On Thursday, January 11, 2010, students at St. Benedicts participated in a traditional smudging ceremony led by Elder Vince Pawis. Afterward, Mr. Pawis shared several traditional teachings such as the medicine wheel and clan names. The students learned how important it is to be respectful of others and of their connection to Mother Earth.
Category: Programs
Synthesizing in the Classroom
Grade three teachers met at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre on February 1, 2010 to learn about Synthesizing in the classroom. Lianne Perreault-Raymond, Curriculum Consultant for SCDSB inserviced the teachers looking at different reading strategies and comprehending in action. Synthesizing allows students to make meaning out of what they read so the teachers who attended the workshop learned different ways to use this strategy in their classrooms. This inservice helped the teachers examine the different ways to improve higher order thinking with their students.
Teachers Getting Even “Smarter” with the Smartboard
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board Technology Integration Mentors (T.I.M.’s) have been very busy the last few months inservicing our teachers in Smartboard training. Every elementary teacher who currently has a Smartboard in their classroom has been receiving Smartboard inservicing to help them better use this unique technology. Jennifer Connelly, one of the SCDSB T.I.M’s teachers said that by February 12, 2010, all of these elementary teachers at our board who have a Smartboard will be Level 1 certified trained.
Traditional Elders in the Classroom at St. Andrew
The St. Andrew School grade six class welcomed Vince Pawis and Thecla Neganegijig, both traditional Elders who work with the board at the Outdoor Education Centre in Killarney, to their school. Vince started the presentation with a traditional Smudging ceremony to elliminate all the bad energy in the room. He spoke to the students and their teacher about the Medicine Wheel and traditional medicines of tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar. Mr. Pawis also tied in the 7 Grandfather Good Life Teachings of wisdom, respect, love, bravery, humility, honesty and truth. The students and their teacher, Mr. Gautheir, were very interested to learn more about First Nation culture and tradition.
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre Launches Breakfast Program
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre officially launched its new Breakfast Program on February 1, 2010 to rave reviews. Students were at the school bright and early to help staff prepare for the first day of the program. St. Albert Office Supervisor, Ann Brisebois made sure that everything was ready and organized so that the students had healthy food options when arriving at the school. The program is funded by the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Human League. When asked about how she felt about the meal being provided at the school, student Angele St. Germain said that that it was fantastic. “It is absolutely excellent to get to school and have breakfast ready for us.” said St. Germain. “It is one less thing I have to worry about in the morning and makes it easier to start my day!”
Olympic Family Literacy Day at St. Mary
Family Literacy Day had an Olympic Theme at St. Mary Catholic School in Capreol. Students were able to use computers to search for answers to a scavenger hunt, decorate and then eat “medal” cookies, learn about the Olympic Rings and then create their own symbols to represent peace through sports, and also learn about the four Olympic mascots by utilizing the Smartboard and viewing video clips. But the best part of the day was seeing the Olympic Torch from the Torch Relay and one of the 12,000 torch bearers! James Callaghan, son of Steve Callaghan Chaplain at St. Charles College, visited with the students and staff in his Torch Relay regalia. James was a torch bearer in Collingwood on December 29, 2009. He showed video clips of his run and shared pictures of his brother, Nick, who was a torch bearer in Sault Ste. Marie. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is presented by Coca-Cola and RBC, and James was honoured to have been selected a torch bearer through the Coca-Cola contest he entered. James was chosen based on his extensive community involvement and an essay he wrote. James brought the torch so that students and staff could see and hear about the sacred history of the Olympic Flame, symbolizing the principles of peace, brotherhood and friendship. Every student had the opportunity to carry the Torch – what a thrill! Each student is now eagerly looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; they feel as if they have a personal connection to the games.
Valley East Schools Compete at Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition
Students from the Valley East area participated in the second level of the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition on January 28, 2010. Students from Immaculate Conception, St. Anne, St. Mary as well as from other boards came together at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School bringing all of their best “free throw skills” to win a chance to move on to the District Free Throw Championship. Students who came in first at their school level competition were invited to participate againstt the best of the best in the Valley area. Richard Rivais,a member of the Knights of Columbus, has been involved with this competition for the past ten years. Rivais was joined by other Knights including Yvan Gunville, Michael Frawley and Bernie Shank who helped run the event. The Knights also had Rivais’ daughter Tracy Rivais and son-in-law Sean Preseau on hand to help with the running of the competition. The winners who placed first at this competition will participate at the District Championship. In the event that the first place winners are unable to compete, the second place winners are given the chance to participate at the final competition. Congratulations to all of our students who participated!
First place winners:
Sydney Hall – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School
Riley Merrimen – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School
Tessa Scoville – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Second place winners:
Britney Chevrier – St. Mary Catholic Elementary School
Nicholas Whissell – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary
Jordan Connors – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Anthony Campioni – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
St. James Recycles for Haiti
Along with all of the money raising efforts going on at our Sudbury Catholic Schools, Grade 5 Eco-Squad leaders at St. James Catholic School in Lively are collecting milk bags which are used to make sleeping mats. The bags are then crocheted by a neighbour Cindy Kavanaugh into comfortable, waterproof mats which will be forwarded to Haiti. The mats can be used for eating or sleeping and also due to their bright colours these mats do not attract bugs. It takes 250 milk bags to make one large mat and 150 bags to make a smaller mat. To date the students have collected over one thousand milk bags. The St. James students will continue their campaign until the end of March.
SCDSB Update of Monies raised for Haitian Relief
As of Friday, January 22, 2010 our elementary and secondary schools have raised over $7000 in donations to support Haitian relief. Many of the monies raised came from school bake sales, PJ dress-down days, “Hats for Haiti” days, and staff luncheons. One student in particular, Rayden Recollect who is a Grade 1 student from St. David Catholic Elementary School, brought his piggy bank to school and decided to donate every single cent that he owned!! It is students like this that really reflect the Catholic family spirit we have at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and are very, very proud of all of our students and staff for collecting so much in such a short amount of time!!! It really is a huge accomplishment !