Sudbury Catholic District School Board

A Day in the Life… at SCDSB

The following is the reflection of French Catholic Student Keenan Lachance who had the opportunity to spend some time with SCDSB staff “job-shadowing” on Friday, May 14, 2010.

My day Job Shadowing Gina Tullio (communications officer) and Jennifer Connelly (technology integration mentor) was a great experience! The job kept me busy,interested and on the move all day long. There was never a dull moment! We got to visit St. David’s and St. Raphael’s to take pictures for a stop-motion video of the “Seven Grandfather Teachings”. Many tasks were assigned to me, like taking pictures and making slideshows, which allowed me to get great hands on experience with technology. Both Jennifer and Gina were positive, spirited and generous in sharing their duties with me. I’m very grateful that I chose to shadow them and if the opportunity to visit them should arise again, I would definitely go for another day. A big thanks to all Sudbury Catholic District School Board employees who made my “shadow”experience so memorable.

Keenan Lachance, 7th grade student at St-Paul, Lively

Rookie Regal Night at Marymount Academy

Nearly 160 Grade Six girls from all four boards showed up at Marymount Academy on May 13, 2010 for Rookie Regal Night. All of the girls that have been accepted into Grade 7 for the fall had the opportunity to take part in an evening of fun, games and school spirit. The girls were divided into six different groups and rotated through several activities including cookie decorating, hemp bracelet crafts and sports activities in the gym. The night ended with a cheer off between the six different groups and the girls left feeling tired but very, very excited for their upcoming Marymount adventure.

St. Francis S.K’s Sing Ole

The French Immersion Senior Kindergarten class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School recently participated in a group activity in which they learned the e sound. The students learned a song that incorporated this sound – the song “Ole ” As well, they reviewed the letter C and the letter H. In order to review all of these lessons, their teacher, Lise Mallette thought that they could pull all of these together by supporting a great Canadian Hockey team – the Montreal Canadians. The students also integrated, cutting, pasting writing, singing and drama by decorating Montreal Canadian headbands and then visiting a few classes to perform what they had learned.

St. Benedict Guest Speaker Drives Home the Message of the Dangers of Drinking and Distracted Driving

Students at St. Benedict welcomed guest speaker Norbert Georget to their school on May 12th, 2010. Mr. Georget is a former Saskatoon area paramedic, who now travels throughout Canada and the United States to bring home the reality of the consequences of drinking and driving, distracted driving and using drugs before getting behind the wheel. Drawing on his personal experiences while he was a paramedic, Mr. Georget shared story after story of senseless tragedies to a silent audience. The students and staff were speechless when Mr. Georget’s message hit home as he displayed a body bag and begged the students to make choices that would ensure they not end up in one. At the end of the presentation, the students and staff responded with thunderous applause to thank Mr. Georget for sharing his experiences. Thanks to the sponsorship of the local Community Credit Unions, St. Benedict was pleased to host the afternoon presentation to the students, and later in the evening the school opened its doors to parents and other community members to listen to Mr. Georget’s important message.

St. Francis Hosts Fun Fair

St. Francis held a Spring Fair on Thursday, May 6th in the evening. A great time was had by all who attended. All the feeder schools to St. Francis were invited as well. Estelle Scappatura allowed herself to be placed in our “St. Francis Jail” for a few minutes as part of the fun!! There were various games and activities to participate in.

St. James Hosts Family Barbecue for Catholic Education Week

Students, family members and staff gathered at St. James Catholic Elementary School in Lively on the evening of May 7 as the school hosted a family barbecue and celebration. In honour of Catholic Education Week, the night kicked off with a performance by the school choir (under the direction of teacher Tammy Lanci), and was followed by a short service that included a student presentation of the Virtues that are celebrated by all SCDSB schools. After grace, the crowd feasted on food that was donated by Perkins, and prepared by the Knights of Columbus. As well, the Catholic Women’s League supplied desserts for the gathering. “It is a great way to come together as a community,” Cara Soehner, Principal of the school said. “It also gives our students and their families the opportunity to meet each other socially and spend some time getting to know one another.”

St. Mary Students are Winners at “Raising the Flag”

Students from both the Sudbury Catholic and Rainbow Valley East schools had the opportunity to enter a contest entitled “Raise the Flag Day”. The Kin club of Valley East once again supported this nationally celebrated event and hosted the contest for elementary students from the Valley schools. There was a picture/colouring contest for students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 4 and a Literary Contest (essay or poem) for students in Grades 5 to 8. Criteria for the contest was similar as the entry had to reflect what being Canadian means to the student and each student received a certificate of participation from Claude Gravelle, MP. A total of seven Valley schools participated and three of the top winners were students from St. Mary Catholic Elementary School. Connor Foucault (Grade 2 – St. Mary) took first place and Jacqueline Brown (Grade 4 – St. Mary) took third place in the picture/colouring contest. As well, Alyssa Menard (Grade 6 – St. Mary) took second place in the essay contest. Mayor John Rodriguez was also on hand to present the winners with their awards. Congratulations to all of our students who participated in this contest!.

SCDSB Junior Boys’ Handball Tournament

St. Francis hosted the tournament on Saturday, May 2 and it was a great day of sportsmanship and competition. Eleven schools participated and the following are the results of the day:
First Place – St. Francis
Second Place – St. Christopher
Third Place – St. Raphael
Fourth Place – Pius XII

Next Saturday, May 8th is the Girls’ Handball tournament at St. Francis school starting at 8:00 a.m.

Order in the Court for Grade 5 Students at Immaculate

The grade 5 students at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School had an exciting opportunity on May 2, 2010 to take part in a “Law Day”. As part of the Grade 5 curriculum, students are required to learn about citizenship and government so Immaculate teacher Chantal Rancourt felt that having her students visit the courthouse would make the material much more meaningful and interesting. Two lawyers – Lucille Shaw and Trevor Kestle from Miller Maki visited the school to explain the judicial process. To give the students an even richer experience, the lawyers extended the program even further and booked the Sudbury courthouse for their mock trial and even arranged for retired judge Justice Michel to preside over their case. “The students have been very enthusiastic about the whole process and were quite excited to take part in the mock trial.” said Rancourt. “The students got really involved in the whole unit and were really looking forward to acting as different members necessary during the trial.” The students filled all of the roles required including lawyers for the defence, lawyers for the prosecution, court reporter, bailiff, court sketch artist, jury etc. Christopher Balaz, one of the students involved felt it was a great opportunity for their class. “This is just awesome!” said Balaz. “It is a great experience and makes me consider going into law.” Several parents were also on hand to watch the mock trial take place and said that their kids were really eager to experience the court room with real lawyers and judges on hand.

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