As in years past, this Christmas many of our elementary school students were invited to sing Christmas carols on Easy Rock with Rich and Gary. It is an event that the students work very hard preparing for and are very excited knowing that their voices will be broadcast all around the City of Greater Sudbury. This morning the Grades 1 and 2 classes from St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School had the honour of singing two songs for the station. The boys and girls were on their best behaviour and sang clear as a bell when they performed their two songs. Rich and Gary took time to ask some of the kids what they wanted for Christmas and then after their performance were treated to a tour of the station as well as Timbits and hot chocolate courtesy of Tim Horton’s. Definitely a nice treat for the classes and a great start to their day! Thank you to Mrs. Low, their teacher and skilled Choir Director and congratulations to the Grade 1 and 2 students for a job well done!
Category: Schools
A Sharing of Culture and Support for St. Joseph and St. David
Students from St. Joseph and St. David’s Catholic Elementary Schools joined together for the day at St. David’s schools to build links between the two communities. The students’ teachers, Irene Dembek from St. Joseph and Christina Kilby from St. David’s brought their classes together as part of their multi-school project to build knowledge and understanding of the history and traditions found in Aboriginal culture. It is their hope that their project would begin building supportive relationships for Aboriginal students and illicit parent involvement in order to assist students in their embracing of their cultural background. Will Morin, a local artist and story teller was invited in to the school to share his stories and his expertise in Aboriginal culture with both the Aboriginal students as well as the general student population.
Sudbury Catholic Board Decides to Build Holy Cross Catholic School, JK to Grade 6
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board unanimously voted to make its newest high-tech green school a Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 elementary school. The Board’s Trustees made the decision at the December 15, 2009 Board meeting.
The trustees decided the new Holy Cross Catholic School in Sudbury’s south end would be a separate Dual Track JK to Grade 6 School, located near St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. The new school will also include an early-learning daycare facility and a 4,000 square foot gymnasium.
“Holy Cross is going to be a fantastic new school,” says Board Chair Jody Cameron, “It will be high-tech, offering the latest in educational technology – while being an intimate, safe and personable environment for children ranging from our new full-day junior kindergarten program to Grade 6. It’s an exciting time.”
Meantime, the Catholic Board also decided it will offer Grade 7 to 12 programming next door at the existing St. Benedict’s Catholic Secondary School. This will include the construction of new classrooms and a third gymnasium. The renovations will also include a new “cafetorium” (which is a combination of a cafeteria and auditorium) to serve both the elementary and secondary students. It could seat as many as 500 people for concerts, plays, presentations, guest speakers, and other special events.
“These two projects are exciting for students, parents, and teachers in our Catholic schools,” says Board Director, Catherine McCullough, “It’s a great decision which will continue to enhance our community partnerships. These students who already benefit from programs like our nationally-recognized laptop learning program will now have even more educational tools at their fingertips to help them have a balanced educational experience and go on to succeed in life.”
The Board Trustees made the decision after extensive consultation with the school communities impacted. The new Holy Cross Catholic School will open in September 2011. The new and improved St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School will also be ready for the fall of 2011. Both projects combined are projected to cost $16.2-million with $11.7-million coming from the provincial government – while the Board has agreed to contribute $4.5-million.
Marymount Academy Teacher Shows True Meaning of Christmas!
During the holidays, people often get caught up in the buying of presents and the more materialistic side of Christmas. Not so for Matthew Wiecha, teacher at Marymount Academy. For the past twenty years, Mr. Wiecha along with his students from Marymount Academy have helped their community by providing a bountiful Christmas lunch for the clients of the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth (S.A.C.Y.). For many homeless clients, dealing with addiction and mental health issues, the luncheon is often the only Christmas meal they have to look forward to. Jill Ospina, a St. Albert teacher who teaches out of S.A.C.Y. says that the clients had been talking about this luncheon for weeks and weeks. “A lot of the return clientele tell the new clients about the feast and the anticipation really builds.” says Ospina. Mr. Wiecha and his classes prepared weeks in advance for the day. They raised money, put in their own funds and organized the whole meal including the cooking of four turkeys! “Not only is it a great day for the people who come to eat, but for the Marymount girls as well.” states Wiecha. “It really builds a social conscious into the curriculum. The girls really look forward to it.” Mardi Taylor, Executive Director presented Mr. Wiecha with a plaque in honour of his twenty years of service to the centre. Mary Wiecha, Matthew’s wife was also on hand to surprise and support her husband for the presentation of the award. “I had never been here before to see this.” stated Mary. “It is amazing to see the amount of food and the number of people that are here to take part. I am really proud of my husband.” More than 200 people enjoyed the luncheon put on by Mr. Wiecha and his senior social science students. Cassandra MacGregor, Vice Principal of Marymount was also presented with a plaque to thank the students of Marymount for their participation. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is proud of Mr. Wiecha and his students and would like to thank them for really exemplifying the true spirit of Christmas!
St. Mary Catholic Elementary Students Surprised by the Man in Red
The students and staff of St. Mary Catholic Elementary School waited patiently eating pizza knowing that someone special was on his way. Every year, the Capreol Knights of Columbus put on a pizza lunch for the students of the school and because of a special connection they have, were able to persuade Santa to take a break from his Christmas preparations and visit all of the kids of St. Mary. Representing the Knights of Columbus, Ken Gustafson – Treasurer, Fred Lowes – Secretary and Don Degagne – Grand Knight pulled some strings and were able to get Santa to show up at the school giving each student a chance to sit on his lap and receive a bag full of candy. Originally, the Knights gathered the children after Sunday mass at the local church but the Sunday mass was eliminated so they approached the schools a few years back to see if they could have the celebration there. The school was thrilled and have hosted the party ever since. All of the students from J.K. to Grade 6 waited anxiously in line for their chance to talk to Santa and tell him their wishes. “It is a really nice day.” said Degagne. “We feel it is important to support Catholic education in the community of Capreol and this is one way that we do this.” The students and staff of St. Mary would like to thank the Knights of Columbus for supporting their school and ask that they pass on their thanks to Santa as well!
St. Francis Students Win Top Honours in Remembrance Day Contest
Students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School participated in the Canadian Legion Branch 564 Lockerby Remembrance Day contest and walked away with several of the top spots. Mrs. Rinaldi – the Grade 5/6 teacher encouraged her students to enter the competition.
Justin Pappano – Third Place Story
Livingston Boyd – Third Place Poetry and Second Place Poster contest
Logan Dube – Second Place Poem
Perer Boylan – First Place Story
Perer’s story will be going on further in the competition with other branch participant winners. Congratulations to all of the participants!
Sudbury Catholic Schools Pilot Turning Points Project
“After doing my research, I realized that the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is a board where the Turning Points project is really going to work well!” These were the words that Judi Symes from the Learning Partnership declared to the teachers invited to be a part of the pilot “Turning Points” project. On December 8, 2009 English teachers from St. Benedict Catholic Secondary High School and Marymount Academy joined Symes as well as Marni Angus from the organization The Learning Partnership. The Learning Partnership is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to championing a strong public education system in Canada with its partners through innovative programs, credible research and executive leadership. This group approached Sudbury Catholic last year to see if there was any interest in piloting their innovative “Turning Points” project. This project links essay writing with personal experiences and it helps students get to know more about their own values as it is a combination of character education and literacy which is aligned with Ministry of Education expectations. Catherine McCullough, Director of Education realized that this was an amazing opportunity as the Sudbury Catholic District School board was the only board in Northeastern Ontario approached to be a part of this initiative and gave the project the green light. The teachers met with the team of Symes and Angus to delve a little deeper into the process involved and learned that the students will be asked to write an essay relating to a turning point in their life through different class exercises that will lead up to the final piece of writing. Those students that are willing to share their work will then submit them for two different tiers of judging. By the end of the year, there will be an awards ceremony that celebrates the students and their winning essays. The Turning Points trainer, Judy Symes – a former Head of English for the Toronto District School Board, says that the students are asked to really scrutinize turning points in their lives as their own emotion can be a critical part of their learning. She believes that risk taking needs to happen for meaningful learning to occur. This is what is asked of the students involved in this assignment. “The essay writing involved will not change everybody’s life, but for a lot of these students and teachers it is really, really special. It is very often transformational!” The teachers that attended this inservice walked away inspired to engage their students in this project in the upcoming months.
Sudbury Catholic Board Names New High-Tech, Green Elementary School
There was a celebratory as Trustees with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board voted to name Sudbury’s new elementary school. In the end, trustees selected the name “Holy Cross Catholic School.”
“The name ‘Holy Cross’ has significant meaning,” says Board Chair, Jody Cameron, “The four points of the cross represents the coming-together of four existing school communities into one new, learning community where our children will learn and make lifelong friends. This is a very exciting time for the Board and the expansion of Catholic Education in Sudbury’s south end.”
The decision comes after extensive consultation with students, teachers and parents from Corpus Christi, St. Christopher, St. Michael and St. Theresa schools — as well as St. Francis. The Board also got input from the local Parishes and community partners.
The new school will serve elementary students in the city’s south end and will be located on the St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School site. Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is equally pleased with the decision of the new school’s name.
McCullough emphasized, “Holy Cross Catholic School will have lower energy and utility costs than traditionally built schools, and the money saved can go back into the classrooms. That means more money to expand on programs such as our already-established, nationally-recognized Learning with Laptops program as well as full-day junior kindergarten which the Board announced just last month.”
“The naming of this new state-of-the-art school is only the beginning of the many new steps that our Board will be taking in creating this educational village in the city’s south end,” stated Board Chair Cameron, “The next step is to complete the architectural final plans for the design of the new school and get shovels in the ground.”
The Board will decide on the site plan for Holy Cross at next Tuesday’s regular Board meeting. The school will open in September 2011.
Students’ Letters to Santa Are On the Way!
On December 4, 2009, Mme Raymond’s Grade 3/4 French Immersion class and Mr. Martin’s Grade 2 class from St. John Catholic Elementary School set out on the sunny winter day to visit the local post office. The students went on this field trip in order to deliver their letters to Santa. At the post office, the children had the opportunity to ask questions of the postmaster and have a tour. The students and staff had a great time and now their letters are one step closer to the North Pole!