February 3rd marks the feast day for Saint Blaise of Sebaste. Blaise was a physician before becoming a Bishop and is believed to have cured a young boy from death as he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. This miracle martyred him and the ritual of throat blessings began.
Every year the students and staff at S.C.C. have the option to have their throats blessed to keep them safe from injury or disease. This year, the throat blessing fell on an ice day so staff was blessed. This was a first for our elementary 7/8 teachers who are new to the S.C.C. family.
Category: Schools
Sharing Indigenous Arts and Culture at MMA
On Friday January 18, 2016, Marymount Academy had the pleasure of spending some of their afternoon with special guest Lisa Marie Naponse. Their guest was introduced by two very confident young women, students Tyanna Soucy and Hailey Organ. These two ladies are currently representatives of the Aniisinaabe Cultural group here at Marymount Academy which is organized in collaboration with Carla Petahtegoose, the SCDSB Indigenous Education Support Worker. Lisa Marie is a self-taught singer and songwriter from Atikameksheng Anishinawbek. She shared her art and music which is a blend of blues, folk, and country. During her visit with Marymount she engaged the students in song and rhythm. Lisa shared with the students that as she was growing up, she was surrounded by music and creativity her mother and father played music and her sisters were pow wow dancers and craftswomen. Lisa speaks to people through music on indigenous life and her experiences as an Anishnawbe Kwe(Woman). Lisa quickly embraced the microphone community; which lead her to eventually co-founding an Indigenous Arts Collective that showcased Indigenous performances and art throughout the city of Ottawa. Today Lisa Marie has returned to her community and is working on new music and art. Finally, to finish off our assembly Hailey Organ kindly presented a gift on behalf of the Marymount staff and students.
Immaculate Loves Literacy Day!
Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School family members were invited to participate in Family Literacy Day on January 27th with their children. All enjoyed playing a variety of literacy games and activities. Immaculate student Alyssa Williams and her Mom had fun using the ipad to create different posters.
ST. FRANCIS CELEBRATES LITERACY DAY!
On January 27, the students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School celebrated Literacy Day. Students in kindergarten to grade six were asked to donate gently used books from their home and trade them in for“new” books. The event was organized by Special Education Resource Teacher, Ms. Graziella Visentin who encourages the use of technology to assist with reading as well as the use of traditional hardcopy books to practice reading skills. The school cafeteria and gathering room had a wide variety of book titles on display for students to choose from. Students also donated English and French books. The book swap originally began between two primary classrooms and eventually grew to involve the whole school over the last few years due to its success. The book swap provided an excellent opportunity for students to exchange books within their school community, encourage the love of reading and recycle books. Students enjoyed selecting free books to take home for Literacy Day.
Dancing and Moving at St. Paul
The St Paul dance club has come to an end for another season. The students worked very hard all year by learning new moves and dances culminating with them presenting their own dance creations on stage. Teacher Emily Power was very lucky to have 3 amazing grade 8 helpers that volunteered their time all year! Way to go St Paul dancers.
St. Charles College Students take their French language to the Streets of Sudbury
The French Immersion students visited the New Sudbury branch of the Sudbury Public Library for a French tour of the library recently.
The students, along with their teacher Sabrina Rocca took the Sudbury Transit and spent the morning reading French books and having French conversations with the Sudbury Public Library staff.
It’s just one of the ways French Immersion students can keep the learning authentic while outside the classroom.
BACCSS Student Following His Passion to Success
A teenager’s life is filled with many decisions. Choosing courses and a career destination can cause stressful situations, but as Alex Laurin leant, it is important to choose a career that you love to do. Alex, a grade 12 student at Bishop Alexander Carter, started his grade 9 year in the pathways program. He often thought about architecture and tried to upgrade a few classes but struggled, especially in math he said. Deep down he knew that university and college would not be his destination. It simply was not for him. Alex’s destination was the workplace.
Alex met with the guidance counsellor at the school, Heather Duguay, to explore career options. He loved the thought of being able to design things. With encouragement from Mrs. Duguay and his parents, he enroled in the Specialist High Skills Program (SHSM) in Manufacturing and Robotics in the school.
“I was surprised to find out I was really good at welding”, Alex explained. “I love to create and make things with my hands”.
Discovering his new talent, Alex set his own goals and discussed these with his parents. He felt that his parents were excited that he found his passion.
“My dad was really supportive of my career goals. They bought me my own welding mask and boots”.
Today, Alex is finishing his SHSM course and is completing his coop placement at Belanger construction. He is a registered OYAP (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program) student through the MTCU (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities) and a registered level 1 apprentice through the College of Trades. Alex has been a valuable asset to Belanger Construction and they encouraged him to write his Canadian Welding Bureau test (at the employer’s cost). Alex was successful in this test and has obtained his welding certificate in shielded metal arc welding. His advice for students, “Work hard and know what you are getting into and do your research into career option. But most of all, enjoy it!”.
Holy Cross Students Enjoying the Sun and Snow
Taking advantage of the sunny day, students in Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School’s grade 3/4 class had the opportunity to go for a snowshoeing adventure recently. Teacher Christina Lucciantonio said it was “a great way for the students to get some fresh air and enjoy the fresh powdery snow!”
Family Literacy Day in Mme Wright’s Grade 2/3 Class at St. Paul School
St. Paul Catholic Elementary School Grade 2/3 students along with their parents or grandparents took part in Family Literacy Day activities inside the classroom recently. The parent turnout at the event was incredible! The students and parents rotated through three centres. The first station involved a read aloud of the amusing book entitled “The Book With No Pictures” and creating their own fancy bookmark. The second station had the students searching through non-fiction books for a fabulous fact about something of interest to them and then using the Pages app on the iPad to write about what they learned and to include an image. The third was a poetry centre where they worked together to create beautiful Cinquain poems. Parents and students had a great time reading and writing together.