Students in teacher Todd Rayne’s Grade 5/6 class are working on a conservation project, but this one is pretty unique. These Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School students have decided to collect garbage. Rayne is the school’s Dearness Conservation Lead, and has had several conversations with the school’s staff about how the students could reduce their energy and water usage, as well as increase their recycling efforts. One of the things that Rayne noticed in his own classroom was how many school supplies were being swept up at the end of the day and thrown in the garbage. This is when the D.C. team decided to make some changes. Over the past fifty days, the grade 5/6 students have visited all the junior classrooms and collected all of the discarded and forgotten school supplies that would have otherwise been thrown in the garbage. The results after their collection were astounding. After the first weigh-in, he students recorded that they had collected over 10 pounds of school supplies. Instead of being thrown out, the collected supplies are now returned back to their classes to be reused. As well, the students have tracked all of their findings for each class on a spreadsheet so that each week and month they can take their data to help support their cause and show each class where they need improvement. The next step for the class is making the school aware of their findings. Through the use of student created podcasts played over morning announcements, the class teaches the student body about the importance of recycling and taking care of their belongings. “We started this because I was noticing a lot of discarded supplies in my own classroom,” Rayne said. “As the D.C. lead, I knew it was our responsibility to make others aware of the waste and by getting the students so involved, there is much more buy-in on their part. Now they have become the teachers for the rest of the school and it is a win-win situation as we have all become conservation champions!” The students will be continuing this project until the end of the school year along with several other conservation initiatives, and it is their hope that they can reduce the waste significantly, possibly even to a “zero pound” collection.
Author: admin
Sharing the Love of a Good Book at St. Benedict
A school-wide celebration of books was held at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School during Reading Week April 11th -15th. To further develop the love of reading, students were encouraged to use integrated technology to share with a friend their favourite story on Facebook, Twitter or You Tube. Students were given time to Drop Everything And Read, using their e-readers such as Kindle or just old- fashioned books. The activities continued all week with Book Club meetings,book swaps, and a graffiti wall to journal about their love of a good book.
Kiwanis Festival Awards Gold to St. Anne Music Student
It has been a year filled with long hours of practice, but the efforts have paid off for Haley Blinn, a Gr.8 French Immersion student at St. Anne School. Haley recently competed in the Kiwanis Music Festival where she took home the Gold Award for her baritone sax solo.
Haley actually participated in 2 festival competitions during the day. One was with her Sudbury Catholic School Band comprised of members from 4 Catholic elementary schools under the direction of Ms. Joanne Comisso, vice-principal of St. Anne School, and Mrs. Leann Urso, instrumental band teacher at St Francis, St. Raphael and Pius XII Elementary schools. Haley won silver with the band, which was a great honour, but when asked about her gold Award win, Haley was ecstatic. She said, “I was very nervous but like everything else, practice helps. I think it is the practicing that helped me win the gold.” Ms. Comisso congratulated Haley on all of her hard work and outstanding contribution to the band. All the staff and students at St. Anne School are very proud of you Haley and we wish you continued success with music in your future! Way to go Angel!
Words to Inspire at Marymount Academy
Marymount students in Grades 8, 10 and 12 English classes were given a unique opportunity the week of April 11. Tanya Neumeyer, a Toronto based poet, worked with the students for five days on performance poetry. Neumeyer, a published poet and workshop facilitator, was asked to work with the various classes by teacher Kimberly Fahner, who is herself a renowned published poet. The visit was funded through the Ontario Arts Council and the League of Canadian Poets, and allowed the students to learn how, through a creative process, to write and perform a poem within five days. At the end of the week, the students performed their finished pieces of poetry for Neumeyer as well as their classmates. “It has really been an extremely great week,” Neumeyer stated. “All of the students have been keen and curious about the spoken word.” Fauhner, who organized the workshops with the various classes was thrilled that the students were exposed to such an experienced poet and was extremely pleased with all of the positive feedback from students and staff. Tammy Jutila, one of Marymount’s Grade 8 English teachers whole-heartedly agreed with Fauhner. “It was such a unique experience – one that had a huge impact on the students and encouraged their own creative potential,” Jutila said. “Tanya Neumeyer was so patient throughout the whole process and really encouraged the students to find their own personal voice.”
Food Drive at St. Theresa
The St. Theresa Student Council (overseen by teacher Mrs. Heaphy) organized a food drive recently over a nine day period. Students gathered 320 items in that time and have given it to the Sudbury Food Bank. The students were very happy to share the bounty they have with those who are in need at this time of year and to continue the tradition started by Edgar Burton – founder of the Sudbury Food Bank. SK student Noah Jabreen and his mother (far left) Jennifer, as well as his grandmother Mrs. Edgar Burton were on hand to help with the collection of donated food items.
Bustin’ a Move and Finding Their Groove
Regardless of ability and age, every student at St. Raphael School is getting into the Zumba craze this month. All the students are participating in five Latin dance classes with two certified instructors.
Zumba will be part of the student daily physical activity at the school. The Ministry of Education states: “The goal of daily physical activity is to instill the habit of activity and enable all elementary students to be active on a daily basis in order to maintain or enhance their physical fitness, their overall health and wellness, and their ability and readiness to learn.”
It’s all a part of becoming a healthy school on the move. The school is being recognized by the Healthy Schools Recognition Program. It is a Ministry of Education initiative that awards schools going above the call of duty when it comes to the promotion of healthy living and eating.
St. James welcomes Elder Vince Pawis
As part of the “Elders in the School Program”, Elder Vince Pawis (middle) shares his wise counsel and guidance with the students of St. James School. Vince uses the Medicine Wheel to express the meaning of the Four Sacred Directions which encompass all the teachings of the Seven Grandfathers. The students and school Deacon Pat Raymond and principal Cara Soehner participated in a smudging ceremony followed by a hands-on-approach to the Aboriginal Teachings.
The Little Students That Could Tackle “The Little Engine That Could”
Early Learning Kindergarten students at St. Raphael have been getting hands-on while learning to retell stories in their own words.
This month, the class read “The Little Engine that Could” by Watty Piper. Afterwards, they recreated the story on a bulletin board using elaborate pop-out pictures and words.
Classroom teacher Mrs. Tripodi says “This activity helped them to solidify their understanding of retelling stories.”
Early Childhood Educator Mr. Vicedomini says the lesson had a two-fold purpose because the students also learned the values of optimism and hard work.
New Vice-Chair for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce Jody Cameron as the new Vice-Chair of the Board. At the March Board meeting, trustee Paula Peroni announced that she would be stepping down from her Vice-Chair position effective April 11. At the April 12 board meeting, trustee Cameron ran unchallenged for the position and as a result was elected to the position of Vice-Chair.
“It is once again a great privilege and honour to serve the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in the position of Vice-Chair,” Cameron stated. “I look forward to working with Chair Barry MacDonald, as well as the other trustees as we are committed to ensuring the very best in Catholic education for all of our students.”
Cameron has served two terms previous in the position of Vice-Chair as well as two terms for the Board in the position of Chair.