St. David School parent Council, along with parent and community volunteers support the Donovan and Flour Mill communities by hosting a “Community Closet” every month at St. David Catholic School. The volunteers collect gently used clothing, toys, books and home appliances throughout each month and then offer these items to community members, students and families in need. The volunteers include grade 8 students, parents and community members wanting to support their neighbours. The “community closet” will start again in September 2011, when the next school year begins. St. David parent Council, “thanks everyone for their generosity and support”. They “appreciate the donations and feel great that they were able to give back to their community”.
Category: Schools
St. James School and Sunny Fournier team up for Haiti
St. James Catholic School kicked off its May virtue of Empathy with an inspirational presentation by the school custodian Sunny Fournier. Fournier visited Haiti after the devastating earthquakes and he shared a slideshow with the students depicting the struggles but also the hopes of Haitians as they try to rebuild. As a living testament to the virtue of empathy—(putting yourself in someone else’s shoes) a silver coin collection took place and in the usual generous ways St. James school donated the proceeds to “Mission Par La Foie” Orphanage.
Sunny Fournier continues to collect donations and support to help build “Mission Par La Foie”—an orphanage, school and medical clinic—three connected service buildings for the community of Gressier (Epic Centre). If anyone wishes to donate to this cause contact Sunny Fournier at St. James Catholic School or visit www.saveourhaiti.com.
Pius Students Take Part in “Read With Me”
With the increased emphasis on community outreach and parent involvement in ELK classrooms, Pius XII school is pleased to announce their “Read With Me” program which offers parents the opportunity to come into the classroom to read with the children. The program was launched during Catholic Education Week and featured a comic story about the night before Mother’s Day. After the reading, students shared their plans for their Moms and made connections to other similar texts read throughout the year. ELK teams are always looking for ways to promote a love for reading and this program is doing just that!”
St. Francis Students Learn from Sudbury Rising Stars
The students and staff at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School had the opportunity recently to watch a performance by the Sudbury Rising Stars. The Rising Stars is an organization that performs skits related to issues for seniors such as hazards, health issues, hearing issues, using walkers etc. The group has previously performed for adult groups including the Catholic Women’s League for the past three years, but their performance for the St. Francis students was their first time in front of children. Shirley Miles, coordinator of the group wanted the students to learn about these different issues that seniors face. As many of the students have grandparents and other seniors in their life, Miles explained that it is a great opportunity for them to have a better understanding of their potential problems and how to deal with them. Laurie Petryna, St. Francis Principal, felt it was a great way for their students to connect with all of the seniors in their life and to reinforce the importance of encouraging respectful relationships with them.
St. Anne Students Beat to The Drum of the First Nations
“A culture of respectful relationships.” That is what the Gr.5/6 English and French Immersion students at St. Anne school believe in. They showed this during the past week by being part of a Sudbury Catholic School Board presentation with Aboriginal Elder Vince Pawis, Mr. Pawis exposed the students to the rich history, culture and perspectives of First Nation people through his explanations of the Medicine Wheel and other symbols such as the drum. The students listened while developing an increased awareness and appreciation of traditional teachings. They learned about respecting the beauty and history found within the Aboriginal culture. Gr. 5 French Immersion student Valerie Gour was honoured to hold the drum passed around during the presentation. The Sudbury Catholic Board believes in the building of community through the implementation of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit education.
Local School Overflows with Parents’ Support
The parents of St. David Catholic School flooded the school during a recent student led conference and showcase portfolio morning. The staff prepared a quiet area in the school for parents and students to conference about student success using student showcase portfolios, but was flooded with so many parents, grandparents, neighbours and even babysitters that they had to empty 3 other classrooms and use these spaces for additional conference areas. The school staff was delighted with the unexpected family turnout, but did have to make some quick adjustments for sheer numbers.
“Student led conferencing is when you have students conduct formal conferences with their parents or guests to display their school work as well as discuss their learning, educational goals and strategies for meeting those goals. Student led conferencing puts students at the heart of the process so that they have the opportunity to tell the story of their own achievement and successes. These conferences offer an authentic outside audience necessary for portfolios to be serious, real world tasks and they bring parents into the assessment process”, explained school literacy coach, Jennifer Gran. Dawn Wemigwans, school principal stated, “We most definitely plan to do this again. It was a great success for our school. Our students and their parents were visibly proud of each other and of course we were too.”
Transitions – St. Michael and St. Francis
New friends Bayly Burns from St. Francis and Mackenzie Coggins from St. Michael worked together on a peace quilt during Catholic Education Week. The lesson used the book Somewhere Today – a Book about Peace. Students in grades 1 to 6 from both schools got together as a part of the transition plan to prepare students from St. Michael’s to join those from St. Francis, as St. Michael’s is closing in June and students will be attending St. Francis in the fall.
Students will also be getting together to watch a play at St. Francis called “Goldilocks and the Three Canadian Bears” on May 16th.
A Tasty Lesson for St. Andrew Students
Dave Harding from “Nanas Kettle Corn” provided the students with a fun and informative demonstration on popcorn. He uses an authentic big open kettle, kernels popped in Canola oil and quickly pops the ‘mushroom shaped’ sweet and salty popcorn. The popcorn is nut free, gluten free, dairy free, trans fat tree, and guilt free which is perfect as a school fundraiser.Students enjoyed a sample taste and then purchased bags of popcorn for $2.00 each.
St. Albert Participates in Spring Clean Up
Staff and students at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre did their part to keep their community clean. They participated in a spring clean up of area streets around the school. They received supplies and support from the city and in the end, picked up over 20 bags of garbage from around the neighbourhood.