WE Day is an annual event that encourages student leadership, and it brings empowered youth together to show them they are not alone in their journey to impact local and global change. A student from St. Charles College is lucky enough to be attending one of the WE Days held in Toronto, at the Air Canada Centre. David DiBrina, president of the St. Charles College student council, as well as student trustee for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, has been selected to be one of the 20,000 students from across Ontario to have the privilege to be a part of the monumentous event. Speakers will include the likes Al Gore, Nelly Furtado, Hedley, and many more celebrities. This televised event is taking place on Friday, September 29th, 2012, and will be streamed live online. As a representative of the Sudbury Catholic Board, DiBrina will be tweeting live throughout the event on the Sudbury Catholic Twitter account and can be followed @ SCDSB throughout the day. When asked about his expectations of the event prior to his departure, DiBrina stated, “ I am sure that I will leave Toronto with a wealth of knowledge that I can bring back and share with my peers, as well as a renewed passion and increased confidence to make positive changes locally, as well as globally!”
Category: St. Charles College
St. Raphael Student Supports S.C.C. Annual Food Drive Challenge
Sara Perry, Grade 3 student from St. Raphael School, poses with the 27 non-perishable food items she collected all by herself to kickoff the Annual Food Drive with St. Charles College. Sara says “I collected them from some of the people on my street for the Sudbury Food Bank”. Students from St. Charles College visited the elementary school on September 21 to get the students excited about this industrious challenge. The goal this year is to collect 60,000 food items, in order for Mr. Jim Silva to be let out of the bus he will be on for a week. The St. Raphael Royals are ready and eager to help with the challenge!
Grade Nine Students ‘Miming’ for Spirit
On September 20th, a full days worth of events were planned to build spirit and community among grade nine students at St. Charles College. The annual spirit day allows students to feel a part of a team and engage in activities so that they can get to know one another.
David DiBrina, student council President says “grade nine can be an awkward year for students. They are trying to fit in and find their place here at St. Charles College. We believe that having fun and having friends to lean on takes the stress and anxiety out of the beginning of grade nine.”
There are more than two hundred grade nine students registered at St. Charles College this year.
St. Charles College Hockey Hopeful- One to Watch For
He’s just a fourteen year-old St. Charles College student but he’s already dreaming big. Cameron Lizotte hopes to one day see his NHL jersey grace the walls of the St. Charles College gymnasium and he’s hoping his big break next month might put those wheels in motion.
Lizotte has been selected as one of the top 42 bantam-aged hockey players in Canada by the National Hockey League Players’ Association hosted by former NHLer Gary Roberts. The title means he has been invited to the second annual Allstate All-Canadian Mentorship Camp working with some of the best in the NHL.
Cameron says many of the players who participate in the program become first round draft picks in the Western and Ontario Hockey Leagues when they turn fifteen years of age.
Lizotte is one of two northern Ontario boys participating in the Mentorship Camp from July 17th to the 21st. The other is Blake Speers of Sault Ste. Marie. The week will conclude with an exhibition game that will be broadcast nationally on TSN Saturday, July 21st at 1 p.m.
Lizotte currently plays for the Copper Cliff Redmen. In August, he’ll represent Team Canada’s under-16 team in Austria.
Cards Runners Race for Diabetes
The goal for the St. Charles College marathon team this fall was to enter and complete a half marathon and they did it. Ten students, along with their teacher/coach and principal took part in the Sudbury Rocks Half-Marathon for Diabetes this past weekend in Sudbury. Ms. Catherine Levesque headed up the team in the fall with a commitment to run everyday no matter what weather conditions greeted them after school. They were ecstatic about having their principal, Patty Mardero join them in the 50-59 age bracket.
Other highlights:
Danielle Provencher got 1st in her age/gender category out of 3 females up to 19 years of age. Katie McDowell came 2nd in the same division.
Cody Malette and Jayden Lepack finished 3rd and 4th in their age/gender category out of 11 males up to 19 years of age.
Paralympic Athlete Brings “Passion for Sport” to St. Charles College
Robbi Weldon started downhill skiing at the age of three. Many years later, she would compete on the international level as a Nordic skier and cyclist as a Paralympic athlete. Weldon of Thunder Bay has been in Sudbury the last few days, sharing her story and passion for sport. She visited St. Charles College to inspire the students in the Exercise Science class. Weldon also shared her dreams for the upcoming games in London, England.
Weldon was diagnosed with a genetic eye disease when she was a teenager in high school. The macular degeneration disease she was diagnosed with has not stopped her from living out her dreams. She’s 2011 Parapan Am Games 4-time Gold Medalist, 2011 World Champion Road Cyclist in the Time Trial and the 2010 World Champion in Road Racing.
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.”
Mentoring Students and Making Memories
The Grade 1 students at St. Bernadette Catholic School partnered with teacher Paola Gutcher’s Parenting Class from nearby St. Charles College to create wonderful Memory Boxes. The Grade 1 students read the book, Lighthouse: A Story of Remembrance and the class decided to create memory boxes that would celebrate highlights of this past school year and all of the love and important memories in their lives. Pictured are St. Bernadette grade 1 student Christina Gregory and St. Charles College student Julia Furlotte working on the memory box together.