Bishop Alexander Carter CSS Grade 10 students held a food bank and awareness campaign recently to support the Syrian refugees staying in our community. Students took the opportunity to inform students about the harsh conditions faced by refugees staying in Syria. The campaign to support the refugee family started in December with the sale of water bottles. It continued with this bake sale which raised close to $300. Fundraising efforts will continue throughout the school year.
Category: Schools
Celebrating A Saint Who Believes the St. Charles College Motto of GOODNESS
Students at St. Charles College celebrated St. Anthony of Egypt this week at their monthly Saint service celebration.
Deacon Steve Callaghan says it is a fitting Saint for students at SCC to celebrate him because he believed in serving the Lord to be one as a Christian community and this is the week of Christian unity. It is also timely because SCC does serve and give back through their Christmas campaign, Chalice collection and the canned food drive just to name a few of the initiatives.
Teacher Carlo Pastre who helps organize the saint days says “Saint Anthony lead a solemn lifestyle by himself and prayed about praising God.
His call was to serve the Lord by retreating.”
The monthly Saint celebrations at SCC offer students a service complete with communion, as well as treats for the students afterwards.
Technology Now Night at St. Francis
There was a line up to get into the building at 4:30 on Thursday, January 14 as students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School eagerly led their parents into the gymnasium to show them all the ways that they use technology in their classrooms.
Approximately 180 people attended the Technology Now night, which was planned by the St. Francis Catholic School Council with support from a government Parents Reaching Out grant. The goal of the event was to show parents how technology is used to support student learning. There were 10 tables set up around the gymnasium where students could show their parents how much they knew about iPad apps like Book Creator, Music Tutor, Explain Everything and Minecraft as well as more subject specific apps that support math, fine motor skills and literacy. Primary Special Education teacher Meghan Dopson also had a Smartboard demonstration in her classroom.
Catholic School Council Chair Kimberley Swain-Bellmore was impressed with the evening, “The children enjoyed showing their parents and siblings some of the things they do in their classrooms, and having a chance to see some of the apps they will be using in years to come,” she said.
For more information, please visit the St. Francis school web site at http://st-francis.sudburycatholicschools.ca/
St. Paul Choir Sings for the Wolves
Recently the St. Paul Catholic Elementary School Choir had the opportunity to sing in front of a large crowd. The group performed the national anthem before a Wolves game and did a spectacular job! A bonus for the group was having their picture taken with Howler during the event!
St. David Students Learn Valuable Life Lessons from the Sudbury Wolves
A group of very fortunate students in grades 3, 4 and 5 at St. David Catholic Elementary School received a belated Christmas gift this January. The students were surprised with a special visit from members of the Sudbury Wolves, members of the Sudbury Regional Police and Gord Ewin. The members of the Sudbury Wolves included captain Danny Desrochers as well as defenceman Conor Cummins.
During the presentation, Danny and Connor provided students with valuable knowledge about: hard work and training, preventing bullying, as well as a personal perspective of the life of an OHL player. At the end of the presentation, St. David’s students were thrilled to have the opportunity to personally meet Danny Desrochers and Conor Cummins as well as get their autographs.
St. Charles Elementary Math Buddies
Students at St. Charles Elementary tried a new way to solve math problems recently. As a part of the school goals, students in all grades got together for Math Buddies.
Principal David Soehner explained that “as one of the SIPSA (school improvement plan for student achievement) goals for this year, St. Charles Elementary teachers identified that they wanted to focus learning in mathematics around the math processes of communication and problem solving. To improve how students communicate in mathematics, a problem solving template was developed to guide students through answering all the parts of a question. The concept of ‘math buddies’ was created, where older students get together with younger students to work through a math problem every week, using the template and math manipulatives”.
Students in the older grades helped their younger buddies identify what they already know from the question, what they still need to know, how they are going to represent it in pictures and an equation as well as formulating the response in a sentence. Student Achievement Officer, Michelle Walton, with the Ministry of Education explained that “It was great to see how the older students really had the younger students work through the math problem”.
Brent Peplinski, a grade 7/8 teacher at the school said that his students also benefitted from the buddies by sharing in the younger students enthusiasm to do math, and his students came back all smiles!
“We are going to measure the results of Math Buddies using a pre and post task at the end of a 9 week cycle. We expect that students will improve in their ability to problem solve and communicate in mathematics.” explained Soehner.
St. Charles Elementary Math Buddies
Students at St. Charles Elementary tried a new way to solve math problems recently. As a part of the school goals, students in all grades got together for Math Buddies.
Principal David Soehner explained that “as one of the SIPSA (school improvement plan for student achievement) goals for this year, St. Charles Elementary teachers identified that they wanted to focus learning in mathematics around the math processes of communication and problem solving. To improve how students communicate in mathematics, a problem solving template was developed to guide students through answering all the parts of a question. The concept of ‘math buddies’ was created, where older students get together with younger students to work through a math problem every week, using the template and math manipulatives”.
Students in the older grades helped their younger buddies identify what they already know from the question, what they still need to know, how they are going to represent it in pictures and an equation as well as formulating the response in a sentence. Student Achievement Officer, Michelle Walton, with the Ministry of Education explained that “It was great to see how the older students really had the younger students work through the math problem”.
Brent Peplinski, a grade 7/8 teacher at the school said that his students also benefitted from the buddies by sharing in the younger students enthusiasm to do math, and his students came back all smiles!
“We are going to measure the results of Math Buddies using a pre and post task at the end of a 9 week cycle. We expect that students will improve in their ability to problem solve and communicate in mathematics.” explained Soehner.
Social Skills for Student Success
Jarah Preston from the Learning Disabilities Association of Sudbury was invited to St. Francis Catholic Elementary School on January 13, 2016 to deliver a presentation entitled, Social Skills for Student Success. The LDAS presentation is targeted to address students in grades 4 to 5. Topics such as emotional awareness and non-verbal awareness were discussed with the junior students. A number of appropriate social skill strategies were provided to students on how to handle various scenarios at school with their peers such as turn taking, sharing and respecting each other’s personal space. The students were engaged during the presentation as many audio- visuals were provided to students to demonstrate examples. The school’s Special Education Resource Teacher, Graziella Visentin, has also invited Jarah Preston to return to the school to present, Victors of Transition, in an upcoming week to all grade 6 students who will be transitioning onto grade 7 at either Marymount Academy, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School or St. Charles College in the fall.
Technology Now Night at St. Francis
There was a line up to get into the building at 4:30 on Thursday, January 14, 2016 as students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School eagerly led their parents into the gymnasium to show them all the ways that they use technology in their classrooms.
Approximately 180 people attended the Technology Now night, which was planned by the St. Francis Catholic School Council with support from a government Parents Reaching Out grant. The goal of the event was to show parents how technology is used to support student learning. There were 10 tables set up around the gymnasium where students could show their parents how much they knew about iPad apps like Book Creator, Music Tutor, Explain Everything and Minecraft as well as more subject specific apps that support math, fine motor skills and literacy. Primary Special Education teacher Meghan Dopson also had a Smartboard demonstration in her classroom.
Catholic School Council Chair Kimberley Swain-Bellmore was impressed with the evening, “The children enjoyed showing their parents and siblings some of the things they do in their classrooms, and having a chance to see some of the apps they will be using in years to come,” she said.
For more information, please visit the St. Francis school web site at: