Pius XII got ready to celebrate Earth Day recently by hosting its 5th Eco-Chic Clothing Swap.
This year, a new element was introduced, books!! There was an amazing amount of student involvement. Participants were excited to recommend their previously loved items to classmates. The swap was a great success and reinforced the importance of all of the environmental R’s, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle!
Category: Programs
St. Charles Students Take a Pledge to Protect the Environment
St. Charles Catholic School has had many Dearness Conservation initiatives this school year. Their focus in April is “stewardship”. Students and staff attended THE LORAX at Silver City. Upon their return, they all took a pledge to do their part to protect the environment and work towards a healtheir world for generations to come.
Understanding Our Carbon Footprint at St. Charles Elementary
As part of Earth Day activities, students in Eileen Harris’s Grade 2/3 class at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School in Chelmsford, learned about their carbon footprint. After reading a variety of books and researching ways to help reduce their use of resources, students came up with a number of activities that help lessen human impact upon the environment. Activities as simple as using clothes lines, using reusable shopping bags and riding their bicycles more often to more innovative and ambitious activities such as installing solar panels and roof top gardening were included. “Understanding our carbon footprint helps deepen our sensitivity to the Christian virtue of stewardship celebrated this month throughout Sudbury Catholic District School Board schools” said teacher Eileen Harris.
Celebration of Earth Day at St. David Catholic Elementary School
Jamayla Czaja from the grade 2/3 green team work with community volunteers from the Donovan Elm West Community Action Network to plant seedling for the Victory Park Garden. This is the second year that St. David’s students participate in this program. In celebration of Earth Day, St. David’s will be planting seeds for their school garden that they will share with Better Beginnings Better Futures and Aboriginal Best Start Hub.
Earth Day 2012 at St. Charles Elementary
In April, we especially look forward to our role as stewards of the environment to protect our planet. Students and staff at St. Charles Catholic School in Chelmsford wish to thank VALE for their generous donation of seedlings.
The campaign was kicked off with the story “THE TREE” by author Dana Lyons. Each student was given a seedling to bring home to plant in honour of Earth day.
Immaculate Students Continue to Inspire Change
Several months ago, a group of three students in teacher Chantal Rancourt’s grade 5/6 class were inspired to make a difference in the world. All on their own, these grade 6 Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary students decided that they wanted to start fundraising for the Ryan’s Well Foundation, which helps buy and build wells in countries where there is little access to clean water. In December they launched their own school fundraiser with the goal of raising $2000 to contribute to this foundation. After their first initial event, the girls – Abigail Morgan, Sydney Hall and Alexa Connors, had raised over $210 from the one day. Since then, they have had an additional $300 raised through more donations. On April 18th, 2012, the students organized a “fun day” fundraiser to secure more funds for their cause. “They have basically made all of the arrangements and plans all on their own,” teacher Chantal Rancourt stated. “These girls are amazing – they have done all the set up, organized all the events, and planned all the teams and team captains. I am so proud of their enthusiasm with this initiative!” Immaculate students were asked to bring in a toonie to take part in the fun day which included an obstacle course and a variety of sports and speed games. At the end of the day, their total had climbed to over $1650 – very close to their goal of $2000. The girls have one more event planned – a zumba fundraiser. When asked to comment about their inspirational efforts, the girls replied in unison “Inspiration is the key to the future!” The girls explained that this was their motto and they had decided to be inspiring and to spark inspiration in others. Their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed as a person from their community, after reading the initial story on their fundraiser, was so inspired by their determination, offered to help them reach their goal and would top up the remaining funds after their events were completed. Abigail, Syndey and Alexa were thrilled that they had inspired a stranger to get involved. All three have decided that this is just the beginning, and will continue to make positive changes in the future.
Celebrating Poetry Month at St. Benedict
St. Benedict grade 7 students Lexis Costanzi and Kelsey Currie prepare by doing warm-up exercises before performing their poetry on stage for Toronto-based poet Tanya Neumeyer. Performance poetry is written especially for an audience. In this case, the students will be presenting their original creative writing pieces for their classmates. Recently, the students were inspired by Neumeyer’s spoken-word workshops in which she taught them performance skills such as stance, gesture and tone.
Another Golden Year at Kiwanis for St. Charles College
The music program at St. Charles College struck gold again this year in all three of its music categories. Concert choir, the concert band and the guitar ensemble all took home gold standings at the Kiwanis Music Festival. The guitar ensemble received a high gold – which places them in the 90% or above range in their musical abilities.
This is the second year in a row that the high school has taken gold standing in all divisions.
Choir and Concert band director Shannon Coyle says “I am very proud of my students and their achievements this season. This is a true testament to their hardwork and our music program at St. Charles College.”
Lights Out for Earth Hour at St. David
St. David Dragon Amelia Carter-Jenveau “Turns The Lights Off At Lunch” in an effort to save energy as part of Earth Hour. The Dragons have been working hard to save energy, water and reduce waste through many school wide initiatives including a school wide composting program, waste audits, lights off at lunch, and recycling activities.