The students at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School have collected thousands of pine cones this year to support the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge Centre in Lively. The centre needs the pine cones to feed some of the smaller animals in the winter. These caring students collected these cones in the fall as a part of their Dearness Conservation “Direction” challenge (East Eagles, South Turtles, West Buffalos and North Bears). Students were asked to try to each bring in 1 closed pine cone, which would be 330 pine cones for the Centre. The response was overwhelming as some students brought in hundreds of cones each! “What a great response by our students,” stated Laura Stirrett, vice principal of the school. “The virtue of the month for January is responsibility – and we are so proud of our students for recognizing that is all of our responsibility to take care of the earth and all of its inhabitants!”
Category: Character Development
St. Anne Angelic Voices Reach Out
The St. Anne Catholic School Junior Choir had an opportunity to experience firsthand the true meaning of Christmas. On Wednesday, December 12th, 2012, the choir performed a selection of Christmas carols for the residents of the Elizabeth Centre in Val Caron. Choir member Bailey Gervais said, “I was happy to help out, and it was a lot of fun too!”
Afterward the children were able to distribute candy canes and warm wishes to all in attendance. The smiles throughout the room spoke volumes. Choir member Zoe Duhaime said, “I liked bringing joy to people who don’t have a chance to go out too much at Christmas.”
The choir members demonstrated the Catholic virtue of patience that is currently being celebrated at the school.
The Gift of Giving at St. David
This year, in the true spirit of Christmas, teacher Caroline Mansourian’s Grade 7 students at St. David Catholic School dedicated themselves to purchasing gifts for young, needy children to be donated to “Salvation Army” in Sudbury. The students devoted their time and gifts to their class philanthropic project to compassionately serve their fellow Sudburians and learned much in the practice of generosity. “The students have come to value the importance of community service, and through this project of giving to those less fortunate than themselves, they have gained an understanding about providing positive support for one another and an elevated sense of human compassion,” explained Miss Mansourian.
Gifts of Hope are Real Gifts for Real Projects that Change Real Lives
Mrs. Roque’s Gr.2/3 class, at St. John Catholic Elementary School, have been discussing how fortunate they are to live iin a country like Canada, where they have a home, warm clothes, clean water and healthy food, while others in the world suffer. They have decided to set a goal for themselves for Christmas. They collected enough money to purchase a goat and 2 pigs for $165.00, for a family in a developing country.
A goat provides milk for a family: protein, nourishment and health. This gift also provides the possibility of a livelihood, which means an income and the ability to make choices about the future for parents and their children.
St. James Students Help Grinch’s Heart Grow
St. James students are helping to make the Grinch’s heart grow when they are “Caught Doing Something Good”. The following is a poem that was created by teacher Sabrina Rocca and her students. Not only are students having fun watching the Grinch’s heart grow bigger through acts of kindness, but also having fun with Literacy!
At St. James School Christmas Spirit is understood,
as Students are Caught Being Good!
At St. James Catholic School,
Students are all very cool.
To enhance Christmas Spirit,
We need the entire school to feel it.
We are helping the Grinch’s heart grow,
because it used to be as cold as snow.
When students are caught being good
The Christmas spirit is well understood
St. James Students Demonstrate the True Meaning of Christmas
The Fantastic Fours and Terrific 4/5’s at St. James Catholic Elementary School got into the Christmas spirit early by packing gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Families went out and purchased items such as: hygiene products, clothing, toys, and school supplies. When all was said and done, the two classes filled 47 boxes. Inside each box was a letter of hope to the child that will be receiving the gifts. The St. James staff is very thankful for the generosity and support of the students and their families. Together they showed the true meaning of Christmas – how it is better to give than to receive!
When Life Throws You an Apple, Peel It!
During Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week students at St Bernadette school “got to know their apples” by touching them, throwing them and rolling them around. They were then asked to describe their apples. Students described their apples as bruised, dented, marked up, big and small. After a few minutes, the apples were collected, peeled and dropped into a basket. Children were then asked to find their apple within the pile. Remarkably, most children couldn’t find their apples. “They all looked the same!” students exclaimed. This activity allowed students to discover that, just like the apples, on the outside people, too, come in different sizes and shapes. But, underneath the outer layer, just like the apples, people are all the same. We have the same hopes and fears and dreams.
Students Remember War Veterans
Students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School in grades 3 and 4 eagerly wrote postcards to war veterans for Remembrance Day. The postcards were provided by Veteran Affairs Canada. The class put their friendly letter writing skills to use in order to compose a thoughtful message. Students in teacher Graziella Visentin’s class annually write postcards to thank veterans for being brave and courageous in order to protect us. The grade 3 and 4 students acknowledged the veterans’ efforts and their gratitude for the freedom we so much enjoy today. This year the postcards were sent to war veterans residing in Ottawa, Ontario.
Christmas Food Drive at Marymount Academy
Every year Marymount Academy holds a Christmas food drive to help stock the shelves of the Sudbury Food Bank for the holiday season. Last year the school paired up with “kids helping kids” which was started by Edgar Burton and is the biggest food drive in the city. We raised and incredible amount of cans, over 13 thousand cans. They were told in September that they raised the most cans out of all the schools participating with “kids helping kids”. MMA was then rewarded with “the handing over of the official Vancouver Olympic torch” from last years winner, Lively District School. A group of students went to the mall on Nov 15th, and several tv and newspaper reporters were there including Mel from the radio who talked about how Edgar Burton ran with the torch in Sudbury during the Olympics. He then bought the torch for $500.00 and decided to donate it to the schools who raised the most cans. Marymount Academy now gets to keep the torch for one year
As well, on Monday Nov, 19th, our Marymount Catholic Charities council was asked to visit with the Mayor, her staff, Frank Elsner (the chair of the Sudbury Food Bank), several food bank volunteers, as well as Edgar Burton’s daughter and of course the media for the official signing of the Proclamation. Several MC3 members sat with the Mayor as she explained the process of the signing of an official Proclamation. The girls were thrilled to sit with the Mayor and to be congratulated for their efforts to help the less fortunate in our community. They told her how they just learned about the steps of a Proclamation in their Civics class at school. (they got to see it in action).
The girls were very impressed at being part of history, they were very proud of their efforts and vowed to continue helping our community.