St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Archives - Page 20 of 37

Sudbury Catholic Schools Welcome 30 International Students!

Posted on October 5, 2018November 1, 2018 by Carlee Vendramin

We were proud to welcome 30 international students to our schools for the 2018-2019 school year! These students have arrived from the countries of China, Japan, Vietnam and Spain and will be studying in our secondary schools throughout the year. St. Benedict Secondary School has nine students registered, Marymount Academy has 11 and St. Charles College will host 10 International students throughout the year. The students and their host families were welcomed to Sudbury and Sudbury Catholic Schools during a barbecue which took place on September 6 at Marymount Academy.

We wish to thank all staff, teachers and host families that help support them throughout their educational journey with us!The success of the program is also a result of the many generous and supportive host families we have available. The board is always looking to recruit to fill the ever-growing community of host families at Canada Homestay Network. Interested families can contact them directly at hostinfo@canadahomestaynetwork.ca or 1-877441-4443 ext. 2176.

St. Benedict students win Board t-shirt design contest!

Posted on June 26, 2018August 23, 2018 by admin

Congratulations to Erika Poirier and Marja Frederiksen of St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School for their beautiful t-shirt design in honour of Orange Shirt Day which will take place in October.

Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and
communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations
of children to come. According to orangeshirtday.org, “The annual Orange Shirt …
opens the door to global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an
opportunity to create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools
and the legacy they have left behind. A discussion all Canadians can tune into and
create bridges with each other for reconciliation. A day for survivors to be reaffirmed
that they matter, and so do those that have been affected. Every Child Matters, even
if they are an adult, from now on.”

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be honouring Orange Shirt day on
October 1st, 2018 of the upcoming school year.

Boys’ with Braids event aims to bring cultural awareness and sensitivity training to youth at St. Benedict

Posted on June 11, 2018October 5, 2018 by admin

Don’t cave to any public pressures of any kind. That was the message delivered to students at St. Benedict as part of a school wide assembly this week.

The assembly was put on by the Indigenous Club and Diversity Club in partnership with funding from a Speak Up grant provided by the Ministry of Education.

Boys with Braids events were first started by Michael Linklater, a Cree from Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan who wanted to raise awareness of why Indigenous boys and men wear a braid. Linklater was teased and bullied at school.

Speakers Charles Petahtegoose from Atikameksheng and Wasauksing along with Perry McLeod-Shabogesic, a traditional co-ordinator at Shkagamik-Kwe Health shared their wisdom on why braids are a symbol of strength and wisdom that reflects identity.
The speakers were able to explain to the students that the issue transcends braids to anything they see in society from another culture.

Afterwards, the speakers held a power circle teaching for a group of students to talk about how braids, bullying and the struggle to conform has impacted their lives.

Phoenix is a big deal around St. Benedict’s

Posted on May 30, 2018October 9, 2018 by admin

Grade 7 student Phoenix Wilson is no stranger to film and in June he’s headed to Utah to work with Award winning Director & Actor Robert Redford.

Wilson was handpicked by up and coming director Lyle Corbine to be part of a Director’s Lab with Robert Redford on the Director’s panel. Redford will also be giving Phoenix feedback on his acting skills along the way.

The film, called “Wild Indian” will feature Phoenix as “Makwa” a kid who is on the edge of taking the wrong path in life.

Phoenix recognizes this is a big deal but he is very much a humble grade 7 student.

Phoenix will depart in mid June for Sundance, Utah to stay at the Sundance Resort in Utah which is owned by Redford.

He was featured in Longmire, a popular series on Netflix as well as a number of Cinefest films over the years.

St. Benedict students are embracing the universal language of coding!

Posted on May 25, 2018 by admin

Grade 7 & 8 students are using their creative and fluid minds in the new coding room that they call their very own. Students have been working with different fun coding gadgets like Sphero’s, Code Gamers, Cyber Robots and Lego Mind Storm kits. A couple of our grade 8 students participated

Coding is a form of digital literacy, which is useful in everyday life. St. Benedict students are learning many traits and cognitive skills like perseverance, computational thinking, logic and problem solving while participating in the coding club.

Wil Pudapakkam is a grade eight student. He says “If you know how to code you can make apps, games and websites, which essentially entertains students and makes them happy.”

Another grade 8 student named Tyler Smith says “As the world get’s more technologically advanced, coding becomes more essential in getting a job, as there are more opportunities these types of fields.”

Our students participated in a presentation/workshop put on by the YMCA that is designed to help bridge the gap between youth in underrepresented groups and provide the digital skills that are critical to economic participation. The pilot will focus on building digital literacy skills, enabling participating youth, aged 12-16 roughly, to build a foundation for future engagement in STEM careers and the digital economy. Many of our students will be participating in the free 8-12 week program, which will run at the beginning of June at the YMCA.

St. Benedict heads to Chicago for Business

Posted on May 23, 2018 by admin

The St. Benedict CSS Business Studies program – lead by Mr. Giuseppe Politi – participated in it’s annual international field trip from Wednesday, May 16 to Sunday, May 20 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The students, ranging from grades 9-12 visited a variety of business-related events.

Firstly, the group participated in an entrepreneurship seminar at Catholic-based DePaul University. The group then had a guided tour and banking presentation at the Federal Reserve Money Museum. Students also participated in a stock market seminar at the Chicago Board of Exchange. Finally, the Apple Store hosted the students in an interactive advertising competition using modern technology.

Other notable stops included a Chicago White Sox game, Holy Name Cathedral, a guided double decker bus tour, famous landmarks including Cloud Gate, and even some deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s!

In previous years, the program has visited New York City, Washington DC, and Boston. 2019 planning has already begun!

St. Benedict student wins Best Crown Advocate

Posted on May 22, 2018 by admin

Last week, St. Benedict’s students took part in the annual City Mock Trial and one of the students walked away with the award for Best Crown Advocate.

Declan McCann, who is only in grade 11 this year took the award in the mock trial case of R V Rogers which was a manslaughter case.

The mock trial has become a yearly event whereby a case is presented to the students and the schools face off against each other.

McCann, says “so much time was spent doing research into this trial and he now understands the process of what a lawyer does daily.” He says that he spent two months working on this particular case and in total spent sixty hours. That hard work did pay off in dividends.

McCann says he is considering taking on next year’s trial.

Bear Necessities campaign for Hospice wraps up

Posted on May 14, 2018 by admin

More than 11-hundred personal hygiene items collected for Maison McCullough Hospice on behalf of St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.

From body wash to bath salts and wipes, the students at St. Benedict’s Catholic school have been collecting items for Maison McCullough Hospice.

Coined the Bear Necessities Campaign a few years ago, the students collect the items in their effort to be caring family members and collaborative contributors.

This year, the students turned it into a friendly house competition. From Karhu to Urso, the houses have been collecting very specific items for patients who are nearing the end of life in the palliative care facility. Karhu took top honours.

More than 11 hundred items were collected ranging from shaving razors, dry shampoo, hair brushes, combs and diapers and will be delivered to the hospice in the coming days.

St. Benedict Pow wow educates locals and internationals alike

Posted on May 10, 2018August 23, 2018 by admin

Thanks to great weather, the educational pow wow at St. Benedict went off without a hitch Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

The detailed and colourful regalia stayed dry and there were hundreds of students who were able to walk away from the experience learning something about traditions and Indigenous culture.

The pow wow was partially funded by a Speak Up grant from the Ministry of Education in the area of Opening Doors for Indigenous Conversations.

Laura Kuzenko, Principal of St. Benedict Catholic School says the grant was successful to ensure that more than 450 visitors from within the board and within other boards learned the traditions and spiritual meaning behind such an important cultural solstice event.

“We have a number of international students at our school who would have experienced a pow wow for the first time and yet we have many Canadian nationals who were here for the first time as well to learn together.”

Lunch was also served to the visitors which included traditional Indian tacos.