Students from St. Mary Catholic Elementary School and Marymount Academy took part in the 15th Annual Professional Engineers Ontario Bridge Building Competition this past week. St. Mary was represented with eight teams and Marymount Academy had four teams registered for the competition. For several of the students, this was their first time taking part in such an event and were excited to see their bridges put to the test. The students’ bridges were put to the test to see how much of a load they could take before they broke, which for some, was the most exciting part of the whole event. Top results for the two schools include Nathan Paul and Riley Talbot from St. Mary who placed fourth and Victoria Dryland from Marymount Academy who placed fifth. Congratulations to all the teams for your efforts and creativity!
Author: admin
Sudbury Catholic Students “Blinding Us With Science”
Qualifying students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board took part in this year’s annual Science Fair on March 2, 2011 in the gym of St. Francis School. Over the past few months students had been experimenting with their ideas and creativity to impress not only their teachers, but the judges and special guests who would make an appearance throughout the competition. Out of the hundreds of projects submitted, twenty were chosen to move on to the Regional Science Fair. Of the twenty, four were given special recognition as they were linked to the unique secondary programming at the Catholic Board’s four high schools. St. Benedict’s Specialist High Skills Major in the Environment allowed for Mia Pandolfo,a student from Marymount Academy, to be awarded the Environmental Sciences award with her project “Crank Remote”. Jasmine Ayotte and Emily Pasivirta were awarded the Innovational Technology award from Bishop Alexander Carter Secondary whose Specialist High Skills Major is in Technology. St. Anne’s Matthew Ingreselli won the Application of Physical Science to Everyday Lives award from Marymount Academy (with Advance Placement) for his “Dimple my ride” project. Tristan Harvey and Hanna Longe from St. John Elementary were awarded the Health and Wellness award linked to St. Charles College’s Specialist High Skills Major for their “ Dare to compare your toothbrush” project.
Todd Horn, a grade eight teacher from Pius XII Catholic Elementary School attended the event with his students and was excited to see the dedication and creativity of this year’s group of students. “ Seeing as how students will soon be transitioning into Secondary school, the science fair is an excellent opportunity for them to experiment and offers them the hands on experience,” Horn stated. “Science Fair is a really positive opportunity for students to create projects that are recognized and celebrated in the classroom, the school, board-wide and possibly even beyond.”
Marymount Academy Science teacher, Andrea Jebreen, echoed Horn’s comments regarding the calibre of projects at this year’s science fair “The collection of projects were so incredible that it made it very difficult to choose just twenty to go on to the next level,” Jebreen said. “It is evident that a lot of time and dedication went into each and every project and we are very proud of our students hard-work and creativity.”
The twenty finalist projects are set to attend the Regional Science Fair taking place on April 9-10 at Laurentian University.
A special thank you goes out to the Sudbury Catholic Science Fair Committee for their dedication and support throughout the planning. The team is comprised of SCDSB teachers Connie Ubriaco, Todd Horn, Andrea Jebreen, Donna Rose and Vice Principals Megan Murphy and Dennis Charlebois.
St. Benedict Junior Boys Basketball Team Wins NOSSA
After winning the City Championships, the St. Benedict Junior Boys Basketball Team was invited to play in the NOSSA tournament in Desbarats, Ontario. The team travelled to Central Algoma Secondary School where they were challenged by teams from North Bay, Sault Ste-Marie and Central Algoma. After a very successful season in Sudbury, the team was well prepared to take on these champions from the other northern Ontario districts. After defeating all three of these teams, the boys were awarded gold medals and were declared NOSSA champions. The NOSSA banner for Junior Boys Basketball was brought back to St. Benedict School for the first time in St. Ben’s history. Congratulations go out to the members and the coaches of this strong team.
Members of the team include: Graeme Rickards, Ben Pambianco, Michael Marcantognini, Romi Baki, Curtis Hancock, Zachary LaFramboise, Kurtis Clement, Spencer Romenco, Alex Vendramin, Daniel Eddy.
Coaches: Pat Faiella, Scott Hancock, Julian Rickards
An Unlikely Sports Activity for Elementary Students at Lunch Hour
Recently CBC reporter Erik White did a story for Morning North about the intramural goalball program at St. James Catholic Elementary School.
If you are interested in listening to the story simply go online and go to:
www.cbc.ca/morningnorth – go to past episodes – You will see a link entitled: “An unlikely sports activity for elementary students at lunch hour”. Click on the “Listen” icon.
Embracing Technology in Sudbury Catholic Early Learning Classrooms
With the launch of Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten programs across Ontario this past fall, administration at the Sudbury Catholic felt it was important to link the Board’s commitment to technology to the new Early Learning Environments set up for the 4 and 5 year old students. As established by the Ministry of Education, the goals of the Full Day Early Learning program are to establish a strong foundation for the early years through a play-based learning environment as well as to improve a child’s prospect for success in school and beyond. Nicole Snow, Superintendent of School Effectiveness spearheaded an iPad pilot project for the Sudbury Catholic Early Learning classrooms. It was felt that the iPads in the classroom allow for the teachers and Early Childhood Educators to work together to set the students on a very positive trajectory for learning.
“This project has a two pronged approach with a focus on student learning as well as teacher/ECE efficacy,” Snow stated. “Not only will the students have an excellent opportunity to learn while playing – one of the six fundamental principals of the ELKP, the teachers and ECE’s will also have an important tool that helps track assessments, data and growth for each of the students.” Snow also explains that through the use of the iPads, the teachers and ECEs will have the opportunity to expose their students to a unique way to explore, discover and grow while being able to evaluate and assess the child’s progress.
Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Board strongly supports this project and feels that it is an exceptional opportunity for both the students as well as the staff. “This iPad pilot project allows our young students to develop curiosity, creativity and confidence through technology which speaks to the whole Early Learning philosophy of play-based learning,” McCullough stated. “I am proud that our Board supports our strategic commitment of living a culture of technology and this project is an outstanding example of putting the needs and successes of our students first.”
Each Sudbury Catholic Early Learning classroom will be equipped with a set of iPads, a MacBook, a printer and a digital camera as well as having access to wireless Internet. All of the ipads have been set up with numerous apps that will allow for maximum student learning as well as for teacher/ECE assessment purposes.
All Sudbury Catholic Early Learning Teachers and ECE’s were in-serviced on the iPads and will begin to implement them in their classes as early as March 2. For more information on this pilot program, please contact the Sudbury Catholic District School Board at (705) 673-5620.
The Eagles Have Landed
St. Theresa Catholic School held a t-shirt contest recently and children were encouraged to design a t-shirt depicting St. Theresa School. All of the entries were submitted and all students voted on 5 final designs. The winning design was then printed on t-shirts which all students received at no cost thanks to the Parent Council. The student body will be encouraged to wear these on student assembly days once per month as well as other special days. The winning t-shirt seen in this photo is of an eagle since they are the St. Theresa Eagles and Gr.6 student Daniel Mensour (second from right) designed this image.
St. James Holds Family Math Night
In conjunction with School Council, St. James staff hosted a Family Numeracy Evening where students and their parents engaged in a variety of hands-on Math activities. The goal of the Family Math Night was to appreciate the pleasure of mathematics through the power of family interaction. There were a variety of engaging activities to promote mathematical thinking and Math language. The stations included sorting, weighing, storytime, Smart Board lessons, and “3-part problem-solving”. Exploring the interactive use of MacBooks and Math are (left to right) the Orser, Owens and Mayer families.
St. James Catholic School Student a District Winner in the Lions International Peace Poster Contest!
Each year, Lions clubs around the world sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups. This year’s theme was ‘Vision of Peace’. Students, ages 11,12,13 were eligible to participate.
24 international finalists were selected from the work of more than 350,000 participants. Posters will be shared globally via the Internet, the media and exhibits around the world.
Brandon Digby, a grade7 student at St. James Catholic School in Lively captured the A-5 district award and was presented with a cheque of $250. Classmates were thrilled to be part of the award ceremony. His teacher Ms. Swearengen said “Brandon’s poster beautifully captured his vision of world peace, placing Canada as the heart and hope of world peace”.
Inaugural Personal Support Worker Class Graduates from St. Albert
Family and friends gathered in the gym at St Albert Adult Learning Centre on February 25th, 2011 to celebrate with the students of the school’s inaugural Personal Support Worker graduating class. Nineteen students made up the graduating class and, as well as a Personal Support Worker Diploma, several students also received their Secondary School Diploma. Cassandra MacGregor, Principal of the school addressed the students and spoke about how proud the staff and community is of the group. “By the year 2020, statistics say that one in every five Greater Sudbury residence will be over the age of sixty-five, and the need for this service is growing rapidly,” MacGregor said. “ Through their perseverance and determination, this class has demonstrated great skill and knowledge, and I know that my family and friends will be in good hands if and when these students’ skills are ever required.”
Deputy Mayor Jocelyn Landry-Altmann and Sudbury Catholic Board Chair Barry MacDonald echoed MacGregor’s sentiments and also congratulated the class for their courage and will to succeed in the program.
Numerous community partners and agencies were also on hand to support the students as many did on the job placements with the different organizations. Several of the students have already been offered jobs beginning immediately after the graduation. Valedictorian of the class, Brenda Legrow, spoke to the group about their success and voiced her elation at finally reaching this stage. “It is through the strength of our minds, our bodies and our hearts, that we have made it here today,” Legrow said. “And we need to thank ourselves for overcoming all of our own trials and tribulations and making it this far in our journey.”
The next group of students has already begun their classes this past January and the staff of St. Albert expects the interest in this program to steadily increase over the next year as with the growing aging population, the need for this type of job is rapidly expanding.
For more information on the Personal Support Worker program at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre, contact the school at (705) 673-3031.