Sudbury Catholic District School Board

SCDSB Students Soar at Canada Wide Science Fair

SCDSB regional science fair winners spent 8 days in Windsor competing at the Canada Wide Science Fair, accompanied by teachers Loretta Cuda and Melissa Talevi recently. They competed againstt 463 students from across Canada.
Marymount students Hailey Mackenzie and Dayna Rachkowski won the Resource Award for developing a better way to use natural resources that provide sustainable sources of food, products or prosperity for their project titled “Aquaponics”
Marymount students Alex Millar and Marika Moskalyk won an Excellence Award – Silver Medal for their project titled “Green Gold: Phytoremediation of the Long Lake Gold Mine”.
St. James student Marina Leblanc won an Excellence Award – Bronze Medal for her project titled “Cold Feet”.

Picture: l-r
Marika Moskalyk, Alex Millar, Marina Leblanc, (teacher)Loretta Cuda, (teacher) Melissa Talevi, Dayna Rachkowski, Hailey Mackenzie

“Welcome to Kindergarten” at St. David School

The Welcome to Kindergarten Program at St. David Catholic School was held on Wednesday May 21 in the school’s gymnasium. The program was designed for families and their children who will be entering kindergarten in September 2014. Families and children attended mini literacy and numeracy workshops with their new teachers. All families received early literacy resources as part of the “Welcome to Kindergarten Program” and learned strategies for using these resources at home with their children.

St. David School kindergarten teachers and the school principal were very excited to meet their new students. The teachers explained the school’s new full day kindergarten program. In September 2014, kindergarten students will participate in structured play-based learning. As students play, they learn about the world and how it works. They will learn social skills as well as academic skills. All children will have nutrition breaks and opportunities for small group and independent learning. The new kindergarten program capitalizes on student’s natural curiosity and their desire to make sense of their environment. Mrs. Michel, one of the school’s kindergarten teachers said, “through exploration, imagination and inquiry our hope is that our new students will be excited about their learning”.

The Aboriginal Best Start HUB, Better Beginnings, Better Futures After School Program and the Sudbury Health Unit all ran stations during the afternoon session. The Aboriginal Best Start HUB will be running a “School Readiness Program“ starting on June 9, 2014. All students interested in participating in this program are asked to call 705-688-1941and ask for Eileen or Tiffany. Space is limited in this program, so any interested participants are encouraged to call as soon as possible.

“St. David School is proud to host such a welcoming, diverse afternoon for families and new kindergarten students. We hope the hope the community enjoyed it as much as we did” stated school principal, Dawn Wemigwans.

Former Director of Education Visits St. Andrew

Junior students and staff at St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School were entertained with great career choice stories from the former Director of Education Mrs. Zandra Zubac. Mrs. Zubac shared stories of various members of her family and their journeys to find their career paths. Her brother in law was a mining engineer who later became patent lawyer and her son had dreams of being an NHL hockey player however went to Ottawa U and then became a machinist, electrician and is now a high school teacher. She encouraged the students to know themselves and what they like and try different things. She also encouraged students to always read even if it is instructions or on line information.

ST. BENEDICT BUSINESS BEARS tackle the WINDY CITY in 2014!

A group of 29 students and 3 chaperones from the St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Business Studies program visited Chicago, Ilinois, USA from May 14-18, 2014. Along with visiting the downtown business district and the DePaul University School of Business, the group also took in many tourist attractions such as: Cloud Gate, Willis Tower, Chicago Cubs baseball, Holy Name Cathedral, Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue, and guided boat & bus tours. The group was led by teachers Gino Posteraro and Giuseppe Politi. To attend the trip, students must have been enroled in at least one business studies course. In 2013, the Business Studies program visited New York City. It already has plans to visit Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts in May 2015.

New Director Hired for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board

The Sudbury Catholic Trustees are pleased to announce that they have selected a new Director for their Board. Mrs. Joanne Bénard is the successful Directorial candidate, and joins the Board from her current position as Superintendent of Education with the Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board in North Bay, where she has held her position since 2001. Joanne graduated from the University of Ottawa and Nippissing University and holds a Masters of Education degree. Effective July 1, Joanne will be replacing Catherine McCullough who has served as Director for seven years.

“Throughout her career, Joanne has consistently demonstrated her very strong leadership skills, and the fact that she leads with integrity and compassion,” says Jody Cameron, Chair of the Board. “Joanne’s outstanding accomplishments, and connection to her board, community and province makes it quite evident that she will be a huge asset to our already strong senior administration team, as well as the entire Sudbury Catholic community.”

Under her direction as Superintendent, Joanne has led several programs including Kindergarten to Grade 12 supervision, French as a Second Language, Early Learning, Board Leadership and Development Strategies, Parent Engagement, and Equality and Inclusive Education.

In her community, Joanne has been involved with numerous organizations including serving on the Board of Directors for the North Bay and District Multicultural Centre, is Chair of the Nippssing, Parry Sound Student Support Leadership Committee and is Chair of the Crown Ward Championship Team of Parry Sound and Muskoka. Provincially, Joanne serves as the Chair of the Ontario Institute for Educational Leadership (her second term) and also is a part of both the Principal Workload Study Group as well as the French as a Second Language Provincial Working Group.

“I am truly honoured and privileged to have the opportunity of working with the Board of Trustees in serving the students, parents and staff of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.” said Joanne Bénard. “I look forward to building upon the Board’s solid foundation in building schools focused on academic excellence and student success.”

Unleashing the “Inner Bear” and Spreading Kindness

Students at St. Charles College were treated to a concert like no other the morning of May 20.   The kindness concert spread the message of being the change and changing the world with simple and random acts of kindness.

The act got even more interesting when the cast and crew called up SCC teacher Mr. Kingshott to release “his inner bear” with a cardio aerobics routine.  The purpose was to release his inner bear and then share good news and kindness with the world. 

The presentation was put on by Live Different.  Its motto is “Kindness Changes Everything”.

Yellowfish Road at Bishop ACCSS

Bishop Alexander Carter is participating in Trout Unlimited Canada’s Yellowfish Road Program to educate and remind our community about their responsibility to reduce storm-water pollution.

Bishop students are taking a stand and becoming leaders in the community by informing people in the Valley about the pollution that enters our local bodies of water through the storm drains.

The students have painted yellow fish beside the storm drains near their school with the message “rainwater Only”. This is to remind community members of their responsibility to reduce storm water pollution which is one of the largest sources of freshwater pollution. People often forget that water from their drive-ways, yards and sidewalks, are washed into storm drains and re-enter our rivers, streams and creeks. This means that any chemicals used or spilled make their way to local fishing holes, beaches, well systems, etc. Students also hung yellow fish-shaped brochures on doors in the neighbourhood to better inform the public of these issues.

The City of Greater Sudbury also warns that an influx of water drainage from our residential homes may lead to flooding due to the fact that the storm drain system was never meant to filter out any hazardous chemicals/materials that homes may be washing down their drains. For the protection of all, household waste must be properly drained into the City’s Sewage system.

Relay for Life at St. Anne Catholic School

Rarely does the gymnasium at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Hanmer echo the sound of silence, however, on Friday, May 9th, 2014 at 12:45 p.m., it did just that. More than 370 students entered in quiet reverence, mesmerized by the flickering light of hundreds of luminaries lined up along the front of the gym, for the first annual “Relay for Life.” This was the perfect ending to the day, which began with a noisy pep rally and survivor victory lap around the schoolyard. Children lined up and cheered the many survivors who attended the event. The students and staff remembered their loved ones who lost their battle with cancer. They also celebrated those who continue to fight with dignity and hope. The St. Anne Angels from Sudbury Catholic Schools raised over $10,700.
“I thought it was amazing to see how many survivors showed up and walked. It was so beautiful and touching! My dad would have been so proud to see the survivors walking because he died from cancer in December,” said Avalon Gilbert, a Grade 5 student at the school.
St. Anne Catholic School truly demonstrated what community spirit is all about by coming together to fundraising for such a great cause.

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