The Grade 2 students at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School sent their Postcards for Peace to veterans to thank them for having served in the past wars. The students recognized that many of Canada’s service men and women continue today, to leave their families and friends, in order to bring peace to many countries around the world. The children discussed how they are all peacekeepers here in Canada. They learned that they can all help with “peacekeeping missions” by respecting and helping each other in the school playgrounds, at home, and in their neighbourhoods. One of the biggest lessons learned is that It’s so important to learn from the past.
Category: Holy Cross School
A Beary Scary Halloween
On October 31’st 2013, students from St Benedict Catholic Secondary School visited Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. Student Council president Brendan Sullivan, vice president and student trustee Mackenzie Connelly, and beloved mascot, Benny the Bear represented St Benedict as they read to grade 1 and 2 students in both English and french. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to bond with the students who share our campus and spread some Halloween cheer,” said Connelly.
After reading the books, Benny and the students donated them to Holy Cross and gave out Halloween stickers and high fives from Benny. “This experience has been very rewarding for us. We were able to practice our bilingualism and meet the students who will become future Bears,” stated Sullivan. “I look forward to continuing to connect our two school communities.”
Paper Airplanes and Space
On Friday, Oct. 18th, students at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School joined Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield in kicking off National Science and Technology Week by participating in a Canada-wide Science lesson. The Gr. 2 students folded 3 sets of airplanes and adapted the wings for each model in order to simulate gravity and atmosphere on Earth, the Moon and Mars. Each student then had an opportunity to test all three paper airplanes and compared the flight distance for each model. This was a day when making paper airplanes in class definitely did not break the class rules!
Praying for Animals at Holy Cross
On Wednesday, October 2nd, the Holy Cross School community gathered to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in a liturgy with Father Jim Hutton. Students were asked to bring along a favourite stuffed animal, as a symbol of the animals of the world. St. Francis loved animals, calling them his brothers and sisters. During the liturgy, students held their animals up for a special blessing and prayer for all of the animals of the world.
“Egg-citing” Learning Happening at Holy Cross
Grade 2/3 Holy Cross Catholic Elementary students in teacher Shanna Whalen’s class were given an “egg-citing” experiment. As the class has been discussing gravity and how it affects solids, liquids and gases, the students were given the challenge of protecting eggs from the strong force of gravity. On Wednesday, September 18th, as part of their study on Forces and Movement and Properties of Liquids and Solids, the students were given a variety of materials, as well as bringing in some from home, and their mission was to protect their eggs from breaking when dropped from a high level. According to Whalen, the students were quite creative with their projects as some used grocery bags as parachutes and covered their eggs with sponge. Nine out of the eleven launched eggs survived their fall, but the best part is that none of the class ended up with “egg on their face” and all had a great time learning about gravity!
Holy Cross Students Take Music Monday Global!
Students from Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School teacher Ginette Toivonen’s grade 4/5 FI class have taken Music Monday global! The Holy Cross class has been blogging with students from Buenos Aires, Argentina over the last few months and on Monday, May 8th they sang along with them via Skype. The song “Is Somebody Singing” collaboratively written by Ed Robertson and Chris Hadfield is being shared with the world in hopes of uniting everyone through their love of music. Students in both countries feel very strongly about the importance of music education in their schools. Music Monday is an annual event that brings together thousands of students, musicians, parents and community members across the country to celebrate the gift of music in our lives, on the same day at the same time.
Sudbury Catholic Students Participate in Metis Heritage Days
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board recently held Metis Heritage Days at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. Nine elementary schools participated in the cultural presentations. The facilitator, Scott Carpenter, a Community Development Officer with the Metis Nation of Ontario, led the hands-on presentations.
Highlights for many student and staff participants included Carpenter’s beautiful display of Metis artifacts. The Metis people are one of the three recognized aboriginal peoples in Canada. They trace their descent to mixed First Nations and European heritage. Almost 400,000 people self-identify as Metis in Canada. Joel Agowissa, the Aboriginal Youth Worker for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board said, “The students were engaged, interested and had a many questions for Mr. Carpenter. It was an honour to have Mr. Carpenter who is a member of the Metis nation speak to our young students and help us build inclusive learning environments for our students.”
Holy Cross Free the Children Club “We Are Silent” Campaign
Members of the Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School Free the Children Club joined thousands of students around the world in the ‘We Are Silent” Campaign on April 18th. Students took a “vow of silence” in order to experience what it is like for poverty stricken children to not have the right to speak out about their basic needs, including an education. The “Day of Silence” brought awareness to Free the Children Club members and the Holy Cross School Community.
Holy Cross Takes Gold at First Annual Regal Invitational Junior Co-ed Basketball Tournament
On April 5th and 6th, Marymount Academy held its first Regal’s Invitational Junior Co-ed Basketball tournament. Eleven teams in total took part in this tournament and it was a round robin format with elimination matches for the finals. A huge thank you to Marymount Academy teacher Colin Lapalme who organized and coordinated this new tournament.
The Holy Cross A team captured the gold medal winning the final againstt Felix Ricard in a very exciting game. Felix Ricard captured the silver medal. Congratulations to all the teams for a job well done!