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.
Category: Programs
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.
St. Raphael Celebrates their “Hero”
St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School Students, staff and community partners were on hand to celebrate one of their own on Wednesday, April 9. Primary Lifeskills student Wii’um Morin was the honoured guest as he has been selected to be one of the Canadian Down syndrome heroes for 2014. The school wanted to show Wii’um how proud they were of him, and spoke of his outstanding character, creativity and loving spirit. Wii’um took it all in stride while sitting on the stage, and quietly listened as teacher Kelly Beaton spoke of his exceptional personality, and unique outlook on life.
“Spreading the Net” at St. Benedict
“Every minute a child dies from malaria – a preventable disease transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. Malaria kills more children than any other disease in Africa.”
As a Catholic community at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students and staff wanted to work together to help find a solution to this problem. The students’ administrative council at St. Benedict CSS implemented a school-wide initiative and the school took on the challenge of “Spread the Net.” they joined Canadian icon Rick Mercer and thousands of other students across Canada to raise money for mosquito nets to fight malaria in Africa. Their goal was to raise $7500 to purchase 750 nets; enough to save as many as 1500 individuals (as each bed net may be used to protect 2 people for up to 3 years). This year, funds raised through the student challenge will help provide bed nets to families in Zimbabwe. The fundraiser was organized through the charity Plan Canada.
Students were involved in various activities, such as asking for pledges at home, canvassing neighbourhoods for community involvement, and holding in-school events to raise money. They were excited to get involved and work together to raise money to help others in need. Students especially enjoyed the in-school activities such as the dress down days and a teacher versus student volley ball game. By the end of the campaign, the school raised $8,844.75 and were ranked highly in the contest nationwide. The 63 participating schools across Canada raised over $170 000.
The students and staff wanted to say a special thanks to the team of students who volunteered countless hours into planning and organizing the campaign: Brendan Sullivan, Sara Lehman, Carlee Christie, Kathryn Kettle, Allie Stankiewicz, Elisa Bacik, and Matt Ierino. Finally, to teacher Meghan MacMillan who organized the students and encouraged them to do their best the students send a very special thank you for her time and effort in helping make this more successful than anyone had imagined. They all look forward to surpassing theirr goal next year!”
Volleyball for All at St. Ben’s
On Thursday, March 6th, the Staff and Senior Girl’s Volleyball at St. Benedict squared off to see who would have bragging rights going into the March Break. Both teams were cheered on by the students who gathered in the gym for this great spectacle. After a hard fought battle that went to a tie-breaking game, the Teachers prevailed with a 16-14 final set. Looks like the Girls will have to wait for next year to try and defeat the Teachers and claim the title themselves!
Celebrating Franco-Fun at St. Andrew
The staff and students of St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School enjoyed an afternoon of fun on March 20 as part of the the board Franco-Fun Day. The day began with singing Oh Canada in french and then a short description of the Franco-Ontario flag. The Core French teacher Mme. Price arranged an afternoon of fun activities including Salut (bingo), Musical chairs, fait moi un design (drawing out a given french word from the word list), mon beau drapeau (design core french flags) escargot (hopscotch) and a short french cartoon. Mme. Price and her Mother-in-law made homemade petes de soeurs as a treat for everyone. This was a great day of community building as the older Core French students helped the younger primary aged students with all the activities. Pictured is Noah and his team as they played escargot.