The St. David Catholic Elementary School Christmas choir, led by community volunteer, Melody Henry recently visited Red Oak Villa, a seniors residence in the heart of Sudbury. The student choir sang Christmas carols and spread Christmas cheer throughout the complex. While sharing hot chocolate and Christmas cookies the students and seniors visited, told stories and enjoyed each others company. Natasha Folino, St. David School teacher said, ” it warms your heart to see the youth of our community be so gentle and caring with the residents at Red Oak Villa. This is what the season of Christmas is all about – giving of yourself and enjoying those people in your lives. This was the perfect pairing of the generations and a wonderful way to celebrate the season”.
Month: December 2015
Christmas is Giving at St. Charles Elementary
With Christmas just around the corner, families at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School came together to generously support people in their community who are less fortunate. Donations of canned goods were collected over the 3 weeks of Advent to support the local food bank, Friendship House. Last year, the school collected 3014 cans and the goal this year was to beat that number by 1 can. With true school spirit, RAMS collected 3200 cans!! Way to Go RAMS!
Battle of the Grades at BACCSS
Traditions are a big part of the Christmas holidays. Once again this year the Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School Leadership Class hosted “Battle of the Grades”. Students had to participate in fun Christmas activities with a “twist”. From cookies and milk, to unwrapping Christmas gifts with oven mitts, these mixed up Christmas activities gave students quite the challenge! In the end, the Grade 12 students managed to sneak in a close win and claim the title of this Bishop holiday tradition!
Celebrating Partnerships at BACCSS Breakfast
Thank you to Greater Sudbury Police Services who helped serve a delicious breakfast at Bishop Carter’s breakfast club. Students were treated to a hot breakfast with all the trimmings. Constable Duguay and Constable Hasanefendic served eggs, hashbrowns and a variety of other items to Bishop student Kiana James. Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2016 from the staff and students at Bishop Carter CSS.
Cardinals Lend a Holiday Helping Hand
The tradition to help families in need at Christmas is still alive after more than twenty years at St. Charles College.
This year almost twenty-five families will have gifts to put under the tree for their children thanks to the Cards.
Homerooms pool money together in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then go shopping with the child’s pre-made list in hand.
Deacon Steve Callaghan, the school Chaplain spearheads the initiative yearly, “Each homeroom essentially adopts a child or children within a family attending one of its feeder schools and supplies gifts for the children.” To keep annonymity and respect the families privacy, Deacon Steve delivers the parcels to the parents in the days leading up to Christmas through the help of the feeder school Principals.
Principal Patty Mardero says “The initiative falls in line with the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectation five which focuses on students becoming collaborative contributors inside of the walls of the school but also helping students beyond that in the greater community.”
St. Charles College Ugly Sweaters Team Up with Holy Trinity Grade One students in PJ’s
The grade nine French Immersion students at St. Charles College are currently studying a unit on “Les Contes” (short stories). One of their assignments was to create a “conte” and develop vocabulary words and comprehension questions about their “contes”.
The students collaborated with teacher Colette Perrin’s Grade 1 Immersion students to read the “contes”, and assist them with their French reading and understanding.
The small students also happened to be celebrating pajama day and were divided into stations for story time with the big SCC students who were celebrating ugly Christmas sweater day.
St. Charles Elementary Students Warming Hearts, Hands and Toes at Christmas!
Showing true RAM spirit, students at St. Charles Catholic Elementary outdid themselves again! Under the direction of teachers Holly-Anne Swain and Emily Maxwell, the Sock and Mitt Crew, made up of Intermediate students, created posters and announcements to encourage students to bring in new socks and mitts to be donated to the Salvation Army. The crew collected over 800 pairs of socks and mitts to be donated to the Salvation Army this Christmas.
Way to go RAMS!
Year 26 for Marymount-S.A.C.Y. Christmas Luncheon Celebration
At 11:15 a.m. on Friday, December 11, 2015, it was organized chaos as the grade 12 Marymount Academy students scurried around getting the last minute preparations done for the annual Marymount-Sudbury-Action Centre for Youth (S.A.C.Y.) Christmas luncheon. For the past twenty-six years, Marymount teacher – now retired – Matthew Wiecha, has organized this gathering which supports the clients of S.A.C.Y. – many who are homeless and dealing with addiction and mental health issues. For the last few weeks, the grade twelve students at the school set up a plan of action to ensure that nothing was forgotten, wanting to ensure that the entire meal was perfect for all that attended the lunch. The group anticipated between 250-300 clients coming out to enjoy the feast. “The need is greater and greater each year,” explained Wiecha. “For many this is the only Christmas meal they will have, and we want to ensure that they are well fed and happy. The Marymount students are outstanding – this year having the biggest group ever get involved in the luncheon. It really is something special for all who take part as our students exemplify the true meaning of Christmas – giving – and the clients recognize that they are part of a community that truly cares about their well-being.”
The Christmas Spirit is Alive and Well at St. David Catholic School
Every year at St. David Catholic Elementary School, the staff and volunteers get together to plan an old fashion, traditional Christmas feast for the students. A Christmas meal including turkey with all the trimmings was served to all students at the school. Each classroom assumed a responsibility for the feast. The kindergarten students created the placemats, grade one students baked cupcakes for dessert, and the grade 4/5 class was responsible for serving the meal.
Special guests attended the event and actively participated in the seasonal celebration. Donations from community organizations made this special meal possible. Christmas carols were sung, gifts were received and the spirit of the season was evident everywhere in the school. According to the grade 1 student, Deacon Lucas, “our Christmas lunch was healthy food that tasted great. I liked all the Christmas music and really liked eating with my friends. Christmas is a fun and special time of year and I’m really happy we do special things to celebrate it”.