Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Larocque and Taylor-Horeck – 2015 Chairperson’s Award Winners

Every year, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board of Trustees selects a recipient for the Board’s prestigious Chairperson’s Award – someone who embraces Catholic values, demonstrates initiative and ingenuity, and contributes positively to the lives of students and staff. On May 28, at the Board’s Retirement Dinner and Celebration for 25 year employees, two Sudbury Catholic employees were presented with this year’s Chairperson’s Award -Jean-Gilles Larocque, a teacher at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, and Kim Taylor-Horeck, the Board’s Attendance Counsellor.

Jean-Gilles has been with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board for over 12 years, and has been a teacher at Bishop ACCSS beginning September, 2003. He was nominated by staff for being a leader within the school, and for his dedication and ambition in setting the school apart. Larocque is also an outstanding coach and mentor, and encourages students to become involved in sports and extra curricular activities in the school. According to the school’s principal, Cassandra MacGregor, “Jean-Gilles fosters the search for meaning as a lifelong spiritual and academic quest in our students – he consistently encourages students to think, reflect and fully evaluate situations when solving problems. He models being a lifelong learner and encourages students to set and reach their personal goals and beyond.”

Taylor-Horeck, began with the Sudbury Catholic Board as an educational assistant in 1986 and then took on the role of Attendance Counsellor in 1993. Marymount Academy principal, Lucie Lapalm-Cullen nominated Taylor-Horeck as “Kim always has a very positive and compassionate way of dealing with our most sensitive students. She never gives up on them and is very patient, positive and professional. She will drop everything she is doing to help a student get their life back on track…” According to staff, Taylor-Horeck is quick to help line up students with the services and supports they need and does not “close” their file when she is done. Kim stays in touch with the students, checks in on them and continues to advocate for them.

Jody Cameron, Chair of the Board of Trustees presented both Larocque and Taylor Horeck with their awards. “ Jean-Gilles and Kim are very deserving recipients of this year’s Chairperson’s Award,” Cameron stated. “These two employees truly exemplify staff who embraces Catholic values, demonstrate initiative and ingenuity, and contribute positively to the lives of students and staff. We thank them both for their outstanding contributions to the Sudbury Catholic Community, and congratulate them for receiving this year’s award.”

St. Ben’s Business Students in Beantown

Students in enroled in the St. Benedict Business Studies program travelled to Boston, Massachusetts from May 13-17. The group plans a major field trip each year to bring to life concepts including marketing, leadership, budgeting, international business, accounting, entrepreneurship and concept development. During their visit, the students toured MIT- Sloan School of Management, Harvard Business School, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and even the Boston Marathon Finish line among other stops. “This was a great city for the business students to visit,” explained teacher Giuseppe Politi. “Boston is really a wonderful area that highlights successful schools of business and entrepreneurship. The students were excited to see such historic and important institutions that demonstrate a true understanding of how successful businesses respond to needs, wants, supply and demand.” The previous two years have had the students visiting New York and Chicago.

St. Ben’s Soccer Focus Students in Montreal for FC Action

As part of the soccer focus class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students had the opportunity to travel to Montreal May 6-7 to watch a Montreal FC versus Toronto FC professional soccer game. Students at St. Benedict can register for this phys-ed soccer-focused course to learn and experience the various aspects of soccer – from playing, to training, to coaching, to refereeing, to nutrition, to strategy, etc. St. Ben’s teacher and coach Giuseppe Politi explained, “Having the students get the opportunity to watch this level of soccer allows them to see first hand the strategies and level of play that they aspire to. It is an exciting and impactful way for them to learn even more.”

St. Ben’s Soccer Students in Montreal for FC Action

As part of the soccer focus class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students had the opportunity to travel to Montreal May 6-7 to watch a Montreal FC versus Toronto FC professional soccer game. Students at St. Benedict can register for this phys-ed soccer-focused course to learn and experience the various aspects of soccer – from playing, to training, to coaching, to refereeing, to nutrition, to strategy, etc. St. Ben’s teacher and coach explained, “Having the students get the opportunity to watch this level of soccer allows them to see first hand the strategies and level of play that they aspire to. It is an exciting and impactful way for them to learn even more.”

Walking with Everyday Heroes

On Monday, May 25 the students and staff of Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School went for a walk – a walk to honour and support those fighting Cystic Fibrosis. As May is Cystic Fibrosis Month, and there are currently three students enroled at St. Benedict with the disease, the school campus decided show their support with the theme of the day being superheroes. The students and staff were encouraged to dress up as their favourite superhero while participating in the walk – the only two schools in Canada to be hosting their own. Member of the local Cystic Fibrosis organization were on hand to take part in the event with the group as well as families of some of the students. The two schools raised $1000 through a buy-out to

Walking with Everyday Heroes

On Monday, May 25 the students and staff of Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School went for a walk – a walk to honour and support those fighting Cystic Fibrosis. As May is Cystic Fibrosis Month, and there are currently three students enroled at St. Benedict with the disease, the school campus decided show their support with the theme of the day being superheroes. The students and staff were encouraged to dress up as their favourite superhero while participating in the walk – the only two schools in Canada to be hosting their own. Member of the local Cystic Fibrosis organization were on hand to take part in the event with the group as well as families of some of the students. The two schools raised $1000 through a buy-out to participate.

Holy Trinity Hosts Welcome to Kindergarten Event

Holy Trinity Catholic School isn’t set to open its doors and welcome students until September 2015; however, this didn’t stop the newest members of the Holy Trinity school community from gathering for the Welcome to Kindergarten Orientation session. Parents are a child’s first and best teacher and learning about how to play and discover with your child in order to support them as they begin school is a special opportunity. The Welcome to Kinderdarten Orientation event allows parents/caregivers to attend workshops at their neighbourhood school where they receive early learning resources from The Learning Partnership and learn the strategies and rationale for using the resources with their child. Pre-school children, registered to begin their educational journey in the fall, and their families participated in an evening of literacy / numeracy early learning activities organized by the school staff and community partners, including the Sudbury & District Health Unit; Best Start Hubs New Sudbury; the Greater Sudbury Public Library; Teddy Bear Daycare; Optometrist, J. Levesque; and,  Speech Language Pathologist, N. Keating. Aila Lepage, whose son will be starting Full Day Kindergarten in French Immersion at Holy Trinity in in the fall said that “It was very informative for us. We are looking forward to the start of Brody’s school career…he is in great hands!”

Bishop ACCSS Students and Staff Break Break Together

Once again this year, the boys from grade 9 participated in Bishop Alexander Carter’s Wolf Project. The Wolf Project is designed to help the boys transition into positive and productive young men. The boys participated in various activities throughout the school year, and each activity focused on one of the seven Aboriginal teachings of Respect, Courage, Humility, Honesty, Wisdom, Truth and Love. The boys in the program had the opportunity to practice Humility and Truth by preparing lunch, and then serving it to someone else. That someone else was mystery staff member. As our Saviour taught us to be humble and to serve others, so did the boys as they spent the entire morning in the kitchen preparing a delicious lunch for their mystery staff member. While they put together a succulent menu of vegetable soup, salad, sausage or chicken salad sandwiches, as well as chocolate chip cookies, the boys also learned some basic kitchen skills. Then they sat down and broke bread with their mystery staff member. Many of the boys came back pleasantly surprised to have learned that teachers have lives, interests and hobbies outside of school. Staff commented on the great food, but most of on how pleasant and polite the boys were while serving them lunch and during their lunch chat. This activity was beneficial for all as it allowed both the students and the staff to see each other in a different light.

Register Now! E-mail Copied to Clipboard