The littlest hands can produce the most amazing things. Danika Gray, on the left, and her building partner show this by proudly displaying their finished product after a morning of inquiry and problem solving at St. Anne School in Hanmer. Junior and Senior Kindergarten French Immersion students within the Early Learning Kindergarten Program worked in teams, using recycled materials, to design and build a house, complete with some fancy options like doors, windows, chimneys, and even a fireplace. No project was too big or small! Who knows? These may be the architects of tomorrow!
Category: Schools
MMA’s Envirothon Teams Take Top Spots
Students from Marymount Academy walked away from the region’s ninth annual Sudbury regional Envirothon competition as winners. In fact, the school’s two entries took the top two spots in this year’s competition. The Envirothon is a hands-on environmental program for students in Grades 9-12 and creates awareness about environmental issues in a variety of subject areas. Teams of 5 students prepare for the competition by intensely studying the various topics as well as preparing themselves to put together a project at the competition related to a different environmental issue -which is chosen every year. This year’s topic was “Protection of Groundwater Through Urban, Agriculture and Environmental Planning”.
Jason Weiler, the Marymount teacher in charge of the team has been involved with the Envirothon for the past 6 years and his teams have taken the top spot for 5 of those years. “It is a real credit to my students who continue to embrace the environment,” Weiler stated. “They are extremely dedicated to the team, and to being stewards of the earth, and am extremely proud of their achievements.”
Teammate Jenna Floyd (Grade 10) who is on the first place team was thrilled with their win and was excited for the upcoming competition. “It was a fantastic learning experience for us,” Floyd said. “It has really given us a chance to take our academics outside the classroom and embrace learning in a whole new environment.”
Both teams from Marymount will be moving on to the Provincial competition which will be held May 5th – 8th at the Tim Horton Onondaga Farms in St. George, Ontario.
Canadian Pride at St. Mary
Federal Liberal Candidate for Nickel Belt, Joe Cormier, re-visited St. Mary in Capreol to bring a special book and a Canadian Flag to one lucky student. In February of this year, Mr. Cormier asked the students to create a poster where the Canadian Flag was prominently displayed as a special project to celebrate Flag Day. The results were so good that picking only one winning poster was a difficult task. Michael Renaud, a JK student, was fortunate in having his name picked as the winning entry. Mr. Cormier brought a Canadian Flag for Michael, along with a book autographed by Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Opposition.
Sudbury Students Teach Their Peers the Real Meaning of Easter
The grade 7 class at St. David Catholic School worked for weeks preparing a performance of the “Stations of the Cross” for the school student population. The students, with their teacher’s assistance and direction, played the parts, edited the script, built the set and made the costumes. Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus and the devotion commemorating the Passion. “I liked the performance because we actually felt like we were there. I liked that the grade 7’s used props and costumes and that they told us how we could be better friends to each other and make good choices. They taught us about how Jesus died and why he died for us. I really liked it and can’t wait until I am in grade 7 and I can put on this performance for the little kids in the school”, said grade 4 student Sequoia Wemigwans. Mrs. Mansourian, grade 7 teacher at St. David School, said that “the integration of the arts into the curriculum is an effective strategy to engage student learners, especially when they (students) feel empowered with the responsibility to teach younger students in the school”.
St. James Learns Traditional Art of Pysanky
During the Easter season, the grade 6,7and 8 French Immersion class from St. James Catholic School in Lively welcomed Jan Buley, a professor at Laurentian University who loves to teach the art of Pysanky–Ukrainian Easter eggs. These eggs are a traditional craft in Ukraine, with a history of thousands of years. Pysanky are decorated in many steps using a kistka, beeswax and several colours of dye. The students loved the experience and learned a very short but interesting lesson on the traditional craftof egg decorating and Ukrainian culture. The Ukrainian eggs that were created by the students were amazing and beautiful!
St. Anne Kindergarten Students In Disbelief As Gingerbread Man Runs Away Again!
“Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” This was the phrase the English Early Learning Kindergarten students at St. Anne School in Hanmer had being practicing as they used the story of the “Gingerbread Man” to practice story retelling. A culminating activity was to actually bake their own gingerbread cookies. Imagine their surprise when they discovered that their baked cookies had run away just like the cookie in the story!
An all points bulletin was aired over the school’s p.a. system by the Kindergarten children. They then proceeded to design and post lost and found posters. With the entire student body and staff eagerly searching for the fun away cookies, the children received a phone call from Mr. Thomson, an Intermediate teacher within the school. The run away cookies had fled to Mr. Thomson’s classroom. When asked why he thought the cookies would run to him, Mr. Thomson was quoted as saying, “Everyone knows I like cookies and I also like to say ‘Hello’ to the littlest people within our school, so I guess my classroom was the perfect place to go.” The Kindergarten children were ecstatic and relieved at the same time. Mr. Thomson received a gingerbread cookie as a reward for helping the students and providing a very happy and yummy ending to this tasty fairy tale mystery!
Bishop Alexander Carter Students Fight World Hunger
Students from Bishop Alexander Carter did their part in fighting world hunger this past month by taking part in a 30 hour famine.The group of 90 students formed groups of 12 to compete in several character, team, and global awareness building activities such as a community clean-up, a scavenger hunt, and several art activities. Students were even lucky enough to have a guest speaker, on behalf of Development and Peace, from Sierra Leone. While students were hard at work on a full length motion picture movie being produced by the specialist high skills major class, teachers taking part were also hard at work making a chocolate and vanilla marble cake with crisp maple bacon to garnish – a treat for students after the famine was over, and that is when the hunger began to set in. But determined to make a difference and stick to the goal, students fought the hunger knowing that it would all be over after the 30 hours.
Wrapping up the events before the big luncheon, students and staff took part in a morning prayer service. “We all really had a good time, and we met so many new interesting people,” stated Kelsey Blais , Bishop Alexander Carter student. “At the end of the day, it was great to know that each and everyone of us is changing someone’s life, maybe not forever, but even for just a second, that’s what counts.” Raising well over $1 400, students were proud of their efforts and knew that they had made a difference not only in their community, but in the world as well.
Lifting The Hopes For Cancer Research At St. Anne School
“Is cancer contagious?” This was the simple question that Gr. 8 student Corey Demers asked Sudbury Catholic Board teacher, Dawn Restoule. Corey had been exposed to dealing with cancer with a younger cousin and was aware that one of St. Anne’s Intermediate teachers was presently undergoing cancer treatment. It was a question near and dear to his heart so both Corey and Ms. Restoule researched the topic of cancer to discover some of the facts and myths. Corey’s unit in religion encouraged him to give back to those in need. Corey came up with a proposal to raise funds for cancer research which he presented to his principal, Mr. Guy Mathieu. The proposal was passed and Corey and his teacher began their fundraiser. In association with the Canadian Cancer Society, Corey has dedicated his lunch hours to the selling of rubber wristbands engraved with the school’s name. Each bracelet sells for $3.00 and during the first week, Corey has raised approximately $400.00. The fundraiser will continue until all wristbands are sold. Congratulations Corey and Ms. Restoule on your efforts to fighting such a worthy cause!
ST. JOHN SCHOOL 5/6 COED BASKETBALL TEAM BOARD AND CITY CHAMPS!
Congratulations goes out to the St. John School 5/6 Co-Ed Basketball Team who powered their way through the St. Raphael Royals 3rd annual 3 vs 3 Tournament and the Greater Sudbury Board of Basketball Officials Wrap Up Tournament with a combined total of 11 wins and 0 loses to take first place in both tournaments! The St. John School community along with Coaches Ms. Hluchaniuk and Mr. Whalen wish to thank and commend the efforts of team players: (front row l-r) Shane Poitras, Logan Daniel, (second row l-r) Sara Gardner, Allison McLean, Hope Joly, Nick Chokan, Brandon Labre and Tommy Vlahos.