St. Benedict Catholic Secondary students proudly participated in the Take Our Kids to Work Day on November 7th, 2012. These students got to learn first hand what skills are required in today’s work environment. But before they went out to the workplace, Monica. Dailey, co-op education teacher explained to them the importance of students rights and responsibilities in a safe work environment.
Category: St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
Upcoming Event – Stepping Into Grade 9 – St. Benedict – Nov. 14
St. Benedicts will be hosting their Stepping into Grade 9 – An information session for parents and students
It is an informal evening of information, displays and discussions focussed on the transition from elementary to secondary school.
Topics include:
Course selectioin and pathways, graduation requirements and electives, academic services, resource and student success, athletics, extra-curricular and community
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
2993 Algonquin Road
705 523 9235
www.benedict.ca
University Information Night – October 15, 2012
There will be a University Information Night on Monday, October 16, 2012 for all students interested in finding out more information about Ontario universities. Representatives from all 21 of the provinces universities will be on hand to answer any questions from prospective students including admission requirements, residence, scholarships, application processes and much more. Students and their parents or guardians will be able to attend three different presentations from universities that will be thirty minutes in length. After each presentation, a question and answer period will follow. This university information night was created to help students in their decision making process before they apply to universities beginning January 2013. This event will be taking place at Lockerby Composite School from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
St. Ben’s Pulls Out All the Stops!
Members of the St. Benedict Championship Boys Football team recently participated in the 1st annual Crime Stoppers Fire Truck pull. Our Bears sure made quite the impact in the event!
Team members consisted of from left to right.
Emilio Frometa
Alex Vendramin
Alex Insinna
Assistant Head Coach – John MacLean
Troy Kingsbury
Carter Long
Head Coach – Frank Rocca
Spencer Dailey
Erick Lessard
Tim Coffey
missing from picture – Brandon Sullivan
The Bears were in 3rd place after the 1st heat, but in the second heat, the team posted the fastest time of the event.
The Bears captured the award for most team spirit, but ended up finishing 2nd, only losing the 1st place trophy by two tenths of a second.
St. Benedict’s Principal, Laura Kuzenko, and Benny the St. Benedict Bear, present a cheque at the event for $500 to members of the Sudbury Rainbow Crime Stoppers’ team – Brook Johnston, Office and Event Coordinator and Bert Lapalme, Police Coordinator.
Congratulations goes out to all team members. The Bears hope to make the event an annual tradition.
Books are Environmentally Friendly at St. Benedict
“Read, Return, Repeat!”, was the library’s motto during a school-wide celebration of books held at St. Benedict CSS during Catholic Education Week. To further develop the love of reading, teachers encouraged students to use integrated technology like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube to share their favourite novel with a friend. Students were given time to Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) using their e-readers or an old-fashioned book. Later in the week, students met for Book Club, to swap books and journaling on the library’s Graffiti Wall. Grade 9 student Alexandria Folino stated, “I especially liked the Book Club meeting because are the first to see and take out the new books. It’s also fun to mingle with the other members, and discuss the interesting books we’ve read.”
St. Benedict Students Lend a Helping Hand
Students from St. Benedict teacher Krysten Purawec’s Grade 9 French Immersion class prepared sandwiches for the Elgin Street Mission recently. Twenty-seven students made more than 125 sandwiches, carefully packaged with homemade cookies and a brief note of encouragement. Mme Purawec commented that, “It is our collective mission as a classroom to make our entire community a better place”. The students had fun putting together the tasty snacks, which were delivered to the mission after school that day. Maurizio Visentin, a Guidance Counsellor at St. Benedict, shared a story on the origins of sandwiches and complimented the students on putting the gospel into action to help those who use the Mission on a daily basis.
Learning About Life as a Writer at St. Benedict
During Catholic Education Week at St. Benedict, students were given the opportunity to listen to local author Sarah Lashbrook. She began by reading an excerpt from her book Where the Stream and Creek Collide, and after talked about her life as a writer. Lashbrook explained that she had been writing since she was 12, but was also inspired by two amazing high school English teachers. Students then learned how the concept for her book came from a nightmarish dream which led to her writing an outline, then realistic characters, and of course lots of research. Life as a writer isn’t easy. Lashbrook informed students she once had writer’s block for two months, that her book was edited four times, and therefore was written a total of five times before it was completed. During the Q&A session, grade 7 student Joshua Kroll asked, “Do you become attached to your characters?” Lashbrook responded, “I definitely do! I get right into them, and I’m sad when I’m done.” The recently published author advised students who want a career in writing to take drama courses to become a screenwriter, English courses if they want to be a journalist, and even history is a necessity for writers. Later, elementary teacher Sherry Trowbridge approached Lashbrook with an offer to return to St. Benedict to work with her intermediate students and write a class novel together. Her reply was an excited, “I’m in 100% for that!” Clearlly, those St. Ben’s students will be in for a treat when Sarah Lashbrook comes back to visit in the fall.
Sudbury Catholic Students Participate in a Water Walk
On Friday, May 4th, over 50 students from St James, St Benedict Catholic Secondary School, St Charles College and St David in collaboration with Atikameksheng Anishinawbek participated in a Water Walk. According to Anishinaabe traditions women are responsible for the stewardship of water. Anishinaabe Grandmother, Josephine Mandamin reminds us of our responsibility through her actions of walking around the Great Lakes in bringing awareness and protection for the water. Sudbury holds their own Water Walk annually around Lake Ramsey. This Water Walk is to honour the water and to bring awareness to how critical it is to do our part in protecting it. In May we celebrate Mother’s Day and it is the Month of Mary. Anishinaabe people refer to Mother Earth as Shkagamik Kwe and the full moon as Nookomis or Grandmother Moon. The next day Nookomis was reported at her fullest for the 2012 calendar. Julia Pegahmagabow, Atikameksheng Anishinawbek member, started the morning with teaching the group of mostly young women about their role as women and their responsibility to take care of themselves and the water. The group then started the 7km walk to the Traditional Grounds of the Atikameksheng Anishinawbek located on Whitefish Lake. On the shores of the lake we ended our ceremony and celebrated with a traditional feast. Participants left with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
SCDSB Hosts Third Annual Turning Points Essay Awards Ceremony
Students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered at the Sudbury Catholic District Board office on May 9, 2012 to take part in the SCDSB’s third annual Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony. This essay contest is an initiative which stems from the Learning Partnership which is an organization that champions a strong public education system to deliver innovative programs, credible research, policy initiatives, executive leadership and public engagement across Canada. Turning Points is a character development and literacy program that allows students to reflect on their fundamental values and, through a process of self-reflection and dialogue, write a narrative essay about a significant event, or turning point in their lives. As it is the third year, student participation has continued to grow as teachers have continued to encourage their involvement with this rewarding program. The secondary students that took part in this contest and authored the winning essays were awarded plaques, a copy of the publication, as well as monetary awards at Wednesday night’s celebration. The students were honoured for their efforts and several students had the opportunity to read their essays allowed. The audience was visibly moved by these emotional accounts and several of the teachers involved spoke of the courage and strength of their students to be able to write such heart-felt accounts of their experiences. Allison Cameron, a Marymount English teacher was the master of ceremonies at this event and was visibly moved after the students read aloud their essays. “Even after being involved with this initiative for three years, I am never really prepared for the poignant words our students have written and shared with others,” Cameron stated. “The courage of these students to express their deepest feelings and emotions about their life’s turning point is so powerful – for the student, and their families.” Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Board echoed Cameron’s sentiments. “I am thrilled that the this program once again met with such success, and am so honoured that our students have courageously shared their most personal and meaningful life experiences. We are certainly overwhelmed by their talent and honesty involved in this writing experience.”