Gr.6 students, Brett Jacklin and Matthew Matheson are Santa’s helpers, helping out the Nursery School located at St Andew School. The Nursery School hosted a special Christmas party for their parents and students. Brett and Matthew used to attend the Nursery School when they were toddlers and now, in Gr.6, they are delighted to assist the young ones and return the favour to help.
Category: Schools
Sudbury Catholic Celebrates Birth at St. James
St James Catholic Elementary Catholic School hosted a Drum Birthing ceremony on Tuesday, December 13th. Students from grades three to six watched as their peers awakened their drums through the guidance of Verna Hardwick, Ojibwe Language Teacher. In September, students had the opportunity to attend a three day retreat at the Killarney Shebanoning Outdoor Environmental Education Centre and participated in everything from scraping the hide to stretching it and preparing their rings. Drum Maker, Clyde Migwans, instructed students on the process and art of drum making. Students walked away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the hard work that goes into making traditional hand drums and gained valuable lessons in patience, stewardship and respect.
In the spirit of the season of Advent, it was appropriate that the students were able to celebrate the birth of the drums. Much like Christmas they shared in celebration with berries, corn soup and wild rice.
Drum makers hailed from St James, St David and St Benedict Catholic Secondary School and were proud to extend the invitation to share in the experience with the St James School Community and Atikameksheng Anishinawbek.
SCC Mock Trial Team Learning from the Best
Students from the St. Charles College mock trial team had the opportunity on December 14 to work with Honourable Patirica C. Hennessy, a judge of the Superior Court of Justice. SCC teacher Jaime Sauve was contacted by Hennessy’s office to see if her students wanted the chance to work with Hennessy. Sauve immediately said yes as she knew that this was an amazing opportunity for her students to build on their law experience. Honourable Hennessy then visited the students to help facilitate a discussion on careers in law, as well as coach the students on how to conduct themselves professionally and courteously in court. These students were the City’s Mock Trial Champions at last year’s competition.
Marymount Student Honoured to Participate in Rick Hansen Foundation Relay
Selected to be one of over 7000 medal bearers from across Canada, grade 8 Marymount Academy student, Carly Zulich was excited and nervous. As both sides of the sidewalk in front of her school was lined with hundreds of her peers, Zulich waited anxiously for her turn to run wearing the Rick Hansen medal, passed on to her from endurance athlete Tyrone Henry. Cheers from the students began as the police escort pulled onto the property with the Rick Hansen Foundation convoy and Henry following closely behind. After some inspirational words from the Foundation representatives, and Henry, Henry passed on the medal to Zulich so she could take her turn running her leg of the run as part of the 9 month long, and over 600 community relay across Canada.
“It is such an honour for our school and our student to take part in such an historic event.” Lori Holden, Vice Principal of the school stated. “ Carly is an exceptional student, and I know that she is so appreciative of this opportunity – just as we are as a school. We feel very fortunate to be a part of something so inspirational, as we have all been inspired by the accomplishments of Rick Hansen and his foundation.”
Sudbury Catholic Partners with Laurentian University to “Dig Into the Arts”
On Friday, November 25 both teachers, and Early Childhood Educators from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program (ELKP) participated in a day of experiential learning at Laurentian University. Guided by professors Dave and Jan Buley, the educators discovered interesting ways to integrate the arts in everyday teaching and learning. With the help of Marc Poirier from Pearson Education, the educators experienced a digital learning classroom where they explored a variety of opportunities for embedding technology in their practice.
St. Anne Students Discover “A World Of Learning”
Primary students from St. Anne School in Hanmer recently made a very interesting discovery. Learning can happen at any place, at any time! On a trip to Science North, the students participated in many workshops that helped them learn about the world around them while they were having fun. Watching a presentation within the cavern brought forest fires to life. Having a beaver swim right by you while you are simply centimetres away is a once in a lifetime experience. Both students and teachers from the Sudbury Catholic Board always enjoy the world of wonder presented at Science North. Each visit enhances the learning of the very youngest to the very oldest student.
From Project to Plan… Three Immaculate Students Are Making a Difference
Abigail Morgan, Sydney Hall and Alexa Connors are inspired – inspired to make a difference on the other side of the world.
The three grade 6 Immaculate Conception students, along with the rest of their class, were given a project. As part of their religion and French studies, the class was assigned a project about someone who has made a difference in the world. The three girls chose Ryan Hreljac. Ryan Hreljac, when he was just six years old, decided to raise money to buy and build wells in countries where there is little access to clean water. By 2001, Ryan had established the Ryan’s Well Foundation which raises money for wells to be built in areas affected by the global water crisis. Through learning about Ryan and his organization, Abigail, Sydney and Alexa knew that just doing a project wasn’t enough. They wanted to start their own fundraising efforts to support this foundation. After getting the support from their teacher, Chantal Rancourt, they brainstormed ideas on how best to approach their project. Ms. Raincourt suggested they put together a video presentation to share with their class and their school, as well as invite other schools at the Sudbury Catholic Board to get involved. The students decided to present their video, as well as hold a Water Wednesday on December 14. The girls’ class helped out by creating posters to put all over the walls throughout the school reminding everybody as the day drew closer, and the whole school was encouraged to bring in their loose change, loonies and toonies. At the end of the day, the girls managed to raise over $210 in their first day of fundraising. But it doesn’t end there. Many other activities have been planned including a walkathon and a jumpathon, scheduled for the spring as they are determined to reach their goal of $2000 – which is the cost of one well. “We are asking everybody to do extra chores, save their allowances, anything to help out” quipped all three girls when asked about what their next immediate plans were. “We started this during the month of November, and November’s virtue of the month is Justice, so we thought it was really important that we did something that helped with justice in the world.”
Chantal Rancourt, knew that they were serious about this right at the beginning of the project. “These girls approached me and began right away to discuss a plan – I knew that this was something that they were extremely passionate about.” Rancourt stated. “ I am so proud of their efforts, and their encouragement of others to support this cause. Their actions are truly reflective of the virtue of Justice, and they are now inspiring others to make a difference too. We are all looking forward to seeing what their next steps will be!”
St. Anne Students Use Technology To “Envision” More Than Sugarplums
Christmas is a time for sharing and giving. That was very evident when Mrs. Belanger’s Grade 7 English students at St. Anne school in Hanmer shared their laptops and their time with the Grade 3 English students in Mme. Lafrance’s class. In keeping with the holiday spirit, the Grade 7 students within the Sudbury Catholic Board helped their new friends in Grade 3 type out their letter to Santa Claus. The younger children were excited about their thoughts of what they should ask for. The Grade 7 students were not only able to assist in the typing out of the wishes of the Grade 3 children, but while both groups were typing, the Intermediate students were also showing the primary students some of the skills that were needed to use the laptops. Both groups of students really enjoyed working together. Jaida Sabzali worked with her older brother Hunter on her letter. She said, “It was fun to work with my big brother. It was fun using Hunter’s computer and I learned a lot.” Hunter was quoted as saying, “It was fun to help out my little sister. I helped her type out her letter to Santa and I was impressed to watch her type.” The Grade 3 students will be mailing their printed letters to Santa Claus. They will anxiously be awaiting for their return letters from the North Pole.
Marymount Midget Volleyball Teams Go the Distance at Lady Lancer Volleyball Tournament
On Friday, December 9, Marymount Academy entered two separate teams in the Lady Lancer Invitational Midget Tournament hosted by Lasalle Secondary School. The Midget tournament included grade 9 volleyball teams from several of the city’s school boards. Marymount coaches decided to enter their grade 9 volleyball team, as well as their grade 8 team to help them gain experience with highschool volleyball.
At the end of the tournament, both teams came out on top with the Marymount grade 9 team taking first in the tournament, and the Marymount grade 8 team taking the top consolation spot.