St. Charles College Grade 11 student Brodie Siren has always had a flair for the airways. Since grade 9, he and a friend have been running independent radio shows on You Tube under the names Quantum Beats Project as well as Sync Podcast. They have now turned their attention to Cards Radio. It’s a thirty minute radio show that airs every Friday morning ahead of morning announcements, anthem and prayer at St. Charles College. The program features a game show, news, sports and music that appeals to the dynamic young audience at SCC. Siren is also the school go-to guy when it comes to tech support and electronic set-up. This spring, he will be the stage manager for the schools’ musical production of High School Musical. Siren hopes to pursue a technical field of study when he leaves St. Charles College next year. In the meantime, he is building his portfolio with Cards Radio and is also starting a grocery delivery business based on the Internet.
Category: Schools
Hitting the Trails at St. Paul
St. Paul Catholic Elementary School teacher Lisa Wright’s Grade 2/3 FI students had a wonderful morning with Sudbury Catholic outdoor education teacher Brad Blackwell on Thursday, February 18th. Students learned that creatures in this area have 3 choices to make during winter. 1) hibernate 2) migrate 3) stay and tough it out . Mr. Blackwell delivered an interesting and amusing presentation. He brought some “nature treasures” such as antlers and bones and some replicas of tracks and scat. After the in-class presentation, they ventured outside on the Jean Tellier trail near the school. For almost all the students , this was their first time on snowshoes. They explored the trails looking for signs of animal life. They found snowshoe hare, squirrel and mice tracks. Students even found scat!
Immaculate Runs Fun Friends All Year Round
Thanks to our Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School’s Educational Assistant, Moira Swiatek, students in the primary and junior division enjoy the resiliency based program called “Fun Friends.” In their groups, they discuss feelings & emotions, red & green thoughts and how to change the red thoughts into green or positive thoughts. The children also learn relaxation strategies to calm their bodies down. One of their favourite activities is called the “milkshake” breathing technique where students inhale a large breath and exhale through a straw into a cup of chocolate milk which then produces bubbles. Fun Friends is a safe environment where students can learn to be courageous and make life long friends.
Grade 8 CARDS Learn about the High School Years
The St. Charles College grade 8’s were treated to an informative presentation complete with a pizza lunch courtesy of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. The presentation, that centred around a pizza theme, had students explore their strengths and learn about their learning styles in order to prepare for high school next year.
The LDAO presentation also focused on proper streaming, graduation requirements and forced the students to get serious about the future.
One of the fun activities, had the students think about their differences and celebrate them. They had to put up their left or right hand depending on their preferences. Questions were asked like “do you prefer the X Box or the play station?” “Do you prefer sweet or salty foods?”
The presentation helps the students with guidance education and to complete their IPP (Individual Pathway Plan) as they get ready to enter high school in the fall of 2016.
MMA Student Places Nationally in Historica Canada’s “How We Remember” Contest
Grade 11 Marymount Academy student Casey McGee really enjoys art. As well, she loves learning about history. When her teacher mentioned a contest that combined both subjects, she knew that it was something she wanted to get involved with. Teacher Catherine Levesque had heard about Historica Canada’s “How We Remember” Contest that reflected on the subject of Canada’s role in the First and Second World Wars. Students could send in written submissions as well as artwork that reflected the theme so Levesque took the contest and created an assignment for the class with it. The students then had the option of actually submitting their written work or artwork to Historica Canada. With hundreds of submissions from across Canada, McGee was contacted through her teacher to let her know that she placed second nationally for her artwork submission entitled “The Unknown Soldier”. One of the jurors, Scott Waters, shared his opinion of Mcgee’s piece, “This piece was the strongest as it conveyed the most meaning, without being overly literal and illustrative. Its iconic stoicism combined nicely with a playful quality and allowed the piece to occupy varying emotional terrain. It was also a technically strong painting.”
McGee was thrilled that she placed so well in the contest and it has encouraged her to continue with her drawing and learning. “I always carry around my sketchbook with me where ever I go, and this contest was really great in that it combined my love of art and my love of history.” Marymount Academy principal Lucie Cullen, was thrilled with McGee’s second place win nationally. “Casey is a gifted artist and a strong learner,” explained Cullen. “At Marymount we always seek out opportunities as a staff for our students to thrive and really excel. Casey is a great example of this as she was able to showcase her talent on a national level – we are very proud of her.”
SCC Presenting: High Schol Musical – April 19-23
Join us this April, 2016 as SCC presents High School Musical on Stage!
High School Musical on Stage is based on a smash hit movie musical which first aired on the Disney channel is also celebrating a 10 Year Anniversary this year. The soundtrack itself was the highest selling album of 2006 while the DVD release sold 1.2 million copies in six days. Our cast have been busy channelling their favourite brainiacs, jocks, thespians and skater dudes in an all singing, all dancing stage spectacular!
All ages will enjoy the high energy and fun of High School Musical – On Stage! Call St. Charles College for more information – (705) 566-9605.
Being Kind at St. David School
“It is all about doing kind things.” St. David Catholic Elementary FDK students have been learning a lot about doing kind things recently. “It is a common theme always in our classroom.” explained teacher Cindy Blinn. As part of their learning, the students decided that they wanted to do a kind thing for someone special in their lives. Together they decided to host a pasta luncheon for their someone special and each student was allowed to invite one special guest – whether it be their mom, dad, grandparent, babysitter, etc. The students prepared by planning out the lunch menu – pasta, buns and juiceboxes, with a special cake for dessert. The class even made the decorations for the room so that their environment was filled with colourful artwork for their guests. “it is a great way to really reinforce the concept of kindness with our students,” explained Blinn. “We always talk about it, but more importantly we always try to model this behaviour with each other and with those who are in our lives. This luncheon was a great day for both the students and guests and everybody was very pleased with the outcome.”
SCDSB Trustee Deni Among the First Cohort of Trustees to Successfully Complete OCSTA Course
In 2015 eight universities in Ontario collaborated with the Ontario Catholic School Trustee Association (OCSTA) to create the OCSTA Certificate Course in Leadership & Good Governance. This is a 12-week online course that is provincial in scope but also includes local Catholic issues specific to a trustee’s own regional district. The course provides a trustee with many benefits such as developing a greater understanding and appreciation of the history of Catholic education in Ontario along with a greater understanding of the role of Catholic social teaching in our modern society. The leadership lessons of Pope Francis are also explored in the course. Topics include youth engagement in Catholic education, the role of the trustee as a public advocate for Catholic education, our support for Ontario First Nations, Metis and Inuit education and an examination of trends in Catholic education throughout Canada and the rest of the world.
Sudbury Catholic Trustee, Nancy Deni took part in this program. As part of the program, trustees are required to work on a practicum project that ideally could benefit their school board. Deni chose to focus on the home-school-parish triad relationship and ways that this triad can be strengthened. As part of her project, she sought and received feedback from parents, principals, priests and laypersons in the Church as she feels very strongly that the strength of this relationship is the key to keeping Catholic education alive and well in Ontario.
“I feel very privileged to be amongst the first cohort of trustees to complete the program,” Deni stated. “It was an eye-opening experience and I recommend the course to all trustees who want to be strong advocates for Catholic education in this province. This course really strengthened my belief that a Catholic education provides students with a really special and unique educational experience. We really do educate the mind, the body and the spirit in our schools.”
St. Charles College French Immersion Students take French to the Foods Room
The FI students integrated multiple subjects in the foods class at St. Charles College recently. They used French procedural writing to write and explain recipes as well as the particle theory for Science.
The grade seven students recorded baking recipes on the Ipads. They had to explain their work as they added and mixed ingredients. They were responsible for preheating the oven, preparing the recipe, timing the cooking, doing the dishes and cleaning up. They also had to explain the particle theory through the baking process.
The grade eight students then took the cakes, and had twenty minutes to create a cell. They were recorded and had to explain the parts of the cell they created.
Their teacher, Sabrina Rocca says it was a fun-filled afternoon with all kinds of learning – through written, kinaesthetic and oral language.