We live in a world surrounded by technology. We know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increase depending on their understanding of how technology works.
That’s why once again this year, students at Sudbury Catholic Schools joined in on the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week (December 6-12th 2021).
We would like to thank Professor and Program Coordinator of Game Design at Cambrian College Aaron Langille, who presented two informative and engaging sessions about Coding and Gaming to our students. In addition, thanks goes out to all of our amazing teachers, parents & volunteers! With their help, our students joined students around the world and participated in Hour of Code activities or tutorials 20 MILLION times this month!
To commemorate the event, Sudbury Catholic teachers and students that participated in an Hour of Code were entered into a draw to win a classroom prize pack! Congratulations goes out to: Martine Shydlowsky and her grade 6 French Immersion class! Prizes will be distributed in January!
Draw Prize Winners: Martine Shydlowsky and her grade 6 French Immersion class.
It was incredible to witness our students share in discoveries and big ideas throughout Computer Science Education week. Check out our next generation of computer scientists in action!
International Students and their host families from Sudbury Catholic Schools were invited to a fun evening of learning how to bake Gingerbread cookies led by Skills Ontario expert and Summer Camp Program Manager Kayla Bezarie.
Try out this delicious recipe; Learn To Bake Gingerbread Cookies while trying out the skills of a Patisserie or Pastry Chef during the Christmas holidays!
Grade 4 students at St. David Catholic Elementary School were thrilled to discover their September video submission was honoured as a national winner in the 2021 Take Me Outside Student Video Contest.
The Take Me Outside Student Video Contest is a national competition aiming to get students outside by encouraging them to submit their best, self-made video, featuring how they like to spend their time exploring the outdoors in Canada.
With a tight deadline of Sept. 17th and less than two weeks back at school, Mrs. Toffoli’s class were up for the challenge and placed second nationwide in the class category. In reward for their tremendous work, the class received gift cards from MEC to help get them outside even more!
“I am so proud of my classmates and my teacher because we won second place in Canada.” Edrea, Gr. 4 Student
“I am so happy that we got second place. Our hard work paid off.” Diymtrius, Gr. 4 Student
Mrs. Toffoli and her teaching assistant Brandon Antonioni ensured students had the support and resources to inspire the creativity needed to create the video and follow the rules.
“When I first heard about the contest, I knew right away St. David School had the perfect backyard. We have such amazing trails and a great outdoor classroom that showcases Canada’s beauty. The students worked hard on this contest and came up with some brilliant reasons why learning from and on the land is important to them.” Stephanie Toffoli, Gr. 4 Teacher
“At St. David School, we continue to work to enhance our teaching pedagogy to ensure that we include not only Indigenous theory and knowledge in our lessons but also ways of being. An important part of Truth and Reconciliation is learning on the land and acknowledging the teachings around us in nature. We thank our Indigenous community partners and Elders that continue to support our learning on the land, as well as thank wonderful organizations such as “Take Me Outside” for the encouragement they offer to all schools to take that step outside and enhance our learning.” Dawn-Marie Wemigwans, Principal
In honour of Computer Science Education Week (Dec 6-12), each day, we will put a special spotlight on 1 amazing staff member whose expertise within the fascinating world of IT and computer science deserve to be celebrated!
Learn more about Computer Science Education Week by checking out the #csedweek website.
He is one of the wonderful Computer Infrastructure Technicians we have here at SCDSB and believes that “IT can take you anywhere!”
Thanks David for all that you do and more!
TUESDAY
On Tuesday we’d like to introduce you to Samual Smith and his inspiring quote. Sam is IMS Technician who believes “technology is everywhere. you can revolutionize the world if you know how to use it.”
Thank you Sam, we appreciate and thank you for all your hard work at SCDSB!
WEDNESDAY
Introducing our staff highlight for Wednesday, Pat Hauser!
Pat is an extraordinary Computer Technician and believes that “with technology, the world is literally at your fingertips.”
Thank you Pat for all your hard work and dedication that you do everyday!
THURSDAY
Continuing our streak on computer science education week, we’re highlighting Ron LeClair this Thursday!
Ron is one stupendous Computer Management Technician that we have here at Sudbury Catholic Schools.
Thank you, Ron, for all you do and more!
FRIDAY
Thank you to everyone who participated in Computer Science Education Week at Sudbury Catholic Schools!
CSEdWeek was founded as a call to action to raise awareness about the need to elevate computer science education at all levels and to underscore the critical role of computing in all careers.
The theme this year highlighted the impact that computer science is making everywhere and the relationship that computer science has to different subjects, industries, career paths, and in our everyday lives.
To close off the week, we’re treated with a quote from our Superintendent of School Effectiveness, Peter Prochilo who reminds us that “technology is an effective tool that educators can leverage to support equity of access to curriculum and learning.”
Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to introduce students to Storwell, in support of their Foster Children Bursary Program.
Storewell offers an annual bursary of $2,000 in support of foster children to help them attend post-secondary schools and to offer a hand up as they make their way forward in life.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is excited to announce that we’re looking for submissions for our annual Christmas card artwork contest that celebrates and honours our catholic faith created with art that’s created from the hands of our wonderful students.
Year after year, we have the pleasure of seeing the creativity and imagination of our students flourish through this annual tradition. As the weather becomes cooler and we turn our attention towards the season of Advent, we excitedly await with anticipation of the beautiful artwork 2021 will bring forward.
Please help spread the word to interested SCDSB students by sharing this contest. The deadline for submissions this year is November 22nd, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. Details of the contest can be found in the attached document!
November 1-7 is Treaties Recognition Week, an important time of year where Ontario students acknowledge and learn about treaties as well as the histories, perspectives, and contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board (SCDSB) is celebrating its participation in Treaties Recognition Week. This year, we honour Indigenous histories, perspectives, and contributions through meaningful lessons, presentations, readings, events and celebrations for students and staff at all our schools.
School Highlights
St. John
At St. John Catholic Elementary School, students in Mrs. Galipeau’s class learned about wampum belts in an activity where they could make their own belts out of Lego. Students in Grade 5 and 6 created the 1764 Treaty of Niagara wampum belt. Pictured are Nathan and Olivia, Jaguar students proudly showcasing their class’s completed belt. Wampum belts represent agreements and promises that last “as long as the sun shines and rivers flow”.
On Nov. 2nd, Grade 2 students in Mrs. Child’s class at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School read “Dakota Talks About Treaties.” Afterwards, they created a word web to describe what the word “treaty” means. Also, reading a story was Ms. Trudeau and Ms. D’Angelo’s class! “A Family Cookout” was read to help students explore measuring objects. Afterwards, Ms. Trudeau led an engaging lesson on making bannock where students used their knowledge in a real-life context. However, reading wasn’t the only popular activity. Mrs. Blakely’s grade 1 class learned all about the medicine wheel, smudged, made wampum belts and created their very own classroom treaty.
At St. David, a school-wide activity was implemented in preparation for the week. The Grade 5 class mapped the forested area in an educational exercise that touched on Indigenous identity, history, and ways of being. In an abundance of activities, students learned about treaties, promises, wampum belts and what it means to be indigenous. The school listened to “The Drum Calls Softly” and students created versions of the artwork in the video.
Over at Pius, Treaty Recognition Week was in full force. The school’s Grade 6 students took part in a lesson that included constructing their own Wampum commitment string. Wampum commitment string symbolizes an agreement of respect and peace. Collectively, all the strings will attach and form a family circle to honour Treaty Week.
To commemorate Treaty Week, the students in Grade 2/3 FI at St. James explored the significance of wampum belts as representations of promises that were made to last. They recreated the Treaty of Niagara wampum belt with Legos and other materials and mapped out some of our province’s treaties.
St. Benedict’s kicked off Treaty Recognition Week with Smudging available to students and staff. Classes participated in the Treaty Awareness dialogue. For example, Treaty is ‘Legally Binding’ and that there is also a ‘Sacred Element’ to the agreements. In addition, the school’s Life Skills Class learned and designed a Wampum Treaty Belt of their choosing. Tobacco was offered to our Indigenous Support Worker, Ms. Agowissa, for knowledge sharing. “We Are All Treaty People and are in the Robinson Huron Treaty region.”
Other highlights included secondary students participating in the Robinson Huron Treaty “Treaty Talks with Tomorrow’s Leaders”. Students were able to listen to different Ogimaak/Chiefs from RHT communities share treaty knowledge past, present and future about ‘Gweksijigewin’ (making things right). This knowledge was applied on Friday, Nov. 5th, with presentations from the students.
It truly is very exciting to see what beautiful things our schools are doing to honour this essential part of the learning experience. Thank you to all our staff and community leaders, who took the time to capture and share some of the many wonderful things they were able to participate in this week. For more school activity updates, check out Indigenous Education SCDSB.
Students in Mr. MacNeill’s grade 7 & 8 class signed up for the annual Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge. The challengeis a commitment to ongoing outdoor learning throughout the school year. Mr. MacNeill, his students and 700 000 other students across Canada made the commitment to learning outside at least one day per week.
This year marked the 11th annual Take Me Outside to Learn Day and in partnership with Canada’s Non-profit Outdoor Learning Store and MEC, they hosted a full week of speakers, activities and events that not only engaged students but deepened their connections with Indigenous perspectives, strengthened their health and well-being with outdoor learning, and increased their knowledge on climate change and the environment.
On Thursday October 21st, Mr. MacNeill’s class along with seven hundred classes across the country were excited to participate in a live inspirational talk and Q&A with Dr. Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada. Dr. Goodall spoke about growing up without television and social media and how she spent most of her time outdoors. She stressed the importance of living in harmony with nature as it improves our mental well-being.
The Jane Goodall Institute explained the opportunity for students to participate in their Roots & Shoots funding program. Roots & Shoots focuses on Jane Goodall’s inspirational message of hope, reminding participants that every individual is important and every individual can make a difference. Through a unique 4-step program, educators lead youth from inspiration; to mapping their community for sustainability issues for people, animals and the environment; to taking action to solve those issues; and then celebrating the impact they have made. Through this journey, youth are engaged to take action on sustainability issues and become compassionate leaders.
We can’t wait to hear about the action project ideas that Mr. MacNeill’s class will discuss next week!
Last week, a call out was made to all grades 2-6 at St Anne students to see if they were interested in participating in the first-ever Skills Ontario’s Junk Drawer Races! Over 100 students attended the first planning meeting. Due to the overwhelming response, the school has organized their own tournament with local winners advancing to the regional competition.
Each challenge nicely aligns with the grade specific science curriculum expectations. This is an excellent opportunity to integrate the curriculum while giving our students fun and engaging hands-on learning experiences.
There is still time to register your class, the deadline is:
November 16th at 4:00pm.
We are hoping to have representation from each of our schools and will provide a small budget for the extras that might be required for our students to participate. In addition, Dan and myself will be available to present the challenges with the specific details to individual classes or to a group of classes via Zoom.
