Sudbury Catholic District School Board

SCDSB Takes Lead in Region with Student Safety Initiative

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be presenting a Lifesavers course to train Lunchroom Supervisors in the various aspects of first aid on Friday, October 21, 2005 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the St. John Ambulance Training Centre, 2935 Bancroft Drive.

The three-hour Lifesaver course has been set up specifically for the lunchroom supervisors in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. The initial concept to provide a training course for lunchroom supervisors came from Immaculate Catholic School parents and Catholic School Council. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board in conjunction with the Regional Catholic School Council is presenting this training course as a follow up to the Lifesavers course provided to the Board’s secretaries in August 2005.

“The board takes the safety of our students very seriously,” stated Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. “Our Board is one of the first boards in the province to train lunchroom supervisors and the very first in the region.”

To compliment the Lifesavers course, the Board has also agreed to purchase portable first aid kits to be used by lunch room supervisors (inside or outside), First Aid posters to be posted in all classrooms, reference manuals displayed at the office and mobile First Aid kits with a manual for all field trips and outside activities.

For more information on the Lifesavers course, please contact Clara Steele,Regional Catholic School Council Chair at ph: (w) 855-4955 or (h) 983-1966.

St. Albert to Host Open House at New Location

St. Albert Adult Learning Centre will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at their new location, 504 St. Raphael Street, Sudbury, (just off Howey Drive).

The public is welcome to visit the new location, meet the staff and tour the school complete with daycare facilities, brand-new computer labs as well as the classrooms for the various programs. St. Albert Adult Learning Centre offers High School credit courses for adolescents, and adults over 21 years of age, English as a Second Language, Literacy and Basic Skills, Correspondence, and Computer Classes.

If you need to improve your education, St. Albert’s has a program that will benefit you. Whether it is to enhance your employability, prepare for post secondary education, obtain a high school diploma or just for the love of learning, St. Albert is with you every step of the way.

Parking is available at the back of the school with parking places and a wheelchair ramp for persons with disabilities located near the front entrance. Coffee and goodies will be available all day!

For more information, please contact Robert Pappin at the St. Albert Adult Learning Centre ph. 673-3031.

“Just a Little Off the Top Please”

Lucy Gautheir, a Grade 7/8 teacher at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School had her hair shaved in support of cancer research on Friday. Cheered on by the school’s entire student body, Linda Lamothe (owner of RAY-ZOR Cuts) went about the delicate task of cutting Mrs. Gautheir’s hair while students shouted for a “Mohawk cut.” In the end they settled for a “close shave.”

Mrs. Gautheir challenged the students that if they raised $2,000 during the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope held at their school the previous week, she would shave her hair. Through hard work and determination and an incredible fundraising effort, the students at
St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School raised an amazing $9,188.32 and as result Mrs. Gautheir’s hair is now history.

Home of the Bears?

Students and staff at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and adjacent Marymount Academy had an unexpected visitor for lunch on Monday afternoon as a bear cub made its way into the school grounds and up a tree. A curious crowd of well wishers quickly gathered around the tree as the Ministry of Natural Resources personnel were called in to dart and sedate the bear.

The little cub, (weighing less than 20 pounds) was placed in a metal carrying cage and transported to an animal shelter in Wahnapitae where it will be cared for over the winter and released into a remote area in the spring. Marymount students who witnessed the event came to the conclusion that the cub had probably wandered into the wrong high school and was in fact looking for their sister secondary school, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School which as everyone knows is the “HOME OF THE BEARS.”

(On a more serious note, the SCDSB would like to remind all students and staff that bears are now foraging for food in all areas of the city before hibernation and therefore please be cautious on the way to school and on school property).

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Mesmerizes Students with Northern Lights Tour 2005

Students with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board were absolutely thrilled to take in the live concert performance of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Northern Lights Tour 2005 at Laurentian University’s Fraser Auditorium recently. Over 600 students witnessed the dazzling specter of the Northern Lights inspired by the beauty of the north and brought to life by the skill and virtuosity of truly remarkable musicians.

The opening work on the programme, Firework and Procession, was written especially for the Northern Lights Tour by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Composer Advisor, Gary Kulesha. It is a festive and ceremonial work, which begins with a depiction of sky rockets. A procession interrupts the fireworks, once the procession passes, the fireworks resume and the work closes with ceremonial grandeur. Throughout the performance the Northern Lights theme is interspersed with other well-known orchestral classics.

This season, orchestras around the world are celebrating the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth. In this historic year, no concert would be complete without a little Mozart, so in honour of this remarkable musician the Toronto Symphony Orchestra completed their performance with the Figaro Overture.

Bishop Carter Students Recognized by Canadian Blood Services

The results of Canadian Blood Services’ Bloodstock 2005 campaign are in and the lives of more than 600 Canadians have been improved by the kindness of the region’s everyday heroes.

As a result of the recruiting efforts of 19 local students (from Grades 11 and 12) registered with the Canadian Blood Services’ Bloodstock 2005 campaign, 452 individuals signed up to donate blood. Of these, 273 made appointments from July 4 to September 2, 2005. Considering one unit of blood can save up to three lives, these donations suggest that the lives of over 600 Canadians have been enhanced by this generous contribution.

Forty-nine per cent of the donors associated with Bloodstock 2005 are new. This is a significant success story, as a recent Ipsos-Reid survey reported that 52 per cent of Canadians indicate that they or a family members were in need of blood or blood products for surgery or medical treatment. In spite of this fact, less than 4 per cent of the eligible population donated blood last year. Given that the demand for blood is constant, an important objective of Canadian Blood Services is to continually build its volunteer donor base to ensure the necessary quantities are available.

“Engaging young people to assist in recruitment efforts has provided Canadian Blood Services with champions from an important demographic,” says Liz Spooner-Young, Senior Clinic Coordinator for Canadian Blood Services North/East Ontario & Nunavut. “Even though you can become a blood donor at the age of 17, approximately 80 per cent of our donors are over the age of 25. We need to reach out to youth so that they see the value in becoming an everyday hero in our community.”

For their efforts, students participating in Bloodstock 2005 who successfully met various recruitment goals had their names entered in a draw for educational bursaries provided by local business sponsors. Students who did not reach a milestone goal but contributed to the Bloodstock 2005 campaign through increased public awareness were recognized with a Canadian Blood Services watch.

SCDSB Staff, Students and School Communities Step Up for Hurricane Katrina Relief

A number of SCDSB schools have organized relief efforts for the victims of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Students, staff and entire school communities have drawn on their living faith to make a difference in the lives of others.

  • St. Joseph School in Killarney has raised $900.00 for the Katrina relief
    fund. The school held a spaghetti lunch in order to support the victims of
    the hurricane. All members of the community were invited. Fun was had by all!
    Thank you to the staff and parents of St. Joseph School, The Killarney Bay
    Inn, The Killarney Mountain Lodge and Gateway Marina for their hard work and
    commitment to this cause. St. Bonaventure Church will collect the money and
    forward all funds to the Red Cross.

  • St. Charles College will be doing mission collections during the month
    of September to help with the Katrina disaster. Early totals have already
    hit the $450.00 mark.

  • St. Francis student council will be organizing a basket raffle in October.
  • Pius XII School recently hosted ‘Cool to be Kind’ dynamo Errol Lee, and
    will donate some of the proceeds to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

  • Bishop Alexander Carter CSS will be collecting a loonie or twonie from
    students, and teachers have promised to match the amount.

  • Immaculate Conception will be holding a loonie collection over 2 weeks
    and donating the profits from the next pizza day.

  • Marymount Academy will donate proceeds from a concert featuring one of
    the school’s bands.

  • St. Theresa has solicited monetary donations from school families.
  • The Provincial government has stepped up as well. Children whose families
    have come to Ontario will immediately be welcomed into the province’s publicly
    funded schools at no cost, Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy recently announced.
    “We are opening up our school doors to help meet the immediate needs
    of these children and their families,” said Kennedy. “By welcoming
    these students and ensuring that they can attend school at no cost, Ontario’s
    publicly funded schools are doing their small part to help children whose
    lives have been completely disrupted just as the school year was beginning.”

SCDSB Receives Funding For New Library, Text Books

Thanks to a recent funding announcement by the Ministry of Education, Sudbury Catholic District School Board students will start the new 2005 school year off with new library and text books. Mr. Rick Bartolucci, MPP for the City of Sudbury delivered the good news to representatives of the four Sudbury area school boards at press conference held at St. Francis Catholic School on Thursday morning. “To provide every student with the learning environment they need to succeed, Ontario’s publicly funded schools are taking deliver of new text books, library books and other learning resources in time for the start of a the new school year,” stated Bartolucci. Providing learning and library resources, teaching resources and professional development and professional development opportunities is a key component of the McGuinty government’s commitment to improving literacy and numeracy achievement among students. “The government’s goal is that 75 per cent of 12-year-olds meet the provincial standard in reading, writing and math by 2008. This new allocation of dollars will go along way toward achieving that goal,” concluded Bartolucci.

The McGuinty government is entering its second full year of an $8.3 billion four-year investment in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. Part of this investment, announced in May 2005, includes an additional $61 million for new textbooks, other learning resources (such as magazines, computer software and multi-media resources, including CD-ROMs and DVDs) and library resources. Every school — regardless of its size or geographic location — will benefit from the investment. The total funding for all 4 boards amounted to $1,159,635 with the breakdown as follows;

• Sudbury Catholic District School Board will receive $236,473
• Conseil scolaire du District du Grand Nord de l’Ontario will receive $ 119,739
• Conseil scolaire du District catholique du Nouvel-Ontario will receive $285,712
• Rainbow District School Board will receive $ 517,711

Hugh Lee, Superintendent of Business and Finance for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was on hand for the morning presentation. “It is with great pleasure that we welcome the infusion of new money into our system at this time,” stated Lee. “The expert panel reports indicate that a well-stocked library contributes greatly to the development of students’ literacy skills. New money for textbooks will go a long way to ensure that the quality of Catholic Education will be maintained.”

SCDSB Celebrates Start of New School Year

Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board addresses vice-principals, principals and staff during the Board’s inaugural meeting which marks the start of a new school year. The day’s session began with a prayer service celebrated by Father Brian Dixon from Our Lady of Hope Parish which included the commissioning of the Board’s new principals. The key topic of discussion focused on the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s continued commitment to reducing class size in the primary grades. “Our Senior Administration team is committed during the first days of school to ensuring that class sizes are as low as possible,” stated Zubac.

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