Students at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School take heart health seriously. During the month of May students got active and skipped to their heart’s content while collecting over $3,700.00 in pledges for heart disease and stroke research. This partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation teaches students about healthy eating, the importance of daily physical activity, and the benefits of giving back to our community. Teacher Colette Perrin, the Jump Rope Event Coordinator at St. Bernadette, said , “Every year the students look forward to the opportunity to have loads of fun skipping and contriubuting to this great cause!” A special thank you goes out to the school community for their dedication and hard work in collecting pledges.
Category: Schools
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.
“Mrs. Catalano “The glue that holds our school together.”
St. Benedict parent, Alice Allison Catalano, is the recipient of the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education parent award. According to the students and staff of St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, she is someone “we all can go to and talk openly with. She is someone who we would describe as completely selfless and the most caring and compassionate person amongst the school community. She is a trustworthy, hard working, motherly figure to us all and the work she does for our school is out of this world! She spends a substantial amount of her valuable time volunteering at our school and not a moment that passes with her is ever forgotten or not appreciated by any student or staff. We feel that Mrs. Catalano perfectly embodies the definition of a selfless Samaritan. Mrs. Catalano has the special ability to see the best in everyone and no matter how tough the situation is, she is willing to lend a helping hand and devote 100 percent of herself. We can recount hundreds of times that she has given up her time and selflessly devoted herself for the well being of a student. Not only does she volunteer her time but also her wisdom of real life. She is always willing to help a student by giving valuable advice and sharing life experiences with us. She’s the star of this school and we all hope to be half the person she is! Thank you Mrs. Catalano.”
Amazing Race… Hanmer!
Just like in the famous Amazing Race Canada, grade 9 Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School students in teacher Rachel Emond’s French Immersion and Core French classes participated in “La Coupe Franco”, Monday, May 4th, 2015. All hopeful candidates auditioned by preparing a video complementing their strengths and pride in becoming the next winner of “La Coupe Franco”. All 25 pairs had to defeat physical and mental challenges in French as they solved problems, ran obstacles races, reconstructed puzzles and so much more! A celebration of the winners was followed with pizza and cake in the afternoon. A huge thank you goes out to all the Grade 11 French Immersion students for preparing all the activities and stations. Go Gators!
Win – a One of a Kind Dollhouse from St. Charles College
You can win… a beautiful one of a kind dollhouse – created by the St. Charles College Comprehensive class! Tickets will be sold Tuesday-Thursday – May 19-21. The draw will take place on Friday, May 22. Tickets are 2.00 for one and 5.00 for 3. Call the school at 705-566-9605 for tickets or more information…
“The construction of our dollhouse started first semester with the senior boys…….since them we have painted cut flooring and carpeting and learned how to shingle…..It has been a great learning experience for all!”
St. Charles College – Change Charity Gala
The St. Charles College World Issues Club is a student run and founded organization. The students want to encourage other young people to be informed, responsible global citizens who care about timely issues, and who make an effort to do something about it. In spirit of the club’s purpose, they will be hosting their first annual charity gala “Change” to fundraise and promote for charitable organizations such as L’Arche Sudbury and The Junction Creek Stewardship Committee. They will also be showcasing Red Cross in light of the recent earthquake in Nepal. Change will give each organization the chance to address the community, showcase their mission and raise awareness for their cause. The night will also feature musical performances from some St. Charles College music students and dinner will be provided. Semi formal wear is encouraged. For more information, please contact the school at 705-566-9605.
After Setbacks and Heartache, St. Charles Cardinal is Honoured with Full Scholarship
There is not a more tenacious and motivated student than Lisa Ludwig. The seventeen year-old St. Charles College student and cancer survivor has just won Laurentian University’s Jim Fielding Memorial Bursary which will pay for her next four years of schooling.
Lisa’s story is full of hardship and hurdles. She has been a child of the ward since she was small – living with a foster family for as long as she can remember.
In grade eight, while her friends were celebrating graduation, she was having her leg biopsied. Days later, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma – the same cancer Terry Fox was stricken with in his teen years.
That summer before high school was overshadowed by hospital stays, treatments, hair loss and would eventually lead to the loss of her leg.
Due to treatments and a weak immune system, Lisa started grade 9 late in the second semester putting her off track to graduate with her peers. But that did not stop her – Lisa took classes through home schooling and summer school to get back on track. In addition, she worked on two co-operative education placements in grade 11 and 12 at Health Sciences North in both cancer and mental health wards and at the Children’s Treatment Centre. She will also graduate next month with a red seal with a Specialist High Skills Major designation in Healthcare.
Throughout high school, she was dealt more grief. Her foster father died of a heart attack when she was in grade ten and last year, and last year her foster care worker, Nicole Belair was killed in a house fire in Hanmer.
Lisa continues to have two hospital visits per year for her osteosarcoma but nothing has stopped this driven student. She is excited about this new chapter of her life at Laurentian University. She has high hopes of becoming a social worker who can help people and give back to a system she has been a part of all her life.
Sudbury Catholic Schools – Relays for Life at St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul
As part of their school’s Catholic Education activities, St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul Catholic Elementary Schools held an in-school Relay for Life on Friday, May 8, 2015. For St. John, this year marks the school’s seventh year hosting the event. St. John teacher and event organizer Irene Raymond was talking to staff at the other two schools and decided that they too would start an in-school Relay for Life event. At each school, students, staff and invited guests started off their day in the gymnasium to listen to speakers from their own school communities talk about their own experiences, as well as local cancer organizations talk about the positive impact the schools’ relays have on the community.
All three schools surpassed their fundraising goals with St. John raising over $4500, St. Paul raising over $6400 and St. Anne raising over $13,500.
Organizer and St. John teacher was overwhelmed with the participation and fundraising efforts at all three schools. “What an amazing turnout for all three Sudbury Catholic schools! I am so very proud of our successes! It was truly an amazing and emotionally humbling experience – we are all so proud of the efforts of all the students, staff, families and community partners that supported this year’s Relay for Life events – it is so very touching and impactful!”
Vermicomposting at St. Joseph
Students at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School recently became a little ‘greener’. The school, in partnership with the Killarney Outdoor Education Centre created a vermicomposting program that will help the school to reduce organic waste. The project, funded by TD Friends of the Environment and Learning for a Sustainable Future, is aimed at helping teach students how composting can have a positive impact on the environment. Both the students of St. Joseph and all visitors to the outdoor centre will weigh their organic waste that enters the compost. This will allow the students to track the amount of waste they prevented from entering the local landfill. The castings left over will be harvested by the students and added to soil used in gardens and planters.
Vermicomposting, is a process that uses worms to digest waste such as food scraps. Bins containing soil, water, worms and bedding material, such as leaves and shredded newspaper, are filled once or twice a week with worm food – for example, fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and other organic material. The end product is an excellent fertilizer for soil.