Students at St. James Catholic Elementary school had the unique opportunity this past month to witness the hatching of baby ducks. Grade 5 student, Danielle Battistelli has a love for ducks so her family offered the school a whole kit including eggs, an incubator and all supplies and equipment needed in order to hatch some duck eggs. The school jumped at this chance to show students the miracle of new life and within a few weeks time the first batch of eggs hatched. Everyday at lunch, Battistelli and her friends set up a demonstration and are available to answer questions regarding the new hatchlings. As well, these students contribute to the morning announcements calling themselves “The Hatchers” and give daily updates on the ducklings. There have been eight ducks born so far and some students were lucky enough to witness the eggs cracking and seeing the ducks emerge. All of the new ducklings have been named and some of these names include Bubbles, Twitter and Chezabell. The Battistelli’s have contributed a few more eggs and when the first set of ducklings are ready to bring back to their house to be raised as pets, there will be a whole new set of ducklings for the students to observe. Grade One teacher Sarah Pappin found her students to be positively amazed by the whole process. “My students were absolutely awestruck when they saw the eggs hatch,” Pappin said. “They were speechless at first, and then couldn’t stop talking about how excited they were to see real baby ducks hatch.” Pappin explained that this was a fantastic opportunity for all the students at St. James to work with community partners, and families and have a hands on experience with new life.
Category: Community
St. Bernadette Soars in Jump Rope for Heart
Students at St. Bernadette Catholic School raised more than $3,400.00 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation during their annual Jump Rope for Heart campaign. The students stay active and help a great cause. This is certainly one physical activity that has many benefits. Recently the students from JK to grade 6 at St. Bernadette Catholic School participated in the various skipping events organized by the St. Charles College high school students from Mrs. Paola Gutscher’s class. Once again, the students received tremendous support from the families and friends for this fundraising event. They would like to thank all the pledge donors in their school community. A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Gutscher’s class for all their help in making this event a fun-filled afternoon.
St. Christopher’s Grade Three Class Making a Difference Across the Globe
The Grade 3 class at St. Christopher Catholic Elementary School spent the afternoon counting the grand total that they raised for the Ryan’s well foundation. They were excited to discover that they surpassed their goal and raised an amazing total of $318. Money was raised through a classroom bake sale and collection jar. They students were very proud that they were able to make a difference and were thrilled that the money will be going towards building a well in Africa.
Golden Visit at St. John
Tessa Bonhomme inspired students and staff today at St. John School in Garson to never take their eye off the goal. Through a personal account of her struggles and triumphs during her twenty year career in hockey, we learned that with commitment, perseverance and hard work anything can happen – even a dream!
Congratulations all Award Recipients
It was a great night for Aboriginal students from St. Benedict CSS, Marymount Academy, and St. Charles College. Students from all three Catholic Secondary Schools walked away with awards ranging from excellence in athletics, extra-curricular involvement, academic achievement and cultural recognition. “It’s a wonderful way for the community to come together to support our students’ achievements” Shelly Frappier, Native Studies Teacher from St. Benedict CSS stated.
For the past six years, aboriginal students across the Sudbury area have been honoured for their accomplishments during the school year at the Aboriginal Secondary School Awards Banquet. The banquet honours achievements in a number of categories and encourages community, family and peers to come out and support our youth. “It makes me feel very proud when I see former students of mine up on stage being honoured for graduating secondary school” explained Verna Hardwick, Native Language Teacher at St. David and St. Raphael schools. Verna Hardwick and her Ojibwe language students sang the opening honour song, said the opening prayer in Ojibwe and closed the evening with a closing song.
Special thanks to the wonderful staff of the United Way and Gezhtoojig Employment and Training who sponsor this event, in conjunction with local school boards and community agencies.
Congratulations to all award winners and graduates!
Corpus Christi Wins Annual Battle of the Books
Congratulations to the Corpus Christi Battle of the Books Reading Club on their fine performance at the final competition on May 19 as they placed first in a field of 16 teams from around the Sudbury District. Students demonstrated great teamwork skills and amazing memories as they responded to questions about books they’ve read throughout the school year. Many thanks to the Sudbury Public Library for hosting the event and Chapters for sponsoring the event.
Mr. Winegarden speaks to the students of St. James.
The students at St. James Catholic school had the privilege of having Mr. Winegarten speak to them about some of the barriers of being visually impaired and how goals can be accomplished with “good old hard work and to follow you passion”. He stated that the trick to his success in being the first blind person to work for the Canada Revenue Agency in Sudbury where he was a supervisor has been; “to always do my best and help others. If I can do this then my life is meaningful”
International Day for Biodiversity: The Green Wave
Grade 8 students at St. Francis school participated in the 2010 Green Wave program. On May 21st 5 trees were planted in the name of biodiversity. The Green Wave is a global biodiversity campaign to educate youth about biodiversity. It will contribute to worldwide celebrations of the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22). It also supports other national, international and global tree planting initiatives. In order to encourage as many school as possible to participate in the Wave, the Convention on Biodiversity invited groups to plant trees on May 21st, or May 22nd.
Pictures, maps and more information about the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Green Wave program can be found at [ http://greenwave.cbd.int/en/home ]http://greenwave.cbd.int/en/home.
St. Raphael Participates in Annual Walkathon
On Friday May 28th the students and staff of St. Raphael school participated in the 5th annual walkathon for the St. Raphael Catholic School Council. It was a gorgeous day for walking. Students raised over $5000.00 for the CSC of St. Raphael. The event was followed by a BBQ and pep rally where students showed their tremendous school spirit. Many thanks to all the parents who came out to help, and Mrs. Alves for organizing the event.