Friday June 7th was Super Hero Day at St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School. The school was teaming with Super Girls, Bat Men, Super Men, Transformers and Hulks to name a few. The staff, always willing to join in, wore their Super Teacher t-shirts. Pictured are the Super Staff – Mark Gautheir, Melody Henry, Rob Dagostino, Mandy Waugh, Chantal Gionet, Marilyn Vervega, Sue Bailey and Chad Laurin.
Category: Schools
St. Benedict CSS Sr. Boys Soccer finishes 4th at OFSAA
St. Benedict Bears Senior Boys Soccer Team completed a fantastic season June 6 – 8 at the OFSAA “A” Championships in Timmins, Ontario. After an undefeated season locally in Sudbury (winning the “A” division city championship), St. Benedict won NOSSA versus Franco Cite in convincing fashion on May 31st. At OFSAA, St. Benedict posted a round robin record of 2 wins and 2 ties, good for 1st place in Group A. In the Quarter-Finals, St. Benedict defeated Glengarry Secondary School 4-2 on goals from Shawn Wilcox (with 3) and Brandon Moxam (1). Unfortunately, the undefeated season came to a halt in the semi-final (Saturday morning) versus private school Ridley College from St. Catharines. Battered and bruised, the Bears dropped a 4-0 decision to their opponents. In the bronze medal game (with numerous players injured and/or in different positions), the Bears lost a tight 2-1 decision to London Christian private school. The Bears finished their 2013 season with a record of 11 wins, 2 losses (only on the last day of the season), and 4 ties – good enough for a 4th overall ranking in the province of Ontario. This is the greatest result for boys soccer in school history. St. Benedict teacher and coach Giuseppe Politi stated, “All in all, it was a positive result for the team, the program, the school, and the city. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would finish top 4 in Ontario I certainly would been ecstatic. Looking back, in the group stage we ran into some trouble finishing off opponents (gave up a few leads). This didn’t let our starters get the rest they needed to last through 3 days of intense competition (7 games total). In the end, it caught up to us on Saturday morning. We just didn’t have the gas or capacity to keep up to more-balanced and fresh opponents in Ridley College (St. Catharines) or London Christian. Both George Urso (co-coach) and I are extremely proud of this squad and its accomplishments this season. We certainly overachieved in the group stage (considering the number of competitive players we have on our team, compared to the other teams at the tournament). A lot of our students played beyond their means and that should be recognized. It’s a bit frustrating to know that we could have won the bronze if we were a bit more fresh. That said, the boys should be proud of what they’ve accomplished (best result in school history) and it was a great student-athlete experience for the entire team. Hopefully, we’ll get another opportunity to showcase our program at next year’s championships.”
St. Francis Student Takes Top Honours in 5th Annual Fast Flowing Water Contest
On Thursday, June 6th, members of the community, as well as several classes from area elementary schools were on hand at Tom Davies Square for a news conference and awards ceremony for the fifth annual Fast Flowering Water Contest. Deputy Mayor Joscelyn Landry-Altmann (Ward 12) who is also Chair of the Junction Creek Safety Committee was on hand to address the crowd and announce the winners of both the video and poster contests. St. Francis Catholic Elementary School grade 6 student Sophia Zulich was the first place winner and had her poster unveiled on a 10’ x 20’ billboard that will be placed prominently in Sudbury. Sophia’s first place win earned an ipad mini for herself, and a smartboard for her class. Coming in third place was Makayla Kruk, another grade 6 student from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School winning a $200 iTunes gift card.
Alongside Landry-Altmann was the contest mascot Milly the Muskrat as well as Adam Dickie’s grandfather Ray Croteau. Adam was a thirteen year old boy who drowned in 2007 in fast flowing water and the inspiration for this safety initiative. Croteau who has been a part of this campaign from its inception, also addressed the crowd and asked the students and members of the community to always remember the motto “Where waters flow, do not go!”
Vicki Mcguire, principal of St. Francis was extremely pleased that her students took two of the top spots in the contest. “I am so proud of both Sophia and Makayla, as well as all of our students who participated in this contest,” Mcguire stated. “This is such an important message for all in our community, and I am extremely impressed with our students in getting this message out so creatively.”
An Egg-Citing Opportunity for Junior Kindergarten Students at St. David
The St. David Catholic Elementary School junior kindergarten classroom has been filled with anticipation and excitement over the last couple of weeks. Lindsay Michel, the school’s junior kindergarten teacher, partnered with Matt Peredy of Willow Lane Farms in Hanmer, Ontario to hatch chickens in the classroom.
Michel’s aim was to provide a thrilling educational experience for her young inner city students and wanted them to experience the joy of life while learning to build empathy for other forms of life. The students watched eggs hatch and new born chicks emerging from their shells. In total, the junior kindergarten classroom welcomed 14 new additions – baby chicks- to their class.
The St. David junior kindergarten program meets the needs of young inquisitive learners by providing them with the opportunity to participate in hands on, child centred, inquiry based learning. It is through positive community partnerships and a relationship building focus that the school creates an environment that supports student engagement and real world learning experiences.
Special thanks and the school’s appreciation go to Willow Lane Farms in Hanmer who graciously donated the incubator and eggs – Thank you Matt Peredy!
Perkins Family Restaurant Serves Up Pancakes At St. James School
Todd Connors, Director of Operations for Perkins Restaurants prepared and served St. James Catholic Elementary School with a pancake breakfast recently. He graciously donated breakfast to thank the school community for their penny donations that went directly to support Pennies for Pediatrics. St. James School raised over $560 in pennies for this worthwhile cause.
“Pennies for Pediatrics is a fundraising drive to benefit children’s care at Health Sciences North.”
St. James students and staff would like to thank Todd Connors from Perkins for personally visiting the school and serving pancakes!
Learning About Goalball at SCDSB
Students from St. James Elementary School recently participated in the Ontario Blind Sports Association Recreational Tournament. The tournament took place in Brantford Ontarion on May 11th, 2013. In addition, Ontario Blind Sports Association, along with the CNIB, provided goalball clinics at St. James Elementary school, Bishop Alexander Carter Secondary School and Marymount Academy on May 23rd and 24th.
On May 25th, a goalball clinic was held for members of the public at Sudbury Secondary Highshool.
A recreational goalball league is planned to begin operation in the fall of 2013.
Goalball is “the” blind sport, created specifically for the blind. It’s an indoor court game played around the world by the blind and visually impaired. The sport was developed in the late 1940’s and is played internationally up to the world championship and Paralympic Games levels.
Teams of three try to score goals using a ball similar in size to a basketball that is about the same weight as a brick and has a bell inside it. Players attempt to roll or throw the ball across a goal line. The opposing team tries to block it using their arms, legs and bodies. With a ball flying at speeds of 65 km/h or more, it’s exciting!
Games last 20 minutes and are divided into two equal halves of ten minutes each, with a 3 minute half time.
The object of the game is to score goals by rolling a ball (called a Goalball) down a 9m x 18m (volleyball size) court toward the opposing team’s goal, which spans the entire 9m width of the court. Players (1 centre and 2 wingers) attempt to prevent the Goalball from crossing the goal line in a totally sightless condition. A Goalball weight is 1.25kg and contains noise bells and along with raised lines on the court, help to orientate the players.
Therefore, while play is in progress, silence is required in the venue to allow the players to concentrate and react instantly to the ball. However, cheering is permitted after a goal is scored and at the end of a game.
Goalball is a benefit to any education curriculum & sports teams
Goalball introduces able bodied students to living with a disability and functioning without vision in a practical, fun setting. It focuses on what the blind and partially sighted can do rather than on what they cannot do. It continues to break down barriers.
It teaches valuable athletic performance skills such as: communication, non visual focus, team work & kinesthetic awareness, explosive lateral movement.
Goalball is one of the most inclusive sports in the world. All participants must wear eyeshades, so removing the sense of sight for all participants creates a level playing field for all.
Panthers on the Run!
On Sunday, May 12 2013, members of the St. Paul Running Club competed in the Sudbury ROCKS 5km Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes. Vice-Principal Tammy Lavalle, Educational Assistant Jennifer Palladino and Teachers Lucie Gautheir and Stacey Vendramin competed along with nine dedicated and energetic students who braved the snow and rain to take part in the race. To raise money for the event, St. Paul held a Spirit Day where students were asked to wear their favourite sports gear to school for the day. The school raised a total of $200.00 to donate to the Canadian Diabetes Association. The Running Club would like to thank the Knights of Columbus Council 6074, Evans Home Hardware and Coniston Guardian Pharmacy for sponsoring and supporting their race efforts. Way to go Panthers!
Welcome to Kindergarten at St. Andrew
On Wednesday May 15th at 6pm St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School welcomed 11 young children and their parents to their Welcome to Kindergarten evening. The school partnered with the Learning Partnership and our community partners Angela an OT from the Children’s Treatment Center and Cheryl the teacher from the New Sudbury Cooperative Nursery School to give the students and their parents some tools to help them be prepared for school in the fall. There was a read-aloud, a letters and numbers activity, craft and a delicious nutrious snack of fruit, meat and cheese. Thanks goes out to Mrs. Waugh and Mrs. Sawkiw from the school who made this such a fun evening.
St. Andrew Visits Science North
On Thursday May 16th the entire student body and staff of St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School travelled to Science North and spent the day exploring the centre. Thanks to the generosity of a devoted group of parents who volunteer their personal time to work at a bingo the school enjoys a Science North membership and the busing to and from the Science Centre plus many other extracurricular activities. The JK/SK class has just completed a themed unit on space and all the children are very aware of astronaut Chris Hadfield and his recent expedition in space so they were excited to see the life-sized cut out of him at the Centre. This group also participated in the Music Monday Activity where they sang simultaneously with Chris Hadfield while he was still at the Internatinal Space Station.