The staff and students of St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School Celebrated Catholic Education with much gusto once again this year. There were activities planned for each day of the week. They celebrated Music Monday outside in the school yard, families came daily for picnics in the park and they went to their home parish of St. Andrew for a Eucharistic celebration. They also had a faith based playday, Jamie Allison a former NHL hockey player came in to share his message of anti bulling, and we all celebrated our heritage in various ways on Friday. Individual classrooms also celebrated with special activities throughout the week.
Month: May 2014
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Hosts Award-winning Author
Award-winning author, Karen Bass, made a visit to St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School on Tuesday May 6 as part of her tour of Northern Ontario during TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. Since this tour coincided with Catholic Education Week, her visit was one of the special events held at St. Benedict during this week. In her presentations, Karen spoke to students about how various aspects of World War II and its aftermath were incorporated into three YA novels that she has published. Slides of her visits to Germany and photos from the war, along with some military artifacts, provided a visual reference for the backgrounds Karen described. Thr Catee of the four novels that Karen has written are set in post-war Germany where teenagers learn about or deal with the impact of WWII on themselves and their families.
St. Paul Celebrates Catholic Education Week
As part of Catholic Education Week, students in the Primary division at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School came together to “Serve in the love of Christ” with a faith-based play day. Students had the opportunity to work with students from all of the other primary classes and rotated through a variety of activities such as read alouds, art activities, virtue chalk writing, video of “The Good Samaritan”, songs and dances. It was a great way for students to share their faith in an informal setting and form new friendships. A great time was had by all staff and students!
Spring Volunteer Work Day at KSOEEC
On Saturday, May 3rd the Killarney Outdoor Education Centre hosted a volunteer work day. The trail that is frequently used by the outdoor centre’s visitors was desperately in need of some work. Through funding received from the TD Friends of the Environment for a project titled ‘Boots and Bridges’, the outdoor centre was able to partner with volunteers from the Friends of Killarney Park and locals of Killarney. These volunteers worked hard all day to haul out old pallet boards, carry in material, build bridges and cut trees so visiting students to the outdoor centre would have a safe and dry trail to enjoy.
A special thank you goes out to the Friends of Killarney Park for their support.
First-time Author Visits St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
On Monday April 28, St. Benedict students from Grade 7 and 8 as well the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) class were treated to a visit from Joanne Levy, the author of Small medium at large. This book is the author’s first published novel, and it was one of the titles included in this year’s list for the Red Maple Reading Program that was run at St. Benedict. Prior to her visit, several of the classes were able to read the novel in class in preparation for her visit.
In her presentation, Joanne Levy gave a brief introduction of herself and then outlined the journey from writing a book to having it published. The presentation included several interesting facts from her own experiences with writing. In the question period that followed, students eagerly posed a variety of questions about the writing process, the inspiration for this novel, and her previous unsuccessful novels. Following the presentation, Joanne visited each elementary class, and the ASD class, to distribute signed bookmarks to all the students and staff.
In the afternoon, Joanne visited Holy Cross and gave two presentations to the Grade 5 and 6 students. Although Small medium at large is written for an older audience, the Holy Cross students were interested to ask how the book came into being and what inspired her. However, the most popular topic for questions was her pets.
Sudbury Catholic Students Serving in the Love of Christ
On Wednesday, May 7th, students and staff at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School joined with Catholic Schools across the province to celebrate the Eucharist. What made this celebration even more vibrant was that students from St. Charles College, Marymount Academy and Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School were also part of the celebration. The theme of Catholic Education Week this year is “Serving in the love of Christ” and in his homily, Fr. Jim Hutton, pastor of St. Patrick Parish, reminded the students and staff of the importance of serving as Jesus did, to not count the cost and to not look for notoriety as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. A special message from Pope Francis was also ready to the students as he had sent a letter to be read to all of the Catholic students in Ontario during Catholic Education Week.
Be Our Guest
St. Charles College wants YOU to join Belle, Gaston, Mrs. Potts and the rest of the cast of Beauty and the Beast. Be our guest as they bring Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to life from May 6-10th at 7 p.m. Parents with small children may wish to take in the 1 p.m. matinee May 10th where they can meet the cast of characters after the show. The production was directed and produced by teacher Diandra Zafiris.
Young Poets Read at Chapters
On Tuesday, May 6th, the Grades 3 to 6 French Immersion classes from Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School brought their poetic flair out into the community. Gathering along with friends and family at Chapters, the young poets took to the microphone and read excerpts from their poetry anthologies. They also spent time in small groups, sharing their poems and talking about their writing, and explored the many wonderful books available to read in the store. Parents, grandparents, friends and families all enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate these young poets. Teachers Mme Sarmatiuk, Mme Toivonen and Mme Blais-Callaway were humbled by the energy and enthusiasm that the students brought to this writing experience, and look forward to reading more wonderful work from their students in the future.
St. Bernadette Learns about Metis Culture
Grade 4 students at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School attended a Métis presentation Monday, April 28th at St. David Catholic Elementary school. Students were immersed in stories about the Métis culture and learned about different tools used by the Métis people. They enjoyed being able to feel the various furs and learn about what each tool was used for during the War of 1812. The students were especially excited for their upcoming year-end field trip in which they will be travelling to Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons where they will continue their exploration of the life and culture of the Early Settlers.