Ava Collette is a student within the English E.L.K.P. classroom at St. Anne School in Hanmer. She celebrated Pancake Tuesday with her classmates and other classrooms throughout the school as a day of celebration before the start of Lent and Ash Wednesday. The pancakes Ava and her Kindergarten friends ate were perhaps a bit more special than most. That is because they were covered in syrup Ava’s father had made from tapping the maple trees at their home. Ava, a student within the Sudbury Catholic Board, told her class “My daddy made the syrup from the trees in our backyard”. Her friends and teacher couldn’t wait to try the homemade syrup and after tasting it on top of their pancakes, everyone agreed. “It was yummy”! The syrup was so good, there wasn’t one drop left. Ava and her dad certainly knew how to put the “topping” on this year’s pancake breakfast!
Category: Schools
Sudbury Catholic Board Wide Science Fair Winners
The annual Sudbury Catholic Board Wide Science Fair was held on March 1st, 2012 at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. There were a total of 49 students that participated at the board level this year. Fifteen projects were selected to move on to the Regional Science Fair being held at Laurentian University on April 14th and 15th. Out of the fifteen projects moving on to the next level of competition, 4 were selected as the top winners.
St. Charles College: The Environmental Award – Marika Moskalyk (gr. 8) – Marymount Academy
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School: Physical Science Award– Mia Tullio (gr. 8)– Marymount Academy
Marymount Academy: Innovation Award – Caleb Beland (gr. 8)– St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary: Health Sciences Award – Alex Pudupakkam (gr. 8)– St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
Additional students moving on to the Regional Science Fair…
Isabella Scola Lawrynshyn – Marymount Academy
Serina Seguin – Marymount Academy
Kayla Nickson and Abrosia Cantin – Marymount Academy
Elyssa Ryan and Chloe Franke – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Chris Rowsell – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Steven Chevrier and Nathan Lobben – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Karly Hallett – St. John Catholic Elementary School
Ian Tom and Roman Leblanc – St. James Catholic Elementary School
Alex Guido – St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School
Haley Moskal – St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School
Ethan Jodouin – St. Benedict Catholic Elementary School
Class’100 Day Celebration Supports NOFCC
Like many other Sudbury Catholic School classes, the Early Learning classroom at St. Raphael held a “100th day of school” celebration on February 13th. The students were asked to decorate hats with 100 different items – some chose dinosaurs, some chose pompoms, etc. As well, they took part in a variety of different activities that acknowledged the significance of the day. Rosemary Tripodi, the Early Learning Teacher and Domenic Vicedomini, the Early Childhood Educator decided that they wanted to tie their celebration to the virtue of the month which is compassion. They came up with an idea that they felt would teach their students about the importance of caring for others in their community while still focusing on the theme of “100”. Each student was asked to bring in 100 coins. They discussed with the class this idea and decided that any money that was brought in could be donated to the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer Foundation (NOFCC). The class talked about kids who were sick with cancer and that their collections of 100 coins could help support this worthwhile cause. Much to the surprise of Tripodi and Vicedomini, the students collected $135 dollars to donate. Expecting only pennies, the teachers were quite proud that their students made a connection – not only to their 100 coins, but that they understood the significance of supporting other kids who were ill in their community. “ What a wonderful show of support from our students in helping out such a wonderful cause as NOFCC,” Tripodi stated. “We knew the 100 day celebration would be fun but connecting to the virtue of compassion made it a much more powerful lesson for all of the students.” David Langlois, President of NOFCC was invited into the class so that the students could present him with a cheque for the foundation.
St. David Catholic School Parent Involvement Leads to Greater Student Success and Well Being
St. David Catholic School works diligently to involve parents and the community in the education of our youth. The school recognizes that student achievement increases when parents play an active role in their children’s education, and that “good schools become even better schools when parents and community members become involved”.
The grade 5/6 class at St. David worked with the staff at the Killarney Outdoor Education Center and with school parents and local Aboriginal Elders to allow the students to experience real life learning. Parents, community members, students and staff learned about traditional Aboriginal hunting and fishing practices, scientific states of matter and the food chain and it’s relationship to biodiversity — then they spent a day ice fishing. Although no actual fish were caught, parents were actively engaged in supporting their children’s success at school. Parents and students were motivated to learn as a team, each supporting each other in an active hands on learning experience.
Bridging the Gap between Elementary and Secondary School
On February 7th and 8th, teachers and students from St. Anne Catholic School and Bishop
Alexander Catholic Secondary School (BAC) in Hanmer participated in co-teaching sessions to help bridge the gap between elementary school and secondary school. These sessions were sponsored by Sudbury Catholic District School Board in hopes that grades 7, 8, and 9 teachers would create a collaborative inquiry into the questioning strategies used across the three grade levels. Teachers were brought together in a collaboration session and encouraged to use open ended questions to facilitate the teaching and learning process. “This is a great learning opportunity for both students and teachers. The use of open ended questions allows students to use more meaningful answers that support their
previous knowledge,” said Jody O’Daiskey, grade 8 teacher at St. Anne School.
Over the course of two days, teachers from both schools engaged in co-teaching math lessons using similar styles and the same final assessment . Throughout the lesson, various assessments as, for and of learning took place. Students worked together to solve the final open ended assessment question, while teachers circulated to provide guidance when needed. Students from Mrs. O’Daiskey’s classroom at St. Anne Catholic School enjoyed this experience. “I thought it was a great opportunity, and we learned that there were several possible outcomes. This showed us that there isn’t always one right answer when you have an open ended question. I also thought it was fun working with teachers
from BAC so they could see what some of us were capable of,” said Taylor Lawless, student in grade 8 at St. Anne School.
Bridging the gap between elementary school and secondary school is an important focus of the collaborative inquiry. All teachers involved agree that activities such as these lead to greater student success when they reach secondary school. “I think that bringing these knowledgeable teachers together in a co-teaching session, can only lead to better success for all students involved,” said Guy Mathieu, current principal at St. Anne School and founding principal at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. “I believe that given the opportunity to meet with teachers from the elementary panel allows us
to better understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This in turn can only benefit the students coming to us in the secondary panel,” said Robert Boucher, a secondary teacher from Bishop Alexander Carter CSS.
Upon completion of the entire inquiry process, the teachers involved will bring all of their findings, including; student artifacts, pictures and video, to a final collaboration meeting with teachers from all elementary and secondary schools in the Sudbury Catholic District school board. These results will be presented and discussed to further bridge the gap and allow for greater student success for all.
St. Mary finds 100 things to celebrate!
On the 100th day of school St. Mary students, staff and families took part in an evening celebration. The school community sat down to a wonderful pasta dinner and then broke off into stations where numeracy and literacy games were lead by teachers and the principal. “It was really neat because everything was about the number 100. Even the books and writing activities were about the number 100,” said student Matthew Roy.
Parents were also invited to an information session in the library where they took part in group discussions about how to help their children with homework, how to engage their child in reading and the importance of parents in the education of their children. Parents left with 100 practical literacy tips and homework bags to use at home.
Later on this year parents will be participating in St. Mary’s “Families with a Kick Program.” Students will be kickboxing while parents will be invited to read articles and dialogue about how they can help their child improve in literacy and numeracy at home.
“John Hattie has suggested parents are important to the academic success of their children. Therefore, we need to provide our families with opportunities to network and share ideas with each other,” said principal Sherry Bortolotti.
St. James Safe School Council Awarded “Speak Up Grant”
St. James Safe School student council, named C3 – Catholic, Community and Culture– was awarded a Government of Ontario “Speak Up Grant” for their inclusive education campaign. The C3 council gives students a voice in making St. James a place where everyone feels welcome and therefore students are provided with ample opportunities to participate in school decisions that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers. In organizing activities the C3 aims to create a caring and safe school environment and messaging the importance of inclusion and respect for everyone at St. James School.
Some of the C3 endeavours include: designing and playing a school-wide inclusive education P.A bingo, the creation of an exclusive St. James Safe School button and several community outreach projects.
St. Benedict Wins Basketball Title
St. Benedict defeated Sacre Coeur 49-39 for the Div II Senior Boys Basketball this past weekend.
St. Benedict will host the Jr. and Sr. Boys NOSSA “A” Basketball Championships this upcoming weekend.
St. Anne Student Celebrates Valentine’s Day with “Smiles From The Heart”
A day filled with excitement and the anticipation of receiving cards from your classmates who like you is a big deal to Noah Legault. Noah is a student in the English E.L.K.P. classroom at St. Anne School in Hanmer. Noah transferred to the Valley school within the Sudbury Catholic System just before Christmas. Making new friends can be hard. He told his teacher, “I like my friends”. From the looks of the smile on his face as he opens his Valentine cards, Noah has had no problem working his way into the hearts of his classmates. His special messages tell him that his friends “like him too”! Noah has not only joined the St. Anne Angels, but he has joined the list of someone who can be and who is a very, very special Valentine!