Grade 12 St. Benedict Catholic Secondary student, Nicholas Ryma met a pretty important person on a run recently. While jogging on September 26 from Science North to the Canoe Club and back, Ryma met Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne who was in town on business and is herself an avid runner.
Category: Schools
Jersey Day at St. Charles Catholic Elementary
Staff and students showed their school spirit on October 8 at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School by wearing their favourite jersey! Many staff and students wore NHL jerseys in celebration of the start of the 2014-2015 season, which begins tonight!
Speed Cup Stacking at St. James.
St. James students meet weekly at lunch to enjoy some speed cup stacking!
The students showcase their hand/eye coordination and try to beat their friend’s time or their own personal best like grade 8 student Jakob Fahey.
Regals Learning How to Play With Fire
Students at Marymount Academy were given the opportunity of a lifetime on Friday, October 3, 2014. Dan Bartolucci, teacher and program leader for the school was contacted by Captain Blake Desjardins from the Greater Sudbury Firefighter Services to see if there was any interest in the students to take part in female firefighter training. Seeing it as a perfect fit for the students, Bartolucci readily agreed- and 12 students were selected to take part in the day’s events. Students met with Bartolucci, as well as the school’s vice principal, Lori Holden at the Emergency Services training facilities located at the Lionel E. Lalonde Centre in Azilda early Friday morning, and spent the entire day going through different firefighting scenarios including forcible entry, live fire simulator, reduced profile and tight spaces, etc. The group spent an exhausting day working through all of the different training sessions and getting a first hand glimpse of real fire fighting work. “When I say exhausting, that is an understatement,” Bartolucci explained. “This day was a real glimpse into the life of a fire-fighter on the job. It was an outstanding opportunity for these students and has absolutely inspired some of the girls to pursue their dreams in this field. Wearing 100 lbs of gear and walking into smoke and fire – absolutely incredible! At Marymount, we always try to give our students a variety of opportunities to ensure we are supporting their long term goals and successes!”
Staff “En Pointe” for BACCSS’s Rooney and Dechaine Memorial Walk
As a result of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School’s successful Memorial Walk fundraiser in memory of former student Mackenzie Rooney (a student who died tragically in an ATV accident) and Dennis Dechaine, (a former teacher who lost his battle with cancer), both the principal and vice principal of the school had to honour their part of the challenge. Cassandra MacGregor and James Michaud, the school’s admin team showed up in their best ballerina wear as a result of the students fundraising exceeding their goal of $8000. To date, the school has raised over $9000 so far to go towards several different scholarship funds in both Rooney’s and Dechaine’s names, as well as to support several activities within the school that both Mackenzie’s parents and Dennis’s wife are involved with. To raise the money, the students canvassed the valley area over the past few weeks and the day of the walk involved a live broadcast from KICX radio, a prayer service, a Zumba warm up for the whole school, and an 8 km walk to celebrate the togetherness of the entire Bishop Carter school community. Joining them on the walk were members of both Mackenzie’s and Dennis’s families, as well as members of the Greater Sudbury Police Services. Principal Cassandra MacGregor was thrilled with the efforts of her students and staff. “We are a small school community with an enormous heart,” explained MacGregor. “We set our expectations really high when it comes to our students and staff, and they continually exceed these expectations! We are extremely proud of our students for surpassing our fundraising goal and it is wonderful that we can honour Mackenzie and Dennis, and their families with our outstanding efforts!”
Memorial Walk Held at Bishop Alexander Catholic Secondary School
Prayer, celebration and remembrance was the theme of the day on September 25th at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. The school held their Memorial Walk in memory of Mackenzie Rooney, a student who died tragically in a ATV accident and Dennis Dechaine, a former teacher who lost his battle with cancer last year. The day started off with a live broadcast from KICX radio, a prayer service and zumba warm up by Zumbavibe. The 8 km memorial walk was an opportunity for students to celebrate the “togetherness” of the Bishop Carter community. The family members of both Mackenzie and Dennis participated in the event. The afternoon students enjoyed karaoke and a flag football team with the girls team competing againstt the teachers. It was an amazing day! Thank you to all the sponsor who helped in this event including the Sudbury Police, Tim Hortons (Val Caron and Hanmer), Neil Independent Grocer and Kings Sportswear. Proceeds from the walk go towards scholarships in Mackenzie and Dennis’ honour, KICX for kids campaign and other activities that support the interests of Mackenie and Dennis.
St. David Catholic School Gladly Welcomes Full Day Kindergarten
This September, St. David Catholic Elementary School implemented full-day junior and senior kindergarten. It is the fifth and final year of full-day kindergarten in schools across the province. “We are very excited to have the FDK program at St. David. It is a wonderful addition to our school community,” said Jennifer Gran, FDK teacher.
This new kindergarten program employs not only classroom teachers, but also early childhood educators. The teachers and the ECE’s work as a teaching team to support child development, behaviour and improved academic achievement. “Our goal is to give each child the best start possible in school. We work together with the community to build our student’s confidence and provide a solid foundation for their learning.” states Angela Ross, St. David School ECE.
The FDK program encourages children to learn through play and small group instruction. Learning through play and in small groups assists children in developing positive self regulation skills, age appropriate problem solving strategies and a general love of learning.
St. David Catholic School invites all FDK students and their families to meet their new teachers and early childhood educators at the school’s open house on September 30 at 4 pm.
Grade 9’s Go “Full Steam Ahead” with Community Service Hours
This year’s group of grade 9 students at St. Charles College were offered some added incentive – do community service hours over the summer and be eligible for a $100 gift certificate for the mall. The winner is Reggie Bonhomme. Reggie worked at the Canadian Legion over the summer months and while he has garnered over 30 hours, he doesn’t plan to stop there.
Students must obtain 40 hours of community service during their high school career in order to graduate. Principal Patty Mardero says “the message has always been to start early and use the community service as a means of exploring career options.”
Principal Patty Mardero along with Guidance Department Head Silvia Faggioni presented Reggie with his prize this week.
St. Charles College Students Trapping Bugs for Guelph Research Institute
The grade ten Science classes are taking their studies outside by trapping insects. Teacher George Fritz has partnered with the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph to sample the insect community in the St. Charles College school yard.
One of the classes set-up what is known as an “insect malaise trap” to collect specimens. The students will now spend the next two weeks monitoring what is caught in the trap. Fritz says “students will also have to note environmental conditions and the number of insects caught.”
After the sampling period, the specimens will be returned to the BIO facility in Guelph where the DNA of the insects will be barcoded for species recognition, and added to the Institute’s database.
Later on in the semester, the class will receive a report on the insect specimens. Fritz is hoping that the process leads to new information being added to the database.