Johnny Williams and his high energy band made a special guest appearance at St. Charles College recently to raise money for the Empowered Student Partnerships program (ESP). Williams is the recent winner of the Northern Ontario “Battle of the Bands” and when asked by St. Charles College officials if he would play a benefit to support the ESP program he readily agreed. Although the band did not charge a fee, students paid $2 each to hear them play with all proceeds going to the Empowered Student Partnership program. ESP is a new pilot program in partnership with the City of Greater Sudbury Regional Police Force whose mandate is to empower students to be the driving force for safer schools.
Category: Schools
St. John School Receives Clean Bill of Health
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that the St. John Catholic school in Garson has received a clean bill of health from Stantec Consulting Ltd., an independent environmental consulting firm.
The results of the mould testing conducted by Stantec revealed the presence of some mould concentrations at some locations within the school. Rossella Bagatto, Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School stated that according to the Stantec Report, “This low-level presence is not considered to be significant and is well within Health Canada guidelines. The results of the mould samples did not reveal the presence of Stachybotrys atra or other fungi of potential concern, with total concentrations of fungi also being very low. Therefore, the results of the mould samples are also considered to be within acceptable limits.”
Bagatto also reaffirmed that all renovations to the school have been completed which included the installation of new steel cladding and new windows on the entire older sections of the school. In addition, four large air exchangers have been installed to supply clean fresh air to all classrooms. Staff and students will resume classes at St. John school in Garson effective March 1, 2004 as scheduled.
St. John School Honoured for Environmental Efforts
Ray Bonin, M.P. Nickel Belt, unveils a special plaque at St. John Catholic School in Garson in recognition of the school’s participation in the “Adopt a Creek Program.” St. John is one of the first schools in the Sudbury area to take part in “Adopt-a-Creek,” a new project organized by the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee. Last spring, Grade 5 and 6 classes at the school planted trees and cleaned up garbage along the shore of the creek as part of the program. Other classes are taking part in water quality monitoring, by studying the bugs living in the creek.
On hand for the presentation were; back row (L-R), Ray Bonin, MP Nickel Belt, Louisa Bianchin, School Principal, Jennifer Sheardown, Stream Assessment Assistant , Carrie Regenstreif, Junction Creek Stewardship Committee and Brenda Harrow, Ministry of Natural Resources along with the St. John Student Council.
Children’s Lectionary Book Returns To St. David School In Annual Procession
St. David Catholic elementary school in co-operation with the Holy Trinity Catholic Church held a special mass followed by a procession of students, staff and parents to help celebrate the Children’s Lectionary’s Book return to the school. A Liturgy Committee was established at the school consisting of parents, teachers, staff and Paul Labelle, Permanent Deacon at Holy Trinity Catholic Church. The main purpose of the Liturgy Committee is to enhance the liturgical celebrations in the school and to develop a closer connection with the Church.
The St. David Catholic School Council purchased a copy of the Children’s Lectionary Book for the school so that the children would have the scriptures in a version they could understand more easily and at the same time have a visible sign of God’s Word in their midst. The Lectionary Book is used at all school celebrations where the scriptures are read and at the school masses that are held at Holy Trinity Church on the first Thursday of the month throughout the school year. At the closing celebration of the school year in June, St. David students, parents, teachers and staff celebrate the return of Children’s Lectionary Book to the school. St. David’s copy of the Scriptures was given to a representative of Holy Trinity to bring to the Church for safe keeping over the summer break.
The Liturgy Committee decided this year to once again bring the book back to the school in grand fashion. At the closing of the first school mass of the year, Captains from each of the four houses that have been established at St. David’s came forward and received the book. The book was then processed back to the school with Chelsea Wandziak, (a student at St. David’s and an altar server at Holy Trinity), leading the way with the Cross, and Deidre Richer and Chelsea Toulouse, also students and altar servers following with candles, along with the school’s students in a procession (see above photo). The Lectionary Book was then placed in its prayer corner at the school and will remain at the school for the rest of the year.
St. John School Safe For Students
Representatives from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board met with parents and staff of St. John Catholic School in Garson last night to discuss concerns regarding the air quality situation at the school. Gerhard Technical Services Inc., (an independent environmental consultant company) was contracted by the Board to provide an assessment with respect to the health and safety concerns expressed by the parents and staff, specifically the presence of mould and CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) levels in the classrooms.
Initial tests conducted by the Gerhard Technical Services Inc. indicated that the presence of mould was discovered but was found to be within acceptable minimums with no risk to staff or students. Additionally, tests for CO2 levels in the classrooms were also found to be within acceptable levels. The Ministry of Labour was also contacted by the Board to provide an assessment of whether or not the air quality in the building was safe. Preliminary assessment by the Ministry of Labour concurred with Gerhard Technical Services that the building was safe and that there was no danger to staff and students but the Ministry recommended further monitoring be undertaken.
On September 18th and 19th, at the request of the Board a qualified hygienist and a technician from Occupational Health and Safety for Ontario Workers will undertake further testing to address the mould and CO2 levels in the school. The Board will review the results of the tests with parents and staff at the school and will undertake measures to correct the mould and CO2 levels in accordance with the directives from the Ministry of Labour.
In their address to parents and staff, representatives from the Board indicated that the Board has already undertaken remedial action to immediately address the problems that were identified by the Ministry of Labour. In addition the Board is installing a new ventilation system in St. John School.
St. Paul Teacher Wins Wal-Mart’s Teacher of the Year Contest
Great teachers deserve to be recognized. Ken Coutu, Assistant Manager for Wal-Mart Sudbury, recently presented Janet Carscallen, a Grade 2/3 teacher at St. Paul The Apostle School in Coniston with a special certificate in Wal-Mart’s “Teacher of the Year” contest. Mrs. Carscallen has been teaching for 32 years and was nominated for this prestigious award by the students who wrote letters to Wal-Mart explaining why she should be “Teacher of the Year.”
For the seventh year, Wal-Mart partnered with Phi Delta Kappa International, the world’s leading education association, to implement the annual teacher recognition program. Wal-Mart’s Teacher of the Year program is one of the largest teacher recognition programs in North America. SCDSB is very proud of Mrs. Carscallen and the students that honoured her. Congratulations!
Sister Pat Carter Visits St. David School
Sister Patricia Carter visited the Grade 6 class at St. David School recently, challenging the students to become people of prayer and service. For the past five years, Sister Pat Carter has been visiting Grade 6 classes in the three dioceses of Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins. Throughout the presentations Sister Pat speaks to the students about the vocations of single life, married life, religious life and priesthood. In November, she visited over 600 students in 20 schools in the Sudbury region – Pius XII, St. Theresa, St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. Christopher, St. Anne in Hanmer, Our Lady of Fatima in Naughton, St. Michael, St. John in Garson, St. Mary in Capreol, Corpus Christi, St. David, St. James in Lively, St. Charles in Chelmsford, Immaculate Conception in Val Caron, St. Paul in Coniston, St. Mark in Markstay, St. Raphael, and St. Joseph in Killarney.
According to research, there are three significant times in the lives of young people when they are preoccupied with vocational choices; at age 11, grade 11 and during the second-year of their post-secondary education young people ask: What would I like to be when I grow up? What contribution would I like to make to the world around me? How can my life have meaning? Sister Pat Carter and Sister Mary Jo Radey, vocation directors for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, meet with young people close to these times visiting elementary schools and secondary schools, universities and colleges to encourage students to become people of prayer and service and to deepen their relationship with God.
As a follow up to the Grade 6 classroom visits, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie will be holding an essay and poster contest in February 2003. The students will be invited to reflect on who has been a good witness of the Gospel message to them. They will be asked to write their reflections in an essay or create a poster to give specific examples of how this person was an effective witness of Jesus’ love. The essay and poster theme fits in well with the Grade 6 religious education program entitled “You Shall Be My Witnesses”. For more information on the essay and poster contest, contact Sister Pat Carter at csjcvocn@onlink.net.