On Wednesday, April 24, a special group of people from St. Charles Catholic Elementary were recognized for their dedication to the school. The 2014 Volunteer awards for the Champions for Children were handed out by Our Children Our Future at an awards celebration and the volunteers for the school’s snack program won the group award for this event.
Vice Principal, Laura Stirrett explained that several days a week, the group of volunteers come in to wash, prepare the snacks, serve them to the students and wash up afterwards. They know that having a nutritious start to the day will help the students succeed. While most students do come to school with some form of snack, their eyes light up when the volunteers arrive with trays of fruit, vegetables and crackers arranged with the loving touch of a mom. Thanks to their unwavering support students are moved from a potential disadvantage to an advantage. “At St. Charles School, we are very lucky to have a core group of volunteers who run our Healthy Snack Program! Running a program like this takes a real dedication to the well-being of our students” says David Soehner, Principal. “We are very fortunate to have this group of ladies volunteer at our school, which is why we nominated them for this award”.
One of the award recipients, Kristine Belanger explained,” It is all about the children, and making sure they are happy and fed. Not everyone is as fortunate to have enough to eat every day so it is wonderful to see how excited the kids get when they get to experience different foods and are happy because they have had something nutritious to eat!”
Category: Programs
St. James Supports Daffodil Week
During the month of April, St. James Catholic Elementary School held a “Daffodil Week” to raise money for cancer research. Students and staff brought in over $700! Pictured are members of the student council (C3) with teacher and campaign organizer Tammy Lanci, as they present the cheque to Cathy Burns, a representative from the Canadian Cancer Society.
St. Raphael Students Soar at Kiwanis
St. Raphael Catholic Elementary Life Skills students competed at the Kiwanis Music Festival this year. Living Rhythm, the name of the group, won a gold medal for their performance of the percussion ensemble piece “Earth Happiness” written by their musical director Jeff Stewart. They were notified recently that the group was also recommended for a second award. On Monday, April 14,2014, at the final concert of the Kiwanis Festival, they were given the Muriel E. Holford Memorial Award, a $75 award in the memory of Muriel E. Holford.
Muriel was a piano teacher near Ottawa in her younger years and staunch supporter of music festivals throughout her life. In the 1960s she played a huge role in the coordination of the Onaping-Levack Music Festival. She was always a strong supporter of the Kiwanis Music Festival in Sudbury. Her children all participated in the festival and, when she passed away she left a large sum of money to be given as yearly awards to the Kiwanis Festival. Mrs. Holford’s daughter assured the group that her mother would be very pleased to know that Living Rhythm won this award.
Professional Learning to Support Aboriginal Education at Sudbury Catholic
In adherence to the Ontario First Nation, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board continues to support strategies which are based on a holistic and integrated approach to improving Aboriginal student achievement and well being.
The school board believes that it is important that each of our Catholic schools have the opportunity to effectively analyze relevant Aboriginal student data and determine next steps to better support Aboriginal student success.
To facilitate this process, the school board provided the opportunity for all school teams to participate in professional learning opportunities on April 22 and 23. These professional learning communities included both a cultural and historic component as well as the opportunity to dialogue as individual school teams about confidential Aboriginal self identification, student achievement and well being. Each school team received school based, up to date Aboriginal student data and resources to support Aboriginal student engagement and improved academic outcomes.
Rossella Bagnato, the Sudbury Catholic School’s Aboriginal Lead and Superintendent for School Effectiveness stated, “We know that is very important that our staff continue this professional learning discussion within their school communities. These conversations will certainly assist and support Sudbury Catholic Schools staff to aspire to meet the needs of all of our students.”
St. Paul Choir Recognized at Kiwanis Music Festival
The St. Paul Choir under the direction of Ms Kristine Shewchuk and Mme Ashley Nodwell participated at the Kiwanis Music Festival at the end of March. The choir, consisting of over 40 members from Grades 1 to 6, sang the song “I Am a Small Part of the World” by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse. After a lot of hard work and practice, the students were very excited to receive a Gold Award. At the Kiwanis Award Ceremony, the choir was also recognized with the “Elementary School Choir Award”. The adjudicator wrote “What an absolutely enjoyable and thoroughly engaging performance today!” The staff, students and parents are very proud of their dedication in keeping music alive in our school.
SCC Gets Movin’
Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, Nick Jonas of Jonas Brothers fame are just some celebrities living with diabetes.
On April 15, 2014, students at St. Charles College were educated by representatives of the Canadian Diabetes Association in preparation for the Sudbury Rocks!!! Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes on May 11th.
Afterwards, a $2500 cheque was presented to the Association on behalf of the students who are participating in the Mother’s Day run. In addition to training weekly, the students have also been collecting door-to-door pledges to support Diabetes research.
More than sixty Cardinal students and forty staff members will lace up their running shoes for the big race.
Teacher Chantal.Dagostino who is heading up the large pack of runners says “Many of our students are impacted by diabetes either individually or because a family member close to them suffers with the disease or has died from complications because of it. It just makes sense to educate this generation.”
St. James Captures Gold in Junior Basketball
St. James Captures the Gold Medal in Junior Basketball at the St. James Boreal Invitational Basketball Tournament recently. The Gr. 5/6 team coached by Mr. Denomme won the final championship game in a nailbiter score of 37-34 againstt St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School. Way to go St. James Bears!
Marymount Dinner, Talent Show and Silent Auction – May 15, 2014
St. Raphael Presented with $5000 Cheque and One Surprise to Support Lifeskills Students
International members from the United Commercial Travellers (UCT) were on hand at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School on April 9 to present the Lifeskills class with a cheque for $5000. Several months earlier, teacher Elissa Zuliani decided to enter her Lifeskills class in a contest she had read about in one of the UCT catalogues. The contest was open to all North American schools who support students with intellectual disabilities. Zuliani put together a two minute video that showcased the exceptional qualities and values that her students possess. The final winner was to be decided by votes so, after a heated battle for first place with Eldon High School in Eldon, Missouri, the students at St. Raphael placed second.
Visibly moved during the presentation, Zuliani thanked the representatives from UCT International including the CEO of UCT –Joe Hoffman from Ohio as well as the International President of UCT – Bob Kellog from Michigan. Also on hand for the presentation were several members of the local UCT branch. Zuliani also thanked her fellow teachers, parent council members and all of the parents of her students. “We are so proud of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and the Greater City of Sudbury for their votes of support,” Zuliani stated. “This was truly Sudbury at its best! I thank UCT for this incredible funding which will enhance their learning. I am overwhelmed both professionally and personally – it is not about the money, it is about the message –that people with disabilities are valuable members of society and it is our obligation to support them and to nurture them – mind, body and spirit”. The members of the local UCT decided to surprise the staff and students with an additional cheque for $2500 as they felt the students should have won first place. As well, the students were promised a pizza lunch in the upcoming days as part of the celebration. The money will go towards the purchase of technology to support the Lifeskills students in their ongoing learning.