Sudbury Catholic District School Board

St. Charles College Students Trapping Bugs for Guelph Research Institute

The grade ten Science classes are taking their studies outside by trapping insects. Teacher George Fritz has partnered with the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph to sample the insect community in the St. Charles College school yard.

One of the classes set-up what is known as an “insect malaise trap” to collect specimens. The students will now spend the next two weeks monitoring what is caught in the trap. Fritz says “students will also have to note environmental conditions and the number of insects caught.”

After the sampling period, the specimens will be returned to the BIO facility in Guelph where the DNA of the insects will be barcoded for species recognition, and added to the Institute’s database.

Later on in the semester, the class will receive a report on the insect specimens. Fritz is hoping that the process leads to new information being added to the database.

Outdoor Learning at St. Bernadette

With the wonderful, warm weather arriving, why not teach outside? On Tuesday May 27th, the 5/6 French Immersion class from St Bernadette Catholic Elementary School took their learning to the pavement. After learning about variables in equations, the students solved algebra problems and communicated their thinking using sidewalk chalk. Teacher Chantal Therrien exclaimed that “The students thoroughly enjoyed working with their math partners to solve the missing variable under the sunshine!”

Spring Volunteer Work Day at KSOEEC

On Saturday, May 3rd the Killarney Outdoor Education Centre hosted a volunteer work day. The trail that is frequently used by the outdoor centre’s visitors was desperately in need of some work. Through funding received from the TD Friends of the Environment for a project titled ‘Boots and Bridges’, the outdoor centre was able to partner with volunteers from the Friends of Killarney Park and locals of Killarney. These volunteers worked hard all day to haul out old pallet boards, carry in material, build bridges and cut trees so visiting students to the outdoor centre would have a safe and dry trail to enjoy.
A special thank you goes out to the Friends of Killarney Park for their support.

St. Charles College Takes the Title at the Fourth Annual Sudbury Catholic Winter Adventure Race

This is the fourth year that the Winter Adventure Race has been held at the Killarney Shebanoning Outdoor Environment Education Centre (K.S.O.E.E.C).

St. Charles College competed againstt the other board high schools – St. Benedict’s, Bishop Alexander and Marymount to take the title.

The three part race consists of running, target shooting and an orienteering exercise.

The group won the race in 1 hour and 13 minutes. They were 6 minutes ahead of the next team to cross the finish line.

Butterfly Release at St. David Catholic Elementary School

The grade two class at St.David Catholic Elementary School raised Monarch butterflies in the their classroom this spring. They successfully nurtured the insects from chrysalis to butterflies over the past few weeks. On June 13th, 2013, Jennifer Babin-Fenske from EarthCare Sudbury came to join the class in releasing the butterflies. The grade two science teacher, Mrs.Shannon Meyer, stated “It was a great project that allowed us to review key science concepts and relate them to real life.” All students were excited about the experience of releasing the butterflies. “It was fun to see the butterflies landing on students. If they stood still, the butterflies would land on them. That was my favourite part of the day.” Logan Stewart-Cristo, grade two student at St.David Catholic School

Trip of a Lifetime for St. Charles College Students

Last month 15 students from St. Charles College went on the vacation of a lifetime. From April 12 – 20, 2013, as part of the school’s Specialist High Skills Major (S.H.S.M.) in Health and Wellness, these students, accompanied by two teachers, had the opportunity to visit the country of Guatemala to work with a restoration group in local communities. Based on the belief that “if you can keep a community environmentally healthy, you can keep the community physically healthy” teacher Tim Kingshott led the students to support the Chico Mendez Project which is a non-profit organization based out of Guatemala which works towards reforestation of the forests, the provision of environmental education, and the generation of oxygen for the world. The students helped collect soil and loam to mix and prep for the next round of trees that were scheduled to be planted in the areas they visited.
As well as the community service, another aspect of their trip was a homestay with a family from Guatemala. Each student had the opportunity to live with a Guatemalan family and experience their traditional culture.
In order to prepare for this trip, the students were required to learn the basics of First Aid, as well as travel and health/safety. The group even learned a little Spanish in order to support their communication skills during their adventure.
Kingshott, who is also an outdoor education teacher, organized many hikes, and other outdoor activities including ziplining. “This is the fourth year I have brought St. Charles College students to another country for the S.H.S.M. in Health and Wellness,” Kingshott stated. “Four years ago I took students to Ecuador, then Costa Rica, then Belize and this year Guatemala. It is such a life changing opportunity for these grade 11 and 12 students as they take part in real hands on learning. At the end of these trips, they take away skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. These experiences are history and learning based, curriculum based, and most importantly adventure based – all the while pushing the students beyond their comfort zone – there is no better way to learn!”

Good Stewards of the Earth

Grade 3 & 4 students in teacher Graziella Visentin’s class at St.Francis Catholic Elementary School learned about their carbon footprint as part of their Earth Day activities on April 22, 2013. Understanding the effects of our carbon footprint helped the students deepen their sensitivity and connection to a special virtue celebrated this month-Stewardship. Students read a variety of information books and researched ways to be good stewards of the earth by reducing, reusing and recycling resources. The students designed buttons to wear and promote their friendly Earth Day message to others. The class also created a book with student tips on how to reduce our carbon footprint on the earth. Ideas included walking to a nearby destination, riding their bicycles more often, donating used clothing and composting. Grade 3 & 4 students delivered flower seeds to some of the primary classes to beautify the outdoors at home or their school yard. St.Francis students from kindergarten to grade 6 received red pine seedlings courtesy of Xstrata Nickel and College Boreal to take home and plant outside for Earth Day.

St. David School Participates in “Take Me Outside Day”

‘Take Me Outside Day’ is a day to raise awareness about the importance of unplugging from daily technology and getting outside in nature. The “Take Me Outside” campaign was created by Colin Harris in 2011, after he spent nine months running from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia. Along the way, Colin Harris visited over 80 schools and spoke with students about the importance of spending more time outside rather than in front of a screen.

Colin’s final day of his cross Canada run was October 25th. To mark the day, more than 150 schools across Canada pledged to spend 45 minutes outside during class time. St. David Catholic School accepted this challenge and the students and staff spent time outdoors at their “new school” environment.

“At St. David, we believe in the importance of outdoor experiential learning for our students. We consider nature is an important element in our teaching practice. Our students learn to respect nature and take care of the environment they live in. Taking care of the natural environment is something that we embed in our daily lessons. Today we visited our new school location to witness the beauty that God has planted all around us,” stated Christina Vrbanic Kilby, St. David School grade 8 teacher.

Physical activity outside promotes good motor development and good mental health. Sunlight can boost vitamin D levels, which help form strong bones. Going outside in nature can give students a mental boost.

“Nature is fuel for the soul,” said Richard Ryan, author and professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. “Nature is something within which we flourish, so having it be more a part of our lives is critical, especially when we live and work in built environments.”

The students and staff of St. David School plan to visit the site of their new school during the year and will continue to explore and reap the benefits of outdoor education in their “backyard”.

St. David Catholic School Welcomes the “Outdoor Classroom”

Staff and students at St. David Catholic Elementary School continue to embrace the outdoor classroom concept. Last June, the primary and junior grade teachers and their students planted tomatoes, cucumbers, purple beans, squash, lettuce & nasturtium flowers in large planters around the school yard. During the warm summer months, the Better Beginnings Better Futures summer program took care of the garden boxes by weeding and watering the vegetables. This September, St. David School students were able to harvest tomatoes, cucumbers and nasturtiums from the garden boxes.

“The students were so excited to be able to make and eat a salad that they had grown themselves. The school purchased the lettuce to add to the student’s salad. We were also able to harvest broccoli, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes from the community garden at Victory Park. We worked in partnership with the community to help plant the Victory Park garden in the Donovan. Our students could not get enough of the vegetables that they had grown themselves. I am very proud of their initiative and their excitement and positive energy was contagious”, stated Terri Lynn Lepage, St. David School grade 3 teacher.

In other exciting ‘green’ news at St. David School, the grade 1 & 3 classes were able to harvest the worm casings from their vermicomposters and will be using that to fertilize the school garden boxes this fall! The school continues to compost as an entire school community including the Best Start Aboriginal HUB and Better Beginnings Better Futures After School Program. The school continues to work in partnership to reduce, reuse and recycle.

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