Sudbury Catholic District School Board

“Beyond the Hurt” Program at Bishop ACCSS Recognized by Education Minister

On Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School participated in a teleconference with Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School in Toronto and the Honourable Minister of Education Laurel Broten on the topic of Mental Health and the dynamics of bullying and harassment in secondary schools.

Bishop Alexander Carter had the opportunity to speak about their school program, “Beyond the Hurt”. Bishop Alexander Carter is a safer school community because of the Beyond the Hurt team. The team led by two teachers Heather Duguay and Shelley Raymond and currently 10 Bishop students, seeks to raise awareness of bullying and harassment while providing a supportive environment for youth.

The dialogue was purposeful and helped to support the direction of the group for future endeavours.

St. Anne Angels Become Gators for the Day

Five students from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer had an opportunity to see their future, and wear a Bishop Alexander Carter Secondary School Gator jersey at a recent feeder school event. BAC invited grade 8 students from St. Anne School to watch a spirit building hockey game at Centennial Arena, where their boys and girls hockey teams played againstt one another. It was an exciting and close game,finishing with a score of 3 – 2 for the boys hockey team.

St. Anne Angels Beginning Their Transition

Transitioning into high school can sometimes be a difficult process for young teens, but St. Anne Catholic School and Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School make that transition easier on their students. On Thursday, January 12th, 2012, grade 8 students from St. Anne School in Hanmer, visited Bishop Alexander Secondary School (BAC) to continue with their transition from elementary school into high school. This day was an exciting one for all students as they participated in different workshops featuring the arts and sciences that BAC has to offer. Students had the opportunity to explore the music program and listen to the BAC Band, drama and compete with the BAC Improv Team, and make button pins in the visual arts classroom. They were also fascinated with the various stations in the biology lab, and the explosive experiments in the chemistry lab during their visit. St.Anne Angels are always enthusiastic to visit BAC because it is always a fascinating and welcoming environment.

Bishop ACCSS Takes Part in International Stand up to Bullying Day

Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School has a Beyond The Hurt Team of students who address bullying issues within the school through presentations, announcements, and various other activities, such as International Stand Up To Bullying Day. On November 18, 2011, Bishop students either wore wore pink Stood Up t-shirts, or one of their own pink shirts in support of anti-bullying programs. The team presented to our grade 9 students and sold chocolate chip cookies to raise money for anti-bullying programs.

St. Anne Students “Hit The Big Screen”

Many people often dream of hitting the big stage. Students from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer are no exception. Recently, they were able to experience the feel of being in the spotlight with a visit to Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. This Catholic Secondary School is the only high school in Sudbury with a Specialist High Skills Major program in Information and Communications Technology. In this program, the students learn a large variety of media production skills such as: 2D Graphics Design and Digital Image Editing and Enhancement, 3D Graphics Modeling, Texturing, Rigging and Animation, Video and Sound Production, Integrating 2D and 3D Graphics into Film, Special Effects for Film, and Website Development. Students use Autodesk Maya to create 3D models and animations. This is the same software used by professionals to create most of the 3D movies out today. It’s also used to create most of the 3D special effects seen in most action movies.

St. Anne intermediate students, working with high school students currently enroled in the program, began to create their grade 8 graduation video with the use of some media software and a green screen that was built by Bishop’s own tech class. “It was a really good experience and exciting to learn about the about the effects that are used in most movies,” said Olivia Boudreau, a grade 8 student at St. Anne School. BAC also uses their green screen to digitally place student actors in any location, including those created in 3D. The actor/actress simply acts out the scene in front of the green screen and the green is then removed using editing software and replaced with the desired background or animation. BAC has a stationary green screen and two portable ones that can be used outside of the classroom. Who knows? With this taste of “the big screen” under their belts, we may someday actually be viewing some of the Catholic Board students on the larger than life screens around the city. The entertainment business may want to start a new slogan. “Lights, camera, Angels”!

Grade 12 Courtyard Officially Opens at Bishop ACCSS

Immediately after the ribbon cutting, students at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School stormed the pathway into the school’s new courtyard on June 9, 2011. At the official opening for the courtyard, staff and students joined together to celebrate the vision of many of the students. This courtyard has been a space that the school had been planning for several years and had finally come to fruition as a result of a speak-up grant that was applied for and granted by the Ministry of Education. Grade twelve students from last year had been collectively planning for a quiet restful place to gather between classes and during breaks, but until this past year, the monies were unavailable. Because of the funding from the successful Speak Up grant application, the school officially open their courtyard on June 9, 2011, which includes several picnic tables, a lush green lawn, a bricked pathway and several benches and picnic tables – which were built by the school’s woodshop classes. Lori Roy, a Bishop teacher who worked with the students and their applications was thrilled with the space and the happiness of the students. “Before, this space was just rocks and dirt, and a few holes in the ground as a result of some unsuccessful attempts to make it into something better,” Roy stated. “ Now, it is a quiet, reflective, positive gathering space for our grade twelve students and as a result they are just ecstatic. The only sad part, is that the students who were successful in their grant application have already graduated so they weren’t able to be here for the official opening. I really hope they will come back to visit to see that their dream became an actuality – our presents students will be forever grateful for this gift.”
As part of the Ministry’s Student Voice Initiative, Speak up Grants allow for projects inspired by students’ ideas to become a reality.

Sudbury Catholic’s Third Annual Outdoor Adventure Race a Smashing Success!

Despite the rainy weather, it was a spectacular day for the third annual Sudbury Catholic Outdoor Adventure Race in Killarney on June 8, 2011. Students from all four of the Board’s secondary schools entered teams to take part in a four part outdoor race which included biking, canoeing, orienteering and a mystery challenge which involved a first aid rescue exercise. A total of fifteen teams with three students per team participated and, although rain-soaked for part of the race, managed to keep smiles on their faces throughout the entire challenge. The past two years has seen St. Charles College and then St. Benedict take home the coveted banner, and this year St. Charles managed to win back the first place spot. A team from St. Benedict won in terms of time, however, due to a small mistake in the orienteering section, they were given a 5 minute penalty which put the St. Charles team consisting of Adam McKibbon (Grade 12), Michael Wandziak (Grade 11) and Jonah Lynott (Grade 11) in first place. Awards were also given out for first place for a co-ed team as well as an all-girls team.

Bishop Alexander Carter Students Fight World Hunger

Students from Bishop Alexander Carter did their part in fighting world hunger this past month by taking part in a 30 hour famine.The group of 90 students formed groups of 12 to compete in several character, team, and global awareness building activities such as a community clean-up, a scavenger hunt, and several art activities. Students were even lucky enough to have a guest speaker, on behalf of Development and Peace, from Sierra Leone. While students were hard at work on a full length motion picture movie being produced by the specialist high skills major class, teachers taking part were also hard at work making a chocolate and vanilla marble cake with crisp maple bacon to garnish – a treat for students after the famine was over, and that is when the hunger began to set in. But determined to make a difference and stick to the goal, students fought the hunger knowing that it would all be over after the 30 hours.

Wrapping up the events before the big luncheon, students and staff took part in a morning prayer service. “We all really had a good time, and we met so many new interesting people,” stated Kelsey Blais , Bishop Alexander Carter student. “At the end of the day, it was great to know that each and everyone of us is changing someone’s life, maybe not forever, but even for just a second, that’s what counts.” Raising well over $1 400, students were proud of their efforts and knew that they had made a difference not only in their community, but in the world as well.

Register Now! E-mail Copied to Clipboard