Father Sam, new parish priest at St Andrew the Apostle, is making connections with St. Andrew school. Father Sam visits to the school every second week, and is a welcome guest for all students as he meets the students in all classrooms from JK-GR.6 and revitalizes student’s Catholic faith through dialogue and discussion. On Wednesday, Oct. 5th, students will walk to church and attend mass where they will bring along photos of their pets for a special blessing since they will be celebrating the feast of St. Francis of Assisi known as the patron saint of animals.
Category: Programs
St. Charles College on Par with Golf
Congratulations to the St. Charles College boy’s golf team who won the Sudbury District Secondary Schools Athletic Associations (SDSSAA) golf tournament September 22 led by Stephen Gonko who also finished second in individual play at the tourney. The win qualified the boys for NOSSA play. At NOSSA the boys played extremely well with Ryan Lafreniere shooting 73 followed by Stephen Gonko with a score of 74. They placed both first and second in individual play. The team itself then had to play an extra hole breaking a tie with Franco-Cite from Sturgeon Falls. In the playoff, Ryan Lafreniere drove the green and two putted for birdie. The team proceeded to take the team competition thus qualifying them for OFSAA October 11-13 to be held in Belleville. Members of the golf team are: Stephen Gonko, Ryan Lafreniere, Joel Charlebois, Evan Purcell and Stan McGillis.
Sharing Best Practice and Honouring Culture
Visitors from the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board were in town on Wednesday, September 29 to learn more about the inclusion of aboriginal culture within the school system. Dufferin-Peel CDSB’s Director of Education John Kostoff, Superintendent Clara Pitoscia and General Manager of Communication and Media Relations, Bruce Campbell visited with administration from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board to discuss the inclusion of aboriginal culture into the teaching and learning practices at the Sudbury Catholic Board. The group visited three of the Sudbury Catholic schools including St. Charles College, St. David Catholic Elementary School and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. At each of the sites, the principals, teachers and students spoke about the importance of the presence of aboriginal culture physically in the learning spaces, as well as embedded in their curriculum and teaching.”At Sudbury Catholic, we are so privileged to have key people in place in our organization who are passionate about honouring aboriginal culture in our educational community,” Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic Board stated. “We always welcome the opportunity to share what we continue to learn, with other Boards across the province.”
“Welcome Back and Happy Birthday!”
Welcome back to classes! Students and families gathered in the gym at St. Bernadette Catholic school to celebrate the start of another school year with, Father Sam D’Angelo of St. Andrew the Apostle Church. Grace Olive in Grade 1 presented Father Sam with a birthday cake as he was also celebrating his birthday. Principal, Diana Salvador, stated that “Coming together as a school community on a monthly basis to share our faith, is a unique opportunity that we have here at Sudbury Catholic Schools.”
St. Anne Kindergarten Student Authors Her Way Into Prize Winning Story
How young can you be to write your own story? Just ask St. Anne School student Ashlyn Carrierre. She is the newest recipient of the Ontario Catholic Elementary Teacher’s Young Author Award for 2011. Ashlyn is a student within the English Senior Kindergarten class at the Sudbury Catholic School in Hanmer. In January of this year, she wrote her own fairy tale entitled, “Princess Shalla and Prince Aucoinia Get Kidnapped.” Her story was then submitted to the Young Author’s contest in the fiction category for the Junior and Senior Kindergarten division. In April, the school received notification that Ashlyn’s story had won!
“I am so excited,” said Ashlyn. “I am so happy that I got a plaque. It feels really good to be an author.” In an awards ceremony that took place on June 17th, Ashlyn was presented with a plaque for her wall. The plaque shows not only Ashlyn’s name, but also the title of her fairy tale. The Ontario English Catholic Teacher’s Sudbury Unit President, Mr. Kent MacNeill, presented the award to Ashlyn in front on the entire school body as well as her family who were also attending. Her classroom teacher, Cheryl MacRury, told the assembled group that Ashlyn had a wonderful imagination for a little girl of her age and that she was very deserving of this award. Ashlyn knew that fairy tales started with “Once upon a time” and that they ended with everyone “living happily ever after”. She had picked her own characters and setting. She had come up with a problem for the characters and then the solution. And finally, all on her own, Ashlyn had used words like ferocious, sparkly, huge and dungeon, as well as names like Queen Shata, Princess Shalla, and Prince Aucoinia.
Ashlyn may or may not be Ontario’s newest author, but there is a good chance that she may be Ontario’s youngest author. Both staff and students from St. Anne School hope to one day be able to walk into Chapters and read books that Ashlyn has authored. She is certainly a little girl with a wonderful ability to write entertaining stories. Good luck with your talent in the future Ashlyn! St. Anne School is very proud of you!
Sudbury Catholic Schools Launch Poster Campaign – “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers”
National Aboriginal Day is about celebrating pride and culture and that is just what
Sudbury Catholic District School Board did with the launch of their poster campaign “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers” during Better Beginnings Better Futures’ celebrations at O’Connor Park. This series of seven posters represents each of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. It also features families from our schools. The concept is about honouring our first teachers, our mothers. Each poster has three generations of women on them, grandmother, mother and daughter. Director, Catherine McCullough commented, “we are honoured to have families involved in creating this excellent resource for our schools. Their participation in this initiative speaks to their pride as Aboriginal women and to their commitment to Aboriginal Education at Sudbury Catholic. What better day to celebrate this but, National Aboriginal Day.”
Sudbury Catholic’s Third Annual Outdoor Adventure Race a Smashing Success!
Despite the rainy weather, it was a spectacular day for the third annual Sudbury Catholic Outdoor Adventure Race in Killarney on June 8, 2011. Students from all four of the Board’s secondary schools entered teams to take part in a four part outdoor race which included biking, canoeing, orienteering and a mystery challenge which involved a first aid rescue exercise. A total of fifteen teams with three students per team participated and, although rain-soaked for part of the race, managed to keep smiles on their faces throughout the entire challenge. The past two years has seen St. Charles College and then St. Benedict take home the coveted banner, and this year St. Charles managed to win back the first place spot. A team from St. Benedict won in terms of time, however, due to a small mistake in the orienteering section, they were given a 5 minute penalty which put the St. Charles team consisting of Adam McKibbon (Grade 12), Michael Wandziak (Grade 11) and Jonah Lynott (Grade 11) in first place. Awards were also given out for first place for a co-ed team as well as an all-girls team.
E-Waste Collection at Marymount Academy
The entire student body of Marymount Academy was issued a challenged by one of the computer studies classes. “Bring in your garbage” was what the girls were asked – but not just any garbage. Students and staff have been asked to bring in all of their e-waste for the week of May 30 to June 3, 2011. This collection was the idea of teacher Desiree Lacourciere’s class after having several conversations about the effect of electronic waste on the environment. The students contacted a company called Greentec to help them with their collection. As well, the class divided into groups and put together short videos to inspire the entire school to join them in their collection. All of the videos were viewed and voted on, and the winning video was premiered for the entire school at the e-waste collection launch on May 30. When addressing the students, Lacourciere encouraged all students and staff to talk to their families and find whatever old electronics they had to contribute. “My students were the inspiration for this initiative,” Lacourciere said. “ In class we learned so much about the harmful effects of electronics on the environment and we knew that we couldn’t just sit back – we had to get on board as a school community.” Lucie Cullen, principal of the school echoed Lacourciere’s encouragement and spoke of the importance of getting involved. “At Sudbury Catholic Schools, we are called to be stewards of the earth, and at Marymount Academy we always take action when we are passionate about what we believe in.”
The students have one week to collect items such as old computers, printers, printer cartridges, cell phones, batteries, digital cameras, monitors, televisions etc.
“Heart Heroes” Make A Difference At St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Primary and Junior students at St. Anne School in Hanmer questioned teacher, Mrs. Desmarais. “What is a Heart Hero?” Mrs. Desmarais’ response was that a Heart Hero was anyone that wanted to help keep all kid’s hearts strong and healthy. She outlined to students how they could work together to make a difference not only to their own health, but to the future of healthy hearts everywhere. Those words were all that the Catholic Board students needed to hear. In association with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the elementary students participated in the “Jump Rope for Heart” fundraiser.
The students prepared for the event by raising pledges. Next, they began a campaign of improving their skipping skills and stamina during gym classes and recesses. A skipping “phenomena” took over the school. The school administration and teachers helped with the excitement by offering incentives for students with the most pledges. Goals of $1000.00 to $5000.00 or more would result in students being able to throw pies at staff members in front of the entire student body. Mr. Guy Mathieu, the school principal, stated, “The amount of enthusiasm that has been generated with this fundraiser is incredible! I am always amazed at the school spirit demonstrated by the students, not only with their efforts in bringing in pledges, but also at their enthusiasm within the gym at the actual pie throwing contest.” All money amounts raised are put to good use by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. A pledge of as little as $5.00 can be used to purchase test tubes for lifesaving research, while funds of up to $150.00 can be used to buy a blood pressure monitor to keep patients healthy.
The fundraising activity was a huge success! More than $5000.00 was raised. A school assembly will be held in June where staff members will keep their promises to the St. Anne “Heart Heroes.” Even though the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is over, school skipping ropes are still in demand by students in all grade levels. The Sudbury Catholic Board students have learned, “They can make a difference in the lives of others!” Way to go Angels!