A new pilot program was launched on Tuesday, April 29 at St. Charles College to help Aboriginal students develop business and entrepreneurial skills. Minister of Education Liz Sandals was on hand to reveal the details of the program as the province partners with the Paul Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative to support Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship.
The students will learn how to develop a business plan and create product or service based business.Jason Michelutti and Paola Gutscher will spearhead the grade 11/12 program at St. Charles College.
Gutscher says “the critical goal of the program is to improve attendance and increase student confidence levels.”Michelutti says he’s eager to get started and wants to get the students “thinking like business owners”.
About fifteen students are already enroled in the program which will commence September 2014.
Month: April 2014
Spring Is Popping Out All Over St. Anne
The Grade 2/3 students at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Hanmer are anxiously waiting for spring to arrive. They constructed some bird nests out of thread and sugar water. When they came back to school the next day, their nests had sprouted new life. What a great way to start the Easter season!
St. Francis Students – Stewards of the Earth
Grade 2 & 3 students in teacher Graziella Visentin’s class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School learned about their carbon footprint as part of their Earth Day activities. Understanding the effects of our carbon footprint helped the students deepen their sensitivity and connection to a special virtue celebrated this month-Stewardship. Students read a variety of information books and researched ways to be good stewards of the earth by reducing, reusing and recycling resources. The students designed buttons to wear and promote their friendly Earth Day message to others. The class also created a book with student tips on how to reduce our carbon footprint on the earth. Ideas included walking to a nearby destination, riding their bicycles more often, donating used clothing, planting trees and composting.
St. Charles Elementary School Volunteers Recognized as Champions for Children
On Wednesday, April 24, a special group of people from St. Charles Catholic Elementary were recognized for their dedication to the school. The 2014 Volunteer awards for the Champions for Children were handed out by Our Children Our Future at an awards celebration and the volunteers for the school’s snack program won the group award for this event.
Vice Principal, Laura Stirrett explained that several days a week, the group of volunteers come in to wash, prepare the snacks, serve them to the students and wash up afterwards. They know that having a nutritious start to the day will help the students succeed. While most students do come to school with some form of snack, their eyes light up when the volunteers arrive with trays of fruit, vegetables and crackers arranged with the loving touch of a mom. Thanks to their unwavering support students are moved from a potential disadvantage to an advantage. “At St. Charles School, we are very lucky to have a core group of volunteers who run our Healthy Snack Program! Running a program like this takes a real dedication to the well-being of our students” says David Soehner, Principal. “We are very fortunate to have this group of ladies volunteer at our school, which is why we nominated them for this award”.
One of the award recipients, Kristine Belanger explained,” It is all about the children, and making sure they are happy and fed. Not everyone is as fortunate to have enough to eat every day so it is wonderful to see how excited the kids get when they get to experience different foods and are happy because they have had something nutritious to eat!”
Professional Learning to Support Aboriginal Education at Sudbury Catholic
In adherence to the Ontario First Nation, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board continues to support strategies which are based on a holistic and integrated approach to improving Aboriginal student achievement and well being.
The school board believes that it is important that each of our Catholic schools have the opportunity to effectively analyze relevant Aboriginal student data and determine next steps to better support Aboriginal student success.
To facilitate this process, the school board provided the opportunity for all school teams to participate in professional learning opportunities on April 22 and 23. These professional learning communities included both a cultural and historic component as well as the opportunity to dialogue as individual school teams about confidential Aboriginal self identification, student achievement and well being. Each school team received school based, up to date Aboriginal student data and resources to support Aboriginal student engagement and improved academic outcomes.
Rossella Bagnato, the Sudbury Catholic School’s Aboriginal Lead and Superintendent for School Effectiveness stated, “We know that is very important that our staff continue this professional learning discussion within their school communities. These conversations will certainly assist and support Sudbury Catholic Schools staff to aspire to meet the needs of all of our students.”
Bookie Monsters at St. John
After 7 months of preparation, The St. John’s “Bookie Monsters” are proud of their third place finish at The Battle of the Books Competition held on April 23rd at Tom Davies Community Centre in Lively. Furthermore, the team won the spirit award thanks to the quick thinking of Mrs. Roque, teacher and Bookie Monster parent, who created the team cheer on the spot! Coaches Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Walker are very proud of James Roque, Ashley Ross, Lauren Carlson, Avery Hoffman, Madison Michalowicz, and Aidan Gardner.
St. James Supports Daffodil Week
During the month of April, St. James Catholic Elementary School held a “Daffodil Week” to raise money for cancer research. Students and staff brought in over $700! Pictured are members of the student council (C3) with teacher and campaign organizer Tammy Lanci, as they present the cheque to Cathy Burns, a representative from the Canadian Cancer Society.
St. Raphael Students Soar at Kiwanis
St. Raphael Catholic Elementary Life Skills students competed at the Kiwanis Music Festival this year. Living Rhythm, the name of the group, won a gold medal for their performance of the percussion ensemble piece “Earth Happiness” written by their musical director Jeff Stewart. They were notified recently that the group was also recommended for a second award. On Monday, April 14,2014, at the final concert of the Kiwanis Festival, they were given the Muriel E. Holford Memorial Award, a $75 award in the memory of Muriel E. Holford.
Muriel was a piano teacher near Ottawa in her younger years and staunch supporter of music festivals throughout her life. In the 1960s she played a huge role in the coordination of the Onaping-Levack Music Festival. She was always a strong supporter of the Kiwanis Music Festival in Sudbury. Her children all participated in the festival and, when she passed away she left a large sum of money to be given as yearly awards to the Kiwanis Festival. Mrs. Holford’s daughter assured the group that her mother would be very pleased to know that Living Rhythm won this award.
The Next Great Invention
The Terrific 3/4’s and Fantastic 4/5’s at St. James Catholic Elementary School recently participated in an Invention Convention. They began by researching and writing a biography about a famous inventor. This inspired students to create their own invention that makes life a little easier. It culminated with a day to share and demonstrate their inventions with the rest of the school. Colin is showing off he’s Hot Dog Cooker. Who doesn’t need an easier way to cook a hot dog. Be on the look out for some of their amazing products at a store near you!