St. James Safe School student council, named C3 – Catholic, Community and Culture– was awarded a Government of Ontario “Speak Up Grant” for their inclusive education campaign. The C3 council gives students a voice in making St. James a place where everyone feels welcome and therefore students are provided with ample opportunities to participate in school decisions that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers. In organizing activities the C3 aims to create a caring and safe school environment and messaging the importance of inclusion and respect for everyone at St. James School.
Some of the C3 endeavours include: designing and playing a school-wide inclusive education P.A bingo, the creation of an exclusive St. James Safe School button and several community outreach projects.
Category: Character Development
St. Charles Cardinals Take On the Wolves
It’s not everyday that high school kids get to challenge the Wolves at a game of hockey. On February 14th, Life Skills students at St. Charles College went head-to-head with four members of the Wolves team for a couple friendly rounds of floor hockey.
Classroom teacher James Suchoplas organized the event. “Events like this build special memories for the students whether they are fans of hockey or not. It’s also an important lesson in being a team player and a way for the kids to showcase their school/team spirit.”
Wolves player Ryan Hanes says “It’s a win-win situation for the kids and us players to come in and give a little back to the community that we play for.”
Bags for Beds at St. Charles Elementary
The Dearness Conservation team at St. Charles Catholic Elementary Catholic school challenged their students to bring in milk ‘bags for beds’ and they did – “We can’t believe that the school collected over 2000 milk bags” says Rolande Nault, Club 50 Azilda member, ‘this will definitely make life a lot more comfortable for children and their families, especially those children in the Mariam Centre Orphanage and Outpatient Care in Haiti’.
The ladies at Club 50 Azilda take milk bags, cut them into strips, tie them together and then roll them up into balls just like yarn, then crochet or knit them into finished mats. These mats are very useful in keeping out parasites and can be used as beds for surgeries as they can be washed for the next patient. They become very soft in the heat and are also waterproof. ‘The ladies do an outstanding job creating these mats and then ensuring that that are shipped to Haiti’ says Ms. Giroux, teacher and Dearness Conservation Team member at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School. “This challenge had our students ‘think locally and act globally’ a quote that is said many times to our students to instill lifelong responsible citizenship. This challenge was a great opportunity to partner with a community organization, teach students the importance of reusing materials and teaching them the importance of giving back”.
Cupid Arrives Early at St. James School
Cupid arrived early at St. James Catholic School with a message for all students. Every student and staff member received in a Valentine Candy Gram along with a reminder from Cupid. The message read, “On Valentine’s Day we remember to let those we care about know that we love them. Tell your parents, brothers, sisters and other family members how much you love them. Be kind to your friends and remember to smile. Happy Valentine’s Day”.
St. John Catholic School Celebrates “World Day of the Sick”
In keeping with the spirit of the “World Day of the Sick” (Saturday, February 11th), a celebration was held at St. John Catholic Elementary School on Wednesday, February 8th,at which time students, staff, and invited guests joined together to take part in a prayer service honouring their community. Reverend Jim Ketzler from St. John the Evangelist Church led the service in which statues and crucifixes that were donated by the Sisters of St. Joseph from the former St. Joseph Health Centre (General Hospital) were blessed and then distributed around the school. As well, there were special blessings for all health care providers and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for all those who were present and in need. “At the beginning of the school year, all of the principals gathered together with Bishop Simard, Senior Administration and our parish partners, to put together pastoral plans for our schools,” Tricia Dowdall-Cerilli, Principal of St. John stated. “We had discussed many options, but we knew that this was definitely something we wanted to celebrate as we were so honoured to be gifted these crucifixes and statues from the hospital. Seeing as in the month of February, we celebrate the virtue of empathy – we knew that the timing was perfect for us to bring our community together, and take part in such a wonderful, meaningful celebration.”
Learning to Make Every Penny Count
Two teachers at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School decided to join forces. JK/SK teacher Cheryl MacRury and Grade 7 teacher Kathy Belanger decided they wanted to get their students involved in a community action project, and figured they would have more of an impact if they worked together. The teachers applied for a grant with the Canadian Teacher’s Federation and were successful, allowing them the opportunity to bring their project to life. Both classes decided that they wanted to help animals, specifically the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge. The two classes split the grant money and put it towards a different part of the project. The grade seven students decided to purchase digital cameras so that they could document their project and put together multimedia projects to showcase their progress. The JK/SK class decided that they would take some field trips to the shelter itself so that they could learn more about the animals they are hoping to help. In order to get their project started, the classes decided to visit local businesses and organizations in their community, and if allowed, leave donation cans in support of their project. All they were asking for were people’s pennies. Several businesses immediately jumped on board. After the first collection, they very quickly they realized that their penny collection was going to be a great teaching tool for their students. Every few weeks, the students gather together in one classroom and break off into groups of a few grade seven students and one JK/SK student. Each student is then given a pile of pennies that have been collected and the older students guide the younger student in counting out 50 “penny piles”. “Peer learning is such a great teaching tool for our students,” Belanger commented. “The older students become mentors for the young students and each look forward to our meetings as they enjoy learning from each other!” So far, the students have collected and counted over $70 in pennies over the last couple of months.
“Our students are not only learning numeracy, they are also learning literacy, technology, the importance of compassion, community and virtues.” Stated MacRury. The two classes will continue to meet on a regular basis to tally their collections right into June. The Grade 7 students will then have the opportunity to showcase their media presentations to the rest of the school. The group is hoping not only to donate funds to the shelter, but also donate much needed items like food and cleaning supplies.
“The dedication and hard work of our staff is second to none,” Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board stated. “These kinds of projects really engage our students, and allow them to see beyond the classroom. These are important life lessons that are a foundation for success in life.”
St. Anne Students Believe in Motto “Respect For All”
The pupils at St. Anne School in Hanmer pride themselves on demonstrating Catholic virtues. Since September, the students within the Sudbury Catholic Board have worked very hard to practice those virtues of respect, faith, justice, patience, and responsibility. Recently, a presentation from Camp Quality helped to re-enforce all these virtues and more.
Camp Quality is an organization run by volunteers who provide children with cancer the opportunity to experience the joys of camp life during the summer. The camp location in Northern Ontario can be found on the west arm of Lake Nipissing near Monetville. During the school year, the camp sends volunteers and life size puppets into schools to work with students from all grade divisions. Some of the puppets are recovering from leukemia or cancerous tumours. They explain to other puppet friends their feelings and concerns as they return or get ready to return to school. The performances are free for elementary schools and help children to understand the importance of caring for and offering support to one another, especially when a child has a major illness such as cancer.
The St. Anne students enjoyed the presentation immensely. Many of the students themselves have family members who have experienced cancer. The Camp Quality volunteers not only helped re-enforce those virtues already learned, but helped prepare the children for future virtues such as compassion, courage, kindness, and helpfulness. When asked about the presentation itself, the students from all divisions got the message loud and clear. “We may not always look the same on the outside, but we are still the same person on the inside.” Way to go Angels!
Gada Gawek’seg- Quay Ska Tiss See- Be the Change At St. Charles College
An emergency meeting was called by St. Charles College Native Studies Student President Natasha Cooper Lewis when she heard about the housing crisis in Attawapiskat. “I really wanted to help the Cree people in their time of need and I turned to the students for help,” said Natasha. The students decided to have wristband bracelets made that say “Gada Gawek’seg” and “Quay Ska Tiss See” which is Ojibway and Cree for “Be the Change”. The wristbands are being sold for $2 each at the school and by students in the community with all proceeds going to the Red Cross, earmarked for Attawapiskat. Grade 9 student, Beth Baxter from Moose Factory, ON, was grateful her classmates were willing to help be the change in a community her family is connected to on the James Bay coast. “I’m happy that my school wants to help out the people of Attawapiskat and that they liked our Cree translation so much that they put it on a bracelet. It’s a very powerful statement to make,” believes Beth.
St. Charles Elementary – Movember Challenge
During the month of November, Core French teacher, Mr. Belanger, at St. Charles Catholic Elementary Catholic School challenged all male staff to grow a mustache for the month of “Movember” in order to support the prostate cancer awareness campaign. The students were asked to bring in loose change during the month of Movember to raise money for the Northern Cancer Research Foundation and that is exactly what they did – students raised a total of $759.51. ” It was really great to see almost every student in our school wear a mustache on our Mustache Day. This was an opportunity for not only school spirit but it showed the importance of community involvement. Students appreciate that they are part of a global effort in the fight againstt cancer”.