With the recent delivery of several workshops highlighting new and fun approaches to practicing math facts and developing mental math skills, students at St James school are reaping the benefits. At the beginning of every math period, students are encouraged to use playing cards or dice to practice addition and multiplication skills independently and to test each other in fun math challenges. Primary and junior students are also learning the benefits of strategies such as decomposing or friendly numbers to add difficult numbers without the use of paper, pencils or calculators. Student engagement is obvious and real learning is happening!
Author: admin
Learning to Drum
St. Francis student, Preston Patterson, was very excited to have the opportunity to drum on a traditional Aboriginal drum. Joel Agowissa, the board Aboriginal support worker, finished off the ABC program by bringing in items such as snapping turtle shells, animal skulls, furs, and traditional wooden games, just to name a few. When leaving the school, Preston was able to thank Joel by saying ‘miigwetch’ (thank you) in Ojibwe.
Board celebrates faith community on PA Day
On Nov 7 2014, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board came together as a faith community. The PA Day began with a mass celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe and many priests from the area. The day continued with the unveiling of the SudburyCatholicSchools mental health strategy – “Sudbury Catholic Schools… where your well-being matters”. The logo for the mental health strategy is a combination of the sun and a dandelion. The dandelion is regarded as a weed, despite it’s many beneficial health properties. A weed is to dandelion as words like crazy are to mental health. The warm colour and sun-like qualities promote positivity, brightness and growth. At the centre is a cross to symbolize how our faith is at the centre of all that we do.
The staff was also addressed by a current student who shared their own struggles. Student Rilie spoke from her heart and helped the staff understand what a caring adult can do to help students. The afternoon continued with Psychologist Adele Robinson whose topic was Emotional Coaching: Supporting the Emotional Health of Youth in Schools. SCDSB wants to thank each and every staff member who helps make a difference in the lives of our students everyday! Sudbury Catholic Schools… where your well-being matters
St. Paul students learn about Down Syndrome
November 1st to November 7th is National Down Syndrome Awareness week in Canada. Lisa Wright, grade 2/3 F.I. teacher at St. Paul school has been advocating for people with Down syndrome since her daughter Holly was born 15 years ago. What better way to bring awareness about Down syndrome than to involve children in sharing the message? The students used the classroom iPads to research important facts about Down syndrome that were then put into a presentation. On Thursday, November 6th, they visited the grades 5 to 8 classes, sharing the information they had learned. The students in the classrooms that were visited were so attentive and asked some very good questions following the presentation. They were left with a much better understanding of people with Down syndrome and now know not to underestimate their abilities.
Mme Wright is extremely proud of each of her students and believes they will continue to share their knowledge and will make a difference in the lives of people with Down syndrome from this day forward. To learn more about Down syndrome, please visit www.cdss.ca and / or www.dsas.ca.
Pumpkin Investigation
Students in the grade 5/6 French Immersion class at St Bernadette Catholic School participated in a pumpkin math investigation on October 27th and 28th. Each group of 3 students chose a pumpkin and named it. They then collected quantitative data for their pumpkin, such as the circumference, number of creases and weight. After the students examined each group’s “pumpkin” data on a class chart, they were asked to predict which pumpkin would have the most seeds and explain their reasoning. Then the fun began! Students separated the pulp and the seeds of their pumpkins. They estimated the amount of seeds they removed. The students devised their own methods to keep track of the seeds they counted. such as tally charts, making groups of 10, etc… “It was interesting to see that the pumpkin that was the largest and weighed the most did not have the most seeds,” said grade 6 student, Savannah Crossthwaite.
St. Andrew staff and students visit Grotto
On Wednesday October 22, to celebrate October the month of the Queen of the Rosary, the teaching staff and students of St. Andrew School boarded 3 buses and went to visit the Grotto of Lourdes on Van Horne Street. The grade 3/4, 4/5 and 5/6 classes led the students, teachers and parents in a Living Rosary near the fountain. Once the rosary was recited each group took some time to visit the beautiful statues from France that depict the Way of the Cross and also the beautiful replica of the Grotto of Lourdes. Pictured are some of the grade two students enjoying the Grotto of Lourdes Shrine.
Secondary Student Leaders Participate in Equity Workshops
From October 21 to October 24, guest speakers from the Harmony Movement group held workshops for student leaders from all of our secondary schools to talk about diversity and equity in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.
Biju Pappachan and Caitlin Wood led the 40 students through many activities and discussions about such topics as bullying, racism and sexism. The students were engaged as they examined issues surrounding stereotypes and prejudice and to hear about how many biased images bombard us regularly in the media.
“It’s changed my perspective on how to look at different people of different genders and races,” said St. Benedict student Laura Rinaldi.
The students gained a much deeper appreciation for the privileges that they enjoy in our society, whether it’s gender, socioeconomic status, culture or in other ways. It made them more empathetic toward those who don’t necessarily wake up with the same abilities. They were taught that with privilege comes the responsibility to make our world more equitable through examples of student leadership like the pink shirt day anti-bullying movement.
The students who attended the workshops now feel empowered to go back to their schools and work to make their peers more aware of some of the issues that were discussed.
St. Benedict student Breana Mastroianni said, “I really learned how to stand up and take a stand againstt discrimination.”
Superintendent of School Effectiveness, Rossella Bagnato, explained the importance of initiatives like this one. “We can’t predict the future but we can help shape it and a good place to start is with the students. The Harmony Movement and the equity workshop have provided us with a great starting point.”
Congratulations to these future leaders and we look forward to being a part of what you bring back to our schools.
LDAS Teacher of the Year
On Oct 21, an outstanding SCDSB teacher was recognized by the Learning Disabilities Association of Sudbury as the 2014 Teacher of the Year.
Jodi Cunningham, a teacher at St Charles College, has been with the board since 1995 and has taught in a variety of settings but it is the last nine years as the resource teacher at St Charles where she has made the biggest impact. Jodi continually puts students and families first and goes above and beyond to make sure each student has a place at St Charles College.
At St Charles you can ask any student with needs who one of their first contacts was at St Charles and they would tell you Mrs. Cunningham. Jodi helps every student find their appropriate path with the right supports for them. In her role, Jodi shares difficult conversations with students and families, in a caring way, and will go that extra mile to help each student reach their potential. It only takes five minutes with Jodi to know that each and every student is special to her and she will do everything in her power to help them be successful.
At SCDSB we are proud to be have such dedicated teachers as Jodi Cunningham helping each and every student.
Congratulations Jodi Cunningham!
Cardinal Can Total Crushed Once Again
St. Charles College and its feeder schools have collected more than 115 thousand cans to stock Sudbury Food Bank shelves during the winter months. This exceeds the goal to collect 60 thousand cans that the student council set at the beginning of the week.
Together with St. Raphael, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, St. John, St. David and Pius, the Cards went door-to-door all over the city in pursuit of cans or cash.
The schools also teamed up with Q92 and Kiss FM to promote what has become the largest single donation to the Sudbury Food Bank in its history.
SCC Principal Patty Mardero says, “I congratulate every Card and future who went door-to-door these last few weeks so that people in this city can eat.”