St. James Catholic Elementary School Core French classes, lead by teacher Sabrina Rocca, celebrated the anniversary of the franco-ontarien flag on September 25, 2012. The flag was unveiled on September 25, 1975 at Laurentian University. On this day, students learned about its inception and significance. They celebrated by making their own franco-ontarien flags.
Category: Programs
S.C.C. Student Braces for Event of a Lifetime – WE Day 2012
WE Day is an annual event that encourages student leadership, and it brings empowered youth together to show them they are not alone in their journey to impact local and global change. A student from St. Charles College is lucky enough to be attending one of the WE Days held in Toronto, at the Air Canada Centre. David DiBrina, president of the St. Charles College student council, as well as student trustee for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, has been selected to be one of the 20,000 students from across Ontario to have the privilege to be a part of the monumentous event. Speakers will include the likes Al Gore, Nelly Furtado, Hedley, and many more celebrities. This televised event is taking place on Friday, September 29th, 2012, and will be streamed live online. As a representative of the Sudbury Catholic Board, DiBrina will be tweeting live throughout the event on the Sudbury Catholic Twitter account and can be followed @ SCDSB throughout the day. When asked about his expectations of the event prior to his departure, DiBrina stated, “ I am sure that I will leave Toronto with a wealth of knowledge that I can bring back and share with my peers, as well as a renewed passion and increased confidence to make positive changes locally, as well as globally!”
St. Raphael Student Supports S.C.C. Annual Food Drive Challenge
Sara Perry, Grade 3 student from St. Raphael School, poses with the 27 non-perishable food items she collected all by herself to kickoff the Annual Food Drive with St. Charles College. Sara says “I collected them from some of the people on my street for the Sudbury Food Bank”. Students from St. Charles College visited the elementary school on September 21 to get the students excited about this industrious challenge. The goal this year is to collect 60,000 food items, in order for Mr. Jim Silva to be let out of the bus he will be on for a week. The St. Raphael Royals are ready and eager to help with the challenge!
“Peace and Respect” at St. John
The entire student body at St. John Catholic Elementary was treated to a live, interactive performance on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. Musical entertainer, Errol Lee performed for the primary, junior and intermediate students to spread his message of peace and respect. Entitled “Building Positive Relationships” this interactive muliti-media performance had the students, singing, dancing, signing to Lee’s songs about the importance of respect and peace for themselves and others. Phrases like “the pathway to peace is respect”, “behaviour is a choice”, and “if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem” were repeated by the students as Lee encouraged them, through song, to like themselves and understand the significance of these words. Accompanied by a skilled breakdancer, Lee’s performance engaged the students and had them completely involved with the movement and lyrics. Carmela Pitman, princpal of St. John was thrilled to have Lee perform for the school. “Students respond well to music – especially when it incorporates such a strong and positive message,” Pitman said. “We have had Errol at many of the Sudbury Catholic Schools for several years because the students thoroughly enjoy his music and most especially his positive message.” Lee feels that what sets him apart from other performers is that he believes “positivity is for people what water and sunshine are to flowers. It nurtures, it enriches, it feeds, it generates growth.” As well as the morning performances, Lee also held workshops about respect, positivity and peace for students in the afternoon.
Successful Open House for St. Anne Angels
St. Anne Angels celebrated another successful Open House on Wednesday, September 13, 2012. The halls of the Catholic elementary school in Hanmer were filled with smiling parents and students as they explored the classrooms and met the staff. Students, volunteers, and staff members worked as a team to organize what many are saying is the best Open House St. Anne hosted in years. Families were invited to a free barbeque, refreshments and desserts, along with students having the chance to have their face painted and get some physical fun on a bouncing inflatable pirate ship. “We had an extremely successful Open House this year. We have noticed an increase in enrolment, and we are happy that many of our new families had an opportunity to see how amazing St. Anne Catholic School truly is,” said Guy Mathieu, Principal.
St. Francis Students Supporting a Friend
Avery Houle and Emma Hickey, two Grade 4 students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School took it upon themselves to try to lend a helping hand for a fellow student. These young ladies demonstrated Christian kindness and empathy through their actions to help Karissa Kruk, a student from St. Francis who was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia this past summer. Avery and Emma, over the Labour Day weekend, sold lemonade for 50 cents a glass, for Karissa resulting in an outstanding $285.35 raised! They were helped by Emma’s grandparents, John and Denise Hickey, who gave them the idea. Congratulations to these two students for their hard work and caring. They plan to sell more lemonade in the very near future. Well done ladies!
As reported by: Emma Riley Grade 4
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.
St. Andrew Starts New School Year with Mass
St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School celebrated the new school year with a celebration of the Eucharist in the school activity room. Father Sam from St. Andrew the Apostle Parish led the students in the celebration. The students were challenged to show respect for the earth, their classmates, for all people, young and old, of all races and abilities, and finally to show respect for themselves, by working hard and doing their best to build God’s kingdom on earth.
St. Charles Catholic School JK/SK Students Wonder, “Where is God?”
Kindergarten students at St. Charles Catholic School began to explore the Essential Question, “Where is God?”. They found Him in the trees, the flowers, the sky and in each other. Students discovered that God lives in our hearts, our thoughts and our friendships.