lesson. The Gr. 2 students folded 3 sets of airplanes and adapted the wings for each model in order to simulate gravity and atmosphere on Earth, the Moon and Mars. Each student then had an opportunity to test all three paper airplanes and compared the flight distance for each model. This was a day when making paper airplanes in class definitely did not break the class rules!
Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School Principal “Arrested” for School Fundraiser
On Wednesday, October 23, Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School principal Cassandra MacGregor was taken away in handcuffs by their school liaison officer, Victor LaRoux. As part of the school’s memorial fundraiser for Mackenzie Rooney (a BACCSS student who passed away on August 6, 2012 at the age of 16), MacGregor was met at the school by LaRoux, handcuffed and taken to the Greater Sudbury Police Station and booked. MacGregor had to raise at least $1000 in order to be release as part of her own fundraising challenge for the fundraiser. By the end of the day, MacGregor suppassed her goal of $1000 by collecting $$1243.15 to add to the school’s collective total as the students and staff have been canvassing their neighbourhoods for the past week. The group is capping off this fundraising drive on Tuesday, October 29 with a entire school Zumba session in the Hanmer Metro parking lot and then just over an 8 km walk back to the school. The students will be joined that day by Mackenzie Rooney’s parents.
Open House at St. Joseph
On Wednesday, October 23rd, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School hosted an open house for the Killarney Community and parents. The Catholic School Council put together a luncheon for the community in the school gym during the lunch hour. Soup and sandwiches were prepared and served to grandparents, relatives, and community members who were able to visit the school for lunch.
St. James Students Shear Locks for Cancer
Mr. and Mrs. Derro are very proud of their two daughters. Alyssa, 10, and in Grade 5, and little sister Ava, 8, in Grade 3, had 10 inches cut from their long dark locks in front of their peers at St. James Catholic Elementary School. The girls decided together to go door-to-door raising money for the Sam Bruno PET Scan Fund in exchange for their promise to cut their hair. They also decided to donate their locks to a good cause. Congratulations Alyssa and Ava, St. James is proud of you too !
Don’t bet with Scared Money
A free gambling awareness theatre production hit the stage at St. Charles College on October 23, 2013. The presentation is supported by the Responsible Gaming Council and explores online gambling, gaming and cyber bullying.
The production hones in on the lives of young adults who are trying to start a band, hold down jobs and live their lives with money they don’t necessarily have at their fingertips. One of the characters ends up betting with “Scared Money” which refers to money you don’t have at your fingertips.
The production is touring Northern Ontario this month and the crew has made stops in Moose Factory, Moosonee, Timmins and now Sudbury.
The production explores online gambling, gaming and cyber bullying with the characters trying to live their lives, hold down jobs and work on a career in the music industry.
Grade 11 and 12 students at St. Charles College attended the presentation and afterwards they were treated to a game show that questioned them on their learning.
Regals Find Strength in the “Power of Being a Girl”
All grade 8 students from Marymount Academy were invited to the Steelworkers Hall on October 18 for a full day conference. Organized by the YWCA Sudbury, the students took part in the annual “Power of Being a Girl” conference that provides girls with the opportunity to discuss topics of interest including healthy relationships, communication, body image and decision making. Lori Holden, vice principal of Marymount Academy feels it is a great day for the students to learn about themselves and help build their confidence and personal awareness. “This is such a great event for our students to help them build skills for positive self esteem and increase healthy and productive attitudes,” explained Holden. “It allows the girls to feel empowered and increase their independence. With Marymount being an all-girl school, we recognize the importance of building these skills to support the development of our students to becoming strong, independent, confident women.” Several students in grades 10, 11 and were selected to be trained to become mentors for the conference, and they attended a one day training session on October 5 to learn how to help support the younger students with their discussions and questions. On the day of the conference, the students worked through three separate workshops, which included the Power of Body Image – Media and Identity, the Power in Relationships, and the Power of Words. Several students from grade 8 at St. Raphael and St. Francis Catholic Elementary Schools were also invited to take part in the one day conference.