The staff and students at St. Charles College recognize the importance of continuing to raise funds for the devestated country of Haiti. While the school’s mission collection is ongoing daily, the students decided they wanted to do something extra to add to their mission donations. A group that is new to the school this year – P3 – which stands for People, Peace, Power – is a student run club that works towards social justice and peaceful relationships within the school and community. It incorporates the already established E.S.P. group at St. Charles College which is the Empowering Student Partnerships. These students decided to have t-shirts made to sell to boost their fundraising efforts. The t-shirts are being sold for $10 and there are only a few left as the sales have been a huge success. Including the mission collections, the students and staff have collected over $3000 and their donation will go to Haitian relief through Chalice which is a Catholic Aid organization that is sponsored by the Bishops. Patty Mardero, principal of the school felt that it was a real team effort by the entire school and was very pleased and proud of their accomplishment.
Category: Programs
Pilot Apple Technology Project Huge Success for St. David’s Grade Fives
The Grade 5 students were so excited they could hardly sit still as their St. David teacher Jennifer Gran asked them to open their macbooks and turn on their ipods. Gran along with Leann Laframboise, one of the Sudbury Catholic Technology Integration Mentor Teachers had put together a proposal and submitted it to Apple Canada with the hopes that the Grade 5 class would be selected to pilot a technology project. Luckily, the two teachers’ proposal was selected out of the hundreds of proposals submitted from across Canada. Apple selected Gran’s class which allowed the students the use of ten MacBook computers with wireless connectivity, digital still and video cameras, and iLife ’09, Apple’s award-winning digital media software as well as ten ipods. For the last four weeks, the class has created podcasts, comics, digital stories, movies and posters. As well, the students used ipods for different activities such as reading, navigating apps and browsers and literacy and numeracy games. Gran was thrilled that her class had the opportunity to have some really hands on learning time with the provided technology. “If you have a high number of identified students, the technology really levels the playing field in regards to learning. “said Gran. “The technology gives the students many different options for learning. They don’t all learn the same way and with the macbooks and ipods, they can choose the way they learn most effectively, which makes teaching easier for the teacher.” For each different activity, the students were divided into groups and sat down with either Gran or Laframboise to consult on their projects. All of the students got the opportunity to use both pieces of technology daily. After St. David’s, the next school to receive the kit will be St. Francis Catholic Elementary School which was also one of the schools to be selected from across Canada.
Aboriginal Celebration and Feast to Send Off U.K. Visitors
On Thursday, February 18, 2010 the Sudbury Catholic District School Board had an Aboriginal Celebration and Feast for the 12 educators from the United Kingdom as well as all of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board staff involved with the planning and implementation of their visit. The U.K. educators spent the week visiting several schools to observe different educational strategies implemented in our elementary school system. On Thursday night, the entire group gathered in the gym of Marymount Academy to learn about Aboriginal Culture and Heritage. The guests were treated to beautiful Aboriginal dancing and drumming – including the St. Charles College Drumming group the Red Bird Singers. Also attending the event were community partners, Traditional Elders, SCDSB Trustees Barry MacDonald, Paula Peroni, Estelle Scappatura and Jack MacDonald. The night began with a welcoming prayer, smudge and dancing,and then the visitors from the United Kingdom as well as the rest of the group were provided a traditional Aboriginal Feast including corn soup, wild rice casserole and bannock. After spending the week observing different classrooms and teaching strategies, the U.K. educators were thrilled to end their visit with such an outstanding cultural celebration!
St. Anne Catholic Elementary Students Celebrate the 2010 Olympics
The English and French Immersion Junior and Senior Kindergarten children of St. Anne’s Catholic Elementary School celebrated the opening of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics holding their own torch ceremony within the school. Ava DeVos and Owen Moxam led their classmates with the relay through the St. Anne hallways.
Sudbury Catholic Schools Partners with Laurentian University to Support Aboriginal Student Success
The Dual Credit program offered through Sudbury Catholic Schools, Rainbow District School Board and Laurentian University provides opportunities for Aboriginal secondary school students to participate in postsecondary courses, earning dual credits that count towards both their secondary school diploma and their post secondary degree.
While dual credits are increasingly common between high schools and colleges, this is the only dual credit between Ontario high schools and universities approved by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This particular dual credit pilot program is designed to: increase the number of Aboriginal students graduating from secondary school and to assist with the transition between secondary and post secondary education.
The unique advantage of dual credit programs is their ability to provide new and varied learning opportunities to students by providing real world applications to help them achieve their potential. Dual credit courses also engage students through exposure to the university setting and culture, provide more student choice and ensure a smooth transition pathway from secondary to post secondary education. Evidence has shown that dual credit programs increase the likelihood of graduation success.
Sudbury Catholic Schools, Rainbow District School Board and Laurentian University have partnered to provide this opportunity for their students to better support and engage the Aboriginal youth in our community.
Bishop Simard Shares His Message of the Importance of Catholic Education
The Principals and Senior Administration met at the Sudbury Diocesan Centre on Thursday, February 11, 2010 to celebrate their faith and share best practice. The group was very honoured to start their day with a Mass led by His Excellence Bishop Noel Simard. During the mass, the principals listened to the Bishop’s message of the importance of Catholic education. “ We have to be proactive in proclaiming and showing the importance of Catholic Education.” said the Bishop. “Catholic education will allow our students to become people full of compassion and this is our challenge – to be strong and unite in the celebration of our faith.” When speaking of the sacrifices the principals as leaders face, the Bishop asked the question is it all worth it? He answered his own question very simply but emphatically – “you bet!” The group was asked to act as pillars of strength in their own school communities and were given the task of taking their inspiration back to their staff and students to engage them in their renewal of their faith.
SCDSB Students Celebrate Dearness Conservation at Energy Fair
Approximately 600 students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board visited Science North on February 11, 2010 to join together for the Dearness Conservation Energy Fair. All of the schools that participate in the Dearness Conservation program were invited to share best practice with each other and learn new ways to go green in their school communities. Each school was invited to speak to the different ways that they were taking care of the environment. Some of the different ways the schools shared their information was through displays, skits, scrapbooks and signs. Once they were done with their presentations, the students listened to Science North Staff Scientist Frank Mariotti speak about Sudbury and is development and environmental changes. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board applauds all of the efforts of our schools for their dedication to the preservation of our environment.
Sudbury Catholic Schools Greener Thanks to Provincial Funding
Five Sudbury Catholic District Schools: Marymount Academy, St. Charles College, St. Benedict, St. Francis, and St. Raphael Catholic Schools are a lot “greener” today thanks to a McGuinty government investment of $272,284. The new funding for “Green School Projects in Sudbury” was announced at a media conference held this morning at College Notre Dame by Rick Bartolucci, M.P.P. Sudbury.
“Our government is committed to ensuring students in Sudbury have the best possible resources for learning,” said Bartolucci. “Today’s investment will save area school boards money while promoting a greener, more efficient approach to learning and living in our community”.
In August 2009, boards across the province were asked to submit applications identifying their interest in the “Green Schools Pilot Initiative.” The Sudbury Catholic District School Board participated in five multi-board project application submissions for five different green projects. In October 2009, the Ministry approved the pilot projects involving five of the Board’s schools and local businesses. The Board is working with green energy companies to pilot a variety of projects involving electric energy conservation, hybrid electric or thermal energy generation, sewage and water treatment, solar and thermal energy generation and conservation, and wind generation.
Barry MacDonald, Vice-Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was on hand for this morning’s announcement and is very pleased with the funding from the province in support of the Green Schools Pilot Initiative. The $272,284 that we gratefully received from the province will allow our Board to pilot nine green installations using five new initiatives. These new and innovative technologies will not only support our plight to reduce our energy consumption and our commitment to reduce carbon emissions but will also provide test sites for renewable and sustainable power generation plants.
The five schools involved in the pilot projects with their respective companies are as follows:
| School | Project | Company |
| Marymount Academy | Electric Energy Conservation | Triacta Power Fifth Light Technology |
| St. Benedict Catholic SS | Electric Energy Conservation | Triacta Power |
| St. Charles College |
Electric Energy Conservation |
Triacta Power Conserval Engineering Inc. Brac Systems |
| St. Francis Catholic School | Ontario Educational Solar | Evergreen Power Solutions |
| St. Raphael Catholic School | Electric Energy Conservation Sewer and Water |
Triacta Power Brac Systems |
Two Thumbs Up for “The Nickel Stops Here”!
“The Nickel Stops Here” is a play written and produced by Marlene Lee, the Grade 6/7 teacher at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School.This musical/comedy is an original script and score that Lee wrote about the Greater Sudbury area. As someone who moved here from southern Ontario, Lee wanted to give her perspective on life in the North. The play includes the Grade 6/7 class playing the parts of the leads, the JK/K class as the black flies and the JK FI class as the blueberries. The story is about King Inco and Queen Nephawin who need their son, Moose, to take over the throne of the Kingdom of Sudbury. Moose only wants to hunt and fish. His sister, the Princess Laurentian, is eager and willing to put Sudbury on the map environmentally and to rule it. According to the kingdom’s constitution, however, she must be married to do so. Laurentian must battle the two princes from Espanola and Wahnapitae in a game of Jeopardy to see who wins the throne. The students have been working for months in preparation for their show and it is very evident that the hard work has paid off. The play deserves two very big thumbs up for the efforts of the students and Marlene Lee for their outstanding production!