The English Early Learning Kindergarten Students at St. Anne School have recently announced their love of animals to their community. Soft, furry animals, big-eyed animals, and cute huggable animals. On a recent trip to Science North, the youngest students within the Sudbury Catholic System discovered that not all of Mother Nature’s wildlife have the “cuddly” look about them. The student’s participated in a learning session called “How Animals Move”. During the learning experience, they were introduced to toads, turtles, and snakes.
While recounting some of their own life experiences with these creatures, the children learned that every animal is special, no matter what they look like. Even though some of the students started the program being a little afraid of the small creatures, by the end of the discussions with their “bluecoat”, they had a much better understanding of the bodily makeup and habitat information of all three animals. Practicing the wiggling movement of the snake, the hopping of the toad, and the withdrawal into their pretend turtle shell, the students came to have a greater appreciation for the animals. The St. Anne children finished off their visit by interacting with the creatures. How will this visit influence the young animal lovers? It just strengthens their determination to tell everyone that all animals need to be loved and respected for their roles in the world around us.
Category: Schools
Comfy Reading at St. Bernadette
Grade 3/4 Teacher, Mme Perron has noted that the students in her Grade 3/4 French Immersion classroom at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School are thrilled to take out their favourite book and read, read, read, especially now that they have all brought in their favourite pillows and stuffed toys to snuggle with as they read. Each day for 15 minutes students get out their blankets, pillows and stuffed friends and spend some uninterrupted time with a good book. This particular day the event was even more enjoyable as it was also PJ day at the school – and what is more enjoyable than curling up with a good book and a blanket in your pyjamas?
St. Charles Christmas Spirit with Canned Foods
Students at St. Charles Elementary Catholic School are already in the Christmas Spirit of Giving. Students collected a total of 3,694 cans and donated them to La Maison d'Amitie/ Friendship House Food Bank. Principal of the school, Sandra St. Denis stated, “I am very proud of all the students – this truly shows the true spirit of giving. I have to give credit to Mme Bouzane’s Gr. 5/6 French Immersion class who organized the event. The students made daily announcements, graphed and displayed the cans as they were brought into the school, boxed the cans and loaded the vehicles for distribution at the food bank”.
Cougars Unite!
Kathryn Turpin (Immaculate Conception Cougar) and Alexis Pike (St. Christopher Cougar) embrace during their Penpal Party. The Grade 4 students from these two schools, have been writing back and forth to each other, and had the opportunity to meet at Immaculate Conception on December 7th. They took part in a ice breaker activity, scavenger hunt, pizza lunch and various math games on the Smartboard. They look forward to their next meeting at St. Christopher’s in March, and then a field trip together at the end of the school year.
Our Lady of Peace and St. Mary Catholic School Partner to Help Out the Less Fortunate
When Mrs. Paul, Catholic Women’s League president called St. Mary School to elicit the school’s support for the Operation Christmas Child Project, St. Mary’s Catholic School Principal and staff said they would be happy to provide support to such a worthwhile project.
“It’s important that young people in our schools feel they are part of the parish community, and the global community at large. There is no better way to reduce poverty than by participating in goodwill projects,” said principal Sherry Bortolotti.
The school has thanked their school secretary Claire Olivier who passionately embraced this idea and ensured there were enough boxes for every student to give one shoe box stacked with toys, soap, socks, books etc. to a child in need. “I fill good knowing that we’ve made Christmas better for a handful of children, that is the true meaning of Christmas,” said Olivier.
Local Co-ordinator for Operation Christmas Child, Karyn Stenbraaten stated, “The key to being a happy person is giving to others.” St. Mary’s children are happily waiting to take on their next goodwill project
Mayor for the Day at St. Mark
Grade 6 student Haley Cornthwaite chaired a mock Council meeting after being granted 8 hour Mayoral powers recently. Her classmates acted as members of the council, eagerly listening to facts surrounding the proposed road closures for the Santa Claus parade. To give them a helping hand, the students heard from Constable Petroski and home inspector. In addition to learning the municipal ropes, the students also had an opportunity to learn of the important work of city home inspector as well as a chance to pose questions to Constable concerning his job as as OPP officer. To cap off the morning, the students of St. Mark school closely inspected an emergency response vehicl as well as the pump truck at the Fire Station.
Corpus Christi Celebrates Mass with the Bishop
Recently at Corpus Christi, students and staff were honoured that Bishop Simard and Father Larry Rymes came to say Mass. School trustee Estelle Scappatura was also on hand to celebrate with the Corpus Christi family.
A Love of Animals Really “Pays Off” For St. Anne Kindergarten Students
The English Early Learning Students at St. Anne School in Hanmer are on a mission. They plan on helping out as much of Sudbury’s animal population as much as they can. Earlier in the fall, the young students from within the Sudbury Catholic School Board nicknamed themselves “The ABC’S”. (All Because of Caring Students). They brainstormed and came up with a fundraising idea to purchase items that could help out the communities injured or needy animals. Through the help of local businesses like Hanson Family Dentistry and Paula’s Canine Country Club, as well as contributions from family and friends, the students put their logo on small donation cans that ask for one penny. The cans were placed at the businesses by the student’s teacher, Cheryl MacRury. The students chose a penny because it was the only piece of money that most of them recognized. Although a penny doesn’t seem like much, the donations collected have really been “paying off”! Within the first two weeks and with the help of Mrs. Belanger’s English Grade 7 class, the older and younger students were able to count and roll out over 1300 pennies. If the fullness of the donation cans is any indication, the second round of collecting promises to be double that of the first. The students have chosen to make their first donation to the Wild At Heart Animal Refuge. Using counting charts, the penny values of items, and real life pictures of objects from the refuge’s list, the young Catholic students will choose which donations they can afford to purchase and present them to the Center as Christmas gifts for its injured wildlife. Who says little people can’t make a difference? Christmas for the English Kindergarten children at St. Anne School allows them to tell everyone that the “spirit of giving” feels great!
St. David Enjoys “The Adventures of Sparky the Traveling Fire Dog”
Mitch Theriault, Public Safety Officer with the Greater Sudbury Fire Services visited St. David Catholic School to launch the pilot of a new fire prevention program called “The Adventures of Sparky the Traveling Fire Dog”. The program is geared to grade 1 classes. The students have the opportunity to take a stuffed animal, a talking Sparky doll home for one week. During this week, the children are asked to complete a fire safety checklist with their parents and add a page to Sparky’s journal that outlines his adventures in the homes of different families.
“This is a fun new way to get our safety messages into the homes of young children and families” said Theriault ” The entire family follows a checklist that asks them to do things like test their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, practice a fire escape drill, and make sure candles are in a safe place among other tips.”
McKena Houston in Mrs. Cimino’s grade 1 class stated that when she brought Sparky home, her and her mother started their adventure by reviewing the fire safety tips in the booklet. McKena was quoted as saying “Sparky is awesome!”