Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Category: Programs

SCDSB Appoints New Superintendent of Education

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The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Jean McHarg as the new Academic Superintendent of Education and Pathways to Success Program for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board effective September 1, 2005.

Mrs. McHarg is a true northerner, born and raised in Nakina, Ontario. She achieved her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, as well as a Bachelor of Education and Masters of Education through Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. She possesses both Principal and Supervisory Officer qualifications. Previous to her appointment with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Mrs. McHarg held the position of Student Success Leader with Superior North Catholic District School Board in Terrace Bay and was the principal of two schools simultaneously, St. Brigid’s in Nakina and St. Joseph’s in Geraldton.

Jean and her husband Bob will be relocating to the Sudbury area in the near future and are looking forward to becoming a member of the Sudbury community and a local parish. Mrs. McHarg’s appointment will also bring them closer to their two grandchildren and extended family living in the Toronto area.

“We are very pleased to have Mrs. McHarg as our new Academic Superintendent of Education and Pathways to Success Program,” stated Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. “We are confident that Mrs. McHarg has the necessary experience in Catholic Education and will be very successful in the position of Academic Superintendent as she shares our vision, our values and our dedication to the children entrusted to our care, ” concluded Peroni.

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is also looking forward to Mrs. McHarg’s appointment. “Jean is dedicated to continual learning for herself as well as staff and students. We are pleased that she will be part of our Media ReleaseBoard’s Senior Administration team. We share her enthusiasm for the Student Success Initiative and look forward to her continuing to develop our students into valued and responsible citizens who will fulfill the mandate of our Catholic Graduate Expectations,” stated Zubac.

SCDSB Math Challenge and Bridge Teams Recognized

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Students of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board Math Challenge and Bridge Teams were recognized for their excellent efforts throughout the 2005 school year by Board Chair, Paula Peroni at a recent meeting of the Board. Mrs. Peroni congratulated each student individually and presented them with “Certificates of Recognition.” Special plaques were also awarded to the Math and Bridge teams by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. The plaques will be displayed on the “hall of fame” in each of the individual schools.

Alice Cormier, Special Assignment teacher with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board explained that this was the first year that Bridge was introduced into the elementary panel. “In September 2004, The Sudbury Catholic District School Board was approached by Mr. Charles Crispin, General Manager of the Sudbury Bridge Club, with a proposal to provide Bridge lessons to the Grade 5 and 6 students,” stated Cormier. “Mr. Crispin’s generous offer was accepted by Principals Judy Bellmore from St. Andrew Catholic School and Shirley McKnight from St. James Catholic School.” Under the expert guidance of Bridge volunteer Doug Foreman, instruction was provided at St. Andrew School. Grade 5 pupils – Kelsey Aho, Nathan Bartell, Neha Chauhan, Leah Dupuis, Tylor Duval, Brenna Hallock, Cody Hillson, Andrew Johnston, Joseph Lister, Marie Longo, Jordan Miller, Jennifer Paquette, Cortnie Pinard, Brittney Smith, Savannah Whall, and Cody Wisniewski as well as their teacher Waldemar Swiatek soon became proficient Bridge enthusiasts.

At St James Catholic School, Bridge instructor Jennifer O’Hara engaged a group of grade six students in teacher Amanda Douglas’ class in enthusiastically learning the intricate skills associated with Bridge. St. James’ participants were Alyssa Jylha,
Jake Atkinson, Alexander Hunter, Jaysen Osawagosh, Matthew Soini, Ryan McInnes, Sean Dupont, James Johnson, John Lalonde, and Robert Larose.

Over the course of instruction, teachers and students came to recognize and appreciate the benefits of their participation in this unique program. In her presentation to the Board, Mrs. Cormier noted that;

• Bridge improves short – term memory retention in primary school children. According to the “Report of Minibridge Pilot
Research Project, St. Paul’s Church of England Primary School, Manchester, England” significant improvements in short-term
memory retention were found in four of the ten children.

• Teachers (from this same study) reported that the Bridge Program stimulated creativity, critical thinking skills, improved
concentration and attention to detail. They also pointed out that it was good value for the money expended and easy to administer.

• According to the Bridge Federation the “game of Bridge brings together logic, communication, social competence, and decision making in a unique way.”

• Students have commented that playing Bridge “helps them think, takes their mind off other things, gives them confidence and challenges them” (comments are from pupils in after-school bridge programs)

• Values of Bridge as related to the Ontario mathematics curriculum: enhanced communication skills, practice in constructing arguments to justify reasoning, data management skills improved, students were given the opportunity to use concrete objects during the games.

• Most importantly – it is a challenge but FUN!

Math Challenge

Once again this year, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board hosted Junior and Intermediate Math Challenges. The participation throughout many SCDSB schools was overwhelming, and the success of the program is owed directly to the hard work of those staff and students.

The following is a summary of this year’s results:

Intermediate Challenge:
41 teams (9 schools) took part in the challenge for a total of 123 students from Grades 6, 7 & 8. These teams completed five challenges during the year. We thank the coaches who helped make this a success!

Plaques were presented in two categories:

Highest Overall Average
St. Francis Catholic School

Most Improved
St. John Catholic School

Certificates were also are awarded to teams with the highest scores.

ST PLACE – Teams with the highest score of 24/25:

Team # 30 St. Francis Catholic School
Team # 33 St. Francis Catholic School
Team # 34 St. Francis Catholic School
Team # 39 St. Mary Catholic School
Team # 44 Marymount Academy
Team # 62 St. James Catholic School

SECOND PLACE – Teams with a score of 23/25:

Team # 38 St. Mary Catholic School
Team # 41 Marymount Academy
Team # 42 Marymount Academy

THIRD PLACE – Teams with a score of 22/25:

Team # 31 St. Francis Catholic School
Team # 36 St. John Catholic School
Team # 37 St. Mary Catholic School
Team # 61 St. James Catholic School
Team # 63 St. James Catholic School
Team # 64 St. James Catholic School

In the Junior Challenge, 25 teams,(7 schools) took part in the challenge for a total of 100 students. Five challenges were completed. Again, I would like to thank the coaches for their hard work and enthusiasm.

Plaques were awarded in two areas:

Highest Overall Average
St. Andrew Catholic School

Most Improved
St. Anne Catholic School

As with the Intermediate Challenge, certificates were awarded to teams with the highest scores.

FIRST PLACE – Team with the highest score of 24/25:
Team # 4 St. Anne Catholic School

SECOND PLACE – Team with a score of 23/25:
Team # 1 St. Andrew Catholic School

THIRD PLACE – Team with a score of 21/25:
Team # 6 St. Anne Catholic School

A special thank you to everyone who made these challenges so successful!

 

Representing the St. Anne Math Challenge Team (L-R) are: Taylor Hanson, Yvon Doiron, Michael Haney, Madame Pickard,
Chad Williamson, Bradley VanAlphen, Chris Sloan

It’s ‘Fun 2 Sing’ at St. Bernadette School

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Students at St. Bernadette Catholic School participated in the Fun 2
Sing program held at the school recently. More than 90 students from
Grades 1 to 6 took a break from their studies to sing and record four
songs under the direction of principal Linda MacDonald with assistance from Rob Hanson, producer of Folkes Hanson Productions.

“Fun 2 Sing” is an exciting, fun and rewarding project that offers elementary students the opportunity to be featured on a Christmas CD with other schools celebrating your school,community and music education,” states Hanson. “Numerous studies emphasize the importance and educational benefits of music for young
students. When students are starting to lose concentration, a five
minute break practicing for their upcoming CD will recharge their
batteries so that they are once again ready to learn,” concludes
Hanson. The Fun 2 Sing songs are easy, fun and require little or no
musical experience.

In addition to Sudbury, Folkes Hanson Productions have recorded students/schools in the communities of Peterborough, Belleville/Trenton, Kingston, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie,
Kitchener/Waterloo and the Niagara region. “These projects have
received much media attention, with features in local newspapers and
television news broadcasts. The students have a lot of fun, plus they
learn a little about music and recording in the process,” notes Hanson.

St. Charles College Boys’ Soccer Teams Take Championships

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The St. Charles College Cardinals Junior soccer team captured their third straight AAA Boys NOSSA title, and the Nina Grossi Memorial Trophy, with a 1-0 win over the West Ferris Trojans in NOSSA Boys soccer action held at Lily Creek at the end of May. Scott Whalen scored for the Cards while Brett Gautheir recorded the shutout. The rest of the Cards roster included: Jakob Quinn, Andrew Roberti, Brandon Roy, Ryan Grenon, Tyler Hodkinson, Dylan Hunt, Alex Pechkoff, Geoff Nelson, Michael Schinko, Julian Mirabelli, James Callaghan, Santino Temelini and Justin Gouett. The Cards were coached by Mr. John Sikora and Mr. Ed Sacchetto.

The St. Charles Cardinals Senior Boys soccer team went on a torrid pace in the playoffs, scoring 23 goals for and only allowing 2 goals againstt in four games, by first defeating College Notre Dame Alouettes 10-1 in the quarter finals, Lasalle Lancers 7-0 in the semi-finals and finally the Lockerby Vikings 2-0 in the finals to capture the AA/AAA City Championship Robert Ellen Memorial Trophy for the 6th time in seven years. The Cards followed with a 4-1 win over St. Joseph’s Scollard Hall in the AAA NOSSA Championships capturing the Laurentian Ball, giving them a berth at the OFSAA AAA Championships, after a three year absence. Most of the goals were scored by the Cards speedy strikers and playmakers, Nic Charlemagne and Marco Armiento while the stingy defence of Ryan Steinman, Joe Derochie, Tyler Myre and Matt Dumont as well as keeper Trevor Lalonde kept the opponents at bay.

At the OFSAA Championships in London, the Cards ended a five year drought by being the first NOSSA entry to win a game, after defeating Kingston 2-1 on a two goal effort by mid-fielder Christian Cundari. Other members of the St. Charles College boys senior soccer team included: Jesse Sbrega, Tony Fey, Andrew Steinman, Chris Gislon, Mario Galic, Gianluca Scaglione, Aaron Rehel, Anthony Galic, Silvano Costantini, Trevor Gibbons and Matt Kinnear. The senior squad was coached by Mr. John Sikora, Mr. Lloyd Rebeiro and
Mr. Michael Dagostino.

St. Paul Students Have Green Thumbs

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Students, parents, grandparents and staff at St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School celebrated the last of this year’s Earth Day activities recently by planting more than 400 Red Pine seedlings in the school grounds to help re-green the area. The seedlings were donated courtesy of Vermilion Forest Products Management along with two tandem truckloads of black loam from John Van Druenen, (Garson Pipe Contractors Ltd.) to bed the seedlings.

Mr. Toppers Pizza, (owner’s Kelly and Carolyn Toppazzini) kindly provided pizzas to feed all of the volunteers after the planting was complete. Pam Rivet from Dr. Signs provided ice cream treats to all planters and Stella Legault from the Colonial Inn brought juice boxes to quench their thirst after planting.

St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School would like to thank Vermilion Forest Products Management, John Van Druenen of Garson Pipe Contractors Ltd., Mr. Toppers Pizza, Pam Rivet and Stella Legault for their kind donations. Special thanks to the Ministry of Natural Resources staff: Don Mark, District Information Specialist; Amber Hamilton, Ontario Ranger Supervisor and Jesse Levert, Senior Forest Technician for coordinating the event and all students, parents, grandparents and staff for their hard work. Last, but not least, thank-you to Wal-Mart for jump-starting the entire project, and who continue to support the re-greening effort of St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School.

Sudbury Catholic District School Board Celebrates Music Monday May 2, 2005

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Sudbury Catholic District School Board together with its family of schools will be welcoming spring of 2005, on the first Monday of May with a series of musical concerts. Schools will take their music programs outside into the open air of their school grounds, to perform a short concert. There will be a series of outdoor school concerts across the country from the elementary level through to secondary schools.

The magic of the event is that at the same point during the day, (1:00 p.m.) schools across the country will be united by one piece of music. Simple and inspiring, this melody will be provided to schools in a variety of arrangements suitable for primary choirs through to senior high school bands and orchestras. In short, it is a piece of music that can transcend all genres and unite everyone through the melody and the act of playing or singing it at the same time.

The idea being that if one were to open the front door of his or her home and stand on the street on Monday, May 2, 2005, one would hear music and the skies would be filled with melody. Music Monday is promoted by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada.

MPP Rick Bartolucci Takes Part in Unique Workshop at Corpus Christi Catholic School

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Mr. Rick Bartolucci, MPP for the City of Sudbury took time from his busy schedule to participate in “Learning Through the Arts” workshops held at Corpus Christi Catholic School recently. The three-year pilot project involving eight of the schools of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board infuses core curriculum subjects such as language arts, math, and science with art forms.

Eleanor Albanese, the project coordinator for Northern Ontario maintains that the use of art to teach the regular curriculum lends itself to a wide variety of individual learning styles among students. “Some children learn best through movement while others are better if they see or hear the words acted out,” stated Albanese.

“A study by Queen’s University showed students in the Learning Through the Arts program scored 11 percent higher in math compared to other students,” noted Albanese. MPP Rick Bartolucci echoed Albanese’s comments after observing the workshops in the Grade 1 and 4 classes at the school stating that, “Learning Through the Arts is an excellent program because it teaches the total child and enhances the students’ ability to understand complex material. Learning Through the Arts brings out the best in all of us,” concluded Bartolucci.

SCDSB Launches New Wireless Program “Learning With Laptops – One to One Grade 9 Math”

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Students, parents, principals, teachers, trustees and all board staff were cordially invited to attend the official launch of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s new Learning With Laptops-One to One Grade 9 Math program using Apple wireless ibooks for all of its secondary schools recently at the St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Library.

The introduction of the wireless laptops at the secondary level builds on the success of the Learning With Laptops program that the Board introduced into six of its elementary schools last year. The mathematics-based program allows students to conceptualize the abstracts of mathematics and continues to integrate technology into the classroom setting. In its continued commitment to student success, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board has developed strong expertise in the use of technology as a resource for improving student achievement. “Laptops have become a tool to learn with and not solely a tool to learn from,” states Rossella Bagnato, Academic Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. “The Board is committed to the expansion of the wireless laptop program into each of our secondary schools. Every Grade 9 student will have access to a wireless laptop computer supported by a strong professional development plan that will assist staff in understanding programs and strategies associated with laptops,” concludes Bagnato.

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, will outline the scope of the new wireless program and its impact on students. Rossella Bagnato, the Board’s Academic Superintendent of Education will provide details on how the “Learning With Laptops-One to One Grade 9 Math” program will be integrated with the math curriculum and discuss the goals for improving student achievement. The morning events will also include demonstrations by students on the laptops with Robert Kennedy, Education Development Manager from Apple Canada.

An agenda is available online. For more information please contact, Rossella Bagnato, Academic Superintendent of Education, Sudbury Catholic District School Board, ph. 673-5620 ext: 300.

Destination Conservation – 2nd Inservice, Year 4

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The Sudbury Catholic District School Board presented the 2nd Inservice of Year 4 for Destination Conservation recently at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.

The agenda included an environmental and conservation session, overview of technical audits & lifestyle campaigns, a waste management session and information on the One Tonne Challenge. Destination Conservation is a multi- year program designed for school boards to improve their energy use, water consumption and waste management practices. A co-operative team of students, teachers, principals and custodians work together with Destination Conservation partners to help schools conserve resources and protect the environment.

For more information, please contact Mark Gervais, Energy Coordinator for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, ph. 673-5620 ext. 424.

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