First Nation Elder, Vince Pawis visited all grade 5 and 6 students at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School on October 30th. The “Elders in the School Project” promotes awareness, understanding and appreciation of the rich histories, cultures and perspectives of First Nation, Metis and Inuit people. The students experienced a smudge and learned about the Medicine Wheel and heard some of the Seven Grandfather Teachings.
Category: Schools
“If I can do it, why can’t you?”
Close to one thousand students were touched by the life story of Shayne Smith at St. Charles College this week.
Smith is a member of the Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball team. He competes with only half a hand for dribbling and passing the ball.
Shayne contracted a dangerous and deadly form of meningitis at four months of age. The blood poisoning forced doctors to amputate both his legs and a hand.
To make matters worse, Shayne also had to deal with a rough relationship with his father that led him down a path of drugs, and school suspensions.
His determination has allowed him to triumph and he brought his inspiring message to the students. The story tied in nicely with the school’s anti-bullying message. This month, St. Charles students are active in presentations and activities centred around Bullying Awareness and Prevention month.
Students were very receptive of the presentation and many wanted to take pictures or to exchange words personally with Shayne afterwards.
Students continued the conversation by tweeting and sending Facebook messages to Shayne.
Shayne lives in Toronto but his presentation was provided by an organization called the Tutor Doctor.
St. Andrew Wins Provincial Award
On November 15, 2012, EQAO presented 27 elementary and secondary school communities in the province of Ontario with the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement. According to the EQAO press release, “They are representative of the many school communities across the province that have made effective use of EQAO data and evidence from other sources to enhance and support student achievement. These schools are at various stages in their journey of learning and continuous improvement. All are notable for their demonstration of leadership, proactive initiatives and sincere effort to help every child succeed. These are schools that have adopted an action plan based on their unique circumstances and are working toward improved student outcomes.”
The Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement award is a recognition program established by the EQAO board of Directors in 2009 to pay tribute to Dr. Stephenson’s lifelong commitment and outstanding contributions to both education and public service.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School is one of the recipients of this award for 2012. “As one of the schools profiled in EQAO’s 2011-2012 Provincial School Reports, we wish to honour this school’s community for its efforts, over many years, at improving student achievement and for its use of EQAO results to improve student learning.”
Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is thrilled with honour bestowed on the school. “On behalf of the board, I congratulate the staff at St. Andrew for their ongoing dedication to their students, and the entire school community. Winning this award is evidence of their hard work and commitment to ensuring the success of all of their students.”
A team from the school, including both the current and former principal – Melody Henry and Carmela Pitman, as well as two teachers – Mark Gautheir and Marilyn Onucky-Vervega, attended the awards recognition event in Toronto.
Taking the “Pinky Pledge” at Pius XII
Pius XII Catholic Elementary students participated recently in a ‘Pinky Pledge’ as part of their anti-bullying week events. Pius has linked up with Secret Deodorant with an anti-bullying campaign ‘Mean Stinks’. Girls made a pinky promise to be a ‘Drama Free School’. Students pledged that they will be kind, symbolized by wearing blue polish on their pinky fingers. Pius XII school has many activities and events lined up for 2 weeks to celebrate Bullying Prevention.
Peace Tree at St. Francis
On Friday, November 16th all students at St. Francis School participated in a Peace Tree activity. This activity was the culmination of Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, and focused on Mahatma Ghandi’s message “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. After reading the book “The Tree” by Dana Lyons, classes talked about respect for the environment and how disruptive disrespect can be to the peace of a forest or wetland. They then made connections between this story and how disrespect disrupts peace in our school. Symbols of different cultures and faiths from around the world were provided to every class and students turned these symbols into ornaments for a Peace Tree, situated in the lobby of the school. The tree is now covered with ornaments, many of which also have messages about how they will promote peace in their school, home, local community and the world.
The Key to Stop Bullying is Friendship at St. Charles Elementary
The students in Mrs. Harris’ grade 1/2 class at St. Charles Elementary are learning all about friendship rules and how to stop bullying! They have read the books Friendship and Our Friendship Rules and have made keys about how to be a good friend and not a bully.
The students have been learning about bullying and how to prevent bullying in preparation for Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week – November 18 – 24, 2012.
Pius XII Students and Wolves talk about Goals
Grade 4/5 students at Pius XII Catholic Elementary School welcomed Sudbury Wolves players Justin Sefton, Nathan Pancel and assistant coach John Young into their classroom. The students were very excited to have Wolves players in the class to talk about and reinforce the importance of setting goals, responsibility, team work and getting an education.
St. Raphael Students Stand Up to Bullying
The Grade 7’s students at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School wrote public service announcement about Standing Up To Bullying to support anti-bullying in the school. Both classes participated in wearing pink on the day they shared the PSAs with each other. One of the students, Gabriella Alves stated, “It was fun to dress in pink for a cause. The bullying PSAs told stories about our classmates, from the victim’s perspective, and were very powerful.” Well done Grade 7 students. You should be proud of your efforts of standing up to bullying!
Trent Cull Visits St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School
The School Improvement Plan for St. Andrew School under Catholic Care and Concern states that every month visitors from the community will be invited to the school to speak to the students about career opportunities and the importance of staying in school. This month Mr. Trent Cull, father of Wyatt and Gabe and coach of the Sudbury Wolves, visited our school to share his dreams with our students. Mr. Cull told the students that you have to work hard, stay in school and always dream”big”. The students were very interested in his hockey career…where he played, where he coached, what does coaching entail and “What’s up with the Wolves?” Pictured are Mr. Cull with his sons Wyatt and Gabe and Shrisha a new student to our school and our country.