Welcome back to classes! Students and families gathered in the gym at St. Bernadette Catholic school to celebrate the start of another school year with, Father Sam D’Angelo of St. Andrew the Apostle Church. Grace Olive in Grade 1 presented Father Sam with a birthday cake as he was also celebrating his birthday. Principal, Diana Salvador, stated that “Coming together as a school community on a monthly basis to share our faith, is a unique opportunity that we have here at Sudbury Catholic Schools.”
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St. Charles College ‘Niners’ Learn to Navigate Secondary School at Annual Barbecue
Grade nine students got a jumpstart on high school life at St. Charles College August 31st. Students were invited to pick-up their timetables, take a tour and sign-up for the various clubs and teams the school offers at the welcome barbecue.
“There are more than two hundred grade nine students entering their first year at St. Charles College this year. Their success and happiness mean a lot to us,” says Patty Mardero, the school principal.
For students, the school year begins Tuesday, September 6th.
St. Anne Students Promote Sun Safety Over Summer Holidays
The Grade 7 and 8 French Immersion students at St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer modelled their sunhats in an effort to promote awareness of the adverse affects of sun exposure. Working with their health teacher, Mrs. Desmarais, the students discussed the very serious issue of sun safety. With the upcoming holidays, students of all ages will be involved in outdoor activities both at home and for leisure. Students agreed that in general, young people aren’t concerned with the health risks of tanning, which includes the most dangerous type of skin cancer, melanoma. The use of sunscreen, hats and protective clothing againstt too much sun are rules everyone needs to concern themselves with. Mrs. Desmarais, a teacher within the Sudbury Catholic Board, stated, “Students are aware of the dangers of the sun and they know how to protect themselves from it. But because they’re young the dangers seem distant to them and it’s difficult to get them to put their knowledge into practise.”
As well as taking precautions while in the sun, the students also discussed the effects of artificial sunlight. In spite of warnings and education the use of tanning beds continues to increase. These St. Anne angels know that an ounce of prevention today is a step in the right direction for the future!
Regular School Hours Today – June 29th – Students’ Last Day of School
Please be advised that today, Wednesday, June 29th is the last day of school for students in the Greater Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin regions AND classes WILL NOT be dismissed half an hour early. School is dismissed at the regular time today, as usual. Parents are therefore required to be at stops at the regular time.
St. Charles Elementary Students Perform at St. Gabriel’s Villa
Several St. Gabriel’s Villa residents gathered together on June 28 to take in a performance by the Grade 2/3 students from St. Charles Catholic Elementary School. Under the guidance of teacher Michelle Robinson, the students had been working tirelessly for the past three months on their “Music and Dance from Communities Around the World “ concert. The students took the residents on a virtual airplane journey through a multi-media presentation and through slides, and video, gave a description of each “destination” before each act. The dancing and music was then reflective of the country they had a stopover in. Some of the places that were “visited” included South Africa, Cuba, New Zealand, Greece, China and the Siksika First Nation Reserve in Canada. The final act of the show was a spectacular Hula dance reflecting Hawaiian culture, performed by the students’ teacher. According to Robinson, “the goal of the concert, was not only to create a culminating task that would integrate Social Studies, Music and Dance, but also to create a memorable and authentic experience for the children.” The residents showed their appreciation for the students’ performance with enthusiastic applause and huge smiles for the kids. Sandra St. Denis, Principal of the school, expressed her gratitude for “Miss Robinson’s dedication to student learning and her amazing creativity.” The class was rewarded for a job well done with juice and cookies after the performance, and were invited to visit them again in the new school year.
Role Reversal for Dr. Nash
St. Benedict students have been busy in Ms Dumont’s creative writing class after being inspired by Dr. Roger Nash’s poetry workshop at the school last April. Grade 12 student Emma Erikson said “his performance of a poem about a cricket was intriguing”. During a return visit to St. Ben’s this week, students performed a dramatic presentation of their own poetry for Dr. Nash. After each student’s enactment, Dr. Nash gave helpful suggestions such as including gestures, or props and people in their delivery. He stated he “enjoys working with young people, and that it is always good for students to experience poetry beyond the usual study of literature”.
St. Anne Kindergarten Student Authors Her Way Into Prize Winning Story
How young can you be to write your own story? Just ask St. Anne School student Ashlyn Carrierre. She is the newest recipient of the Ontario Catholic Elementary Teacher’s Young Author Award for 2011. Ashlyn is a student within the English Senior Kindergarten class at the Sudbury Catholic School in Hanmer. In January of this year, she wrote her own fairy tale entitled, “Princess Shalla and Prince Aucoinia Get Kidnapped.” Her story was then submitted to the Young Author’s contest in the fiction category for the Junior and Senior Kindergarten division. In April, the school received notification that Ashlyn’s story had won!
“I am so excited,” said Ashlyn. “I am so happy that I got a plaque. It feels really good to be an author.” In an awards ceremony that took place on June 17th, Ashlyn was presented with a plaque for her wall. The plaque shows not only Ashlyn’s name, but also the title of her fairy tale. The Ontario English Catholic Teacher’s Sudbury Unit President, Mr. Kent MacNeill, presented the award to Ashlyn in front on the entire school body as well as her family who were also attending. Her classroom teacher, Cheryl MacRury, told the assembled group that Ashlyn had a wonderful imagination for a little girl of her age and that she was very deserving of this award. Ashlyn knew that fairy tales started with “Once upon a time” and that they ended with everyone “living happily ever after”. She had picked her own characters and setting. She had come up with a problem for the characters and then the solution. And finally, all on her own, Ashlyn had used words like ferocious, sparkly, huge and dungeon, as well as names like Queen Shata, Princess Shalla, and Prince Aucoinia.
Ashlyn may or may not be Ontario’s newest author, but there is a good chance that she may be Ontario’s youngest author. Both staff and students from St. Anne School hope to one day be able to walk into Chapters and read books that Ashlyn has authored. She is certainly a little girl with a wonderful ability to write entertaining stories. Good luck with your talent in the future Ashlyn! St. Anne School is very proud of you!
Sudbury Catholic Schools Launch Poster Campaign – “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers”
National Aboriginal Day is about celebrating pride and culture and that is just what
Sudbury Catholic District School Board did with the launch of their poster campaign “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers” during Better Beginnings Better Futures’ celebrations at O’Connor Park. This series of seven posters represents each of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. It also features families from our schools. The concept is about honouring our first teachers, our mothers. Each poster has three generations of women on them, grandmother, mother and daughter. Director, Catherine McCullough commented, “we are honoured to have families involved in creating this excellent resource for our schools. Their participation in this initiative speaks to their pride as Aboriginal women and to their commitment to Aboriginal Education at Sudbury Catholic. What better day to celebrate this but, National Aboriginal Day.”
Immaculate Conception Students Lay Down the Cards
This past month, Immaculate Conception School organized a Family Numeracy Hour. Parents and grandparents were invited to come play cards with their children. Not only was it fun, but parents and grandparents became involved in helping their children learn math while they engaged in “hands-on learning” with playing cards. JK and SK students practiced number recognition, primary students focused on adding card numbers together and junior students practiced their multiplication skills by playing a new version of High Card. All students received a deck of cards to bring home so that they can play exciting “math” card games with their parents. Parents have a very important role in helping their child practice math skills at home, and when it is disguised as a math game, students enjoy it so much more!