Students at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School recently became a little ‘greener’. The school, in partnership with the Killarney Outdoor Education Centre created a vermicomposting program that will help the school to reduce organic waste. The project, funded by TD Friends of the Environment and Learning for a Sustainable Future, is aimed at helping teach students how composting can have a positive impact on the environment. Both the students of St. Joseph and all visitors to the outdoor centre will weigh their organic waste that enters the compost. This will allow the students to track the amount of waste they prevented from entering the local landfill. The castings left over will be harvested by the students and added to soil used in gardens and planters.
Vermicomposting, is a process that uses worms to digest waste such as food scraps. Bins containing soil, water, worms and bedding material, such as leaves and shredded newspaper, are filled once or twice a week with worm food – for example, fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and other organic material. The end product is an excellent fertilizer for soil.
Category: Community
Sudbury Catholic Schools – Relays for Life at St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul
As part of their school’s Catholic Education activities, St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul Catholic Elementary Schools held an in-school Relay for Life on Friday, May 8, 2015. For St. John, this year marks the school’s seventh year hosting the event. St. John teacher and event organizer Irene Raymond was talking to staff at the other two schools and decided that they too would start an in-school Relay for Life event. At each school, students, staff and invited guests started off their day in the gymnasium to listen to speakers from their own school communities talk about their own experiences, as well as local cancer organizations talk about the positive impact the schools’ relays have on the community.
All three schools surpassed their fundraising goals with St. John raising over $4500, St. Paul raising over $6400 and St. Anne raising over $13,500.
Organizer and St. John teacher was overwhelmed with the participation and fundraising efforts at all three schools. “What an amazing turnout for all three Sudbury Catholic schools! I am so very proud of our successes! It was truly an amazing and emotionally humbling experience – we are all so proud of the efforts of all the students, staff, families and community partners that supported this year’s Relay for Life events – it is so very touching and impactful!”
Joining Together As One
Students from St. Andrew, St. Bernadette and St. St. Raphael Catholic Elementary Schools came together in prayer to celebrate Catholic Youth Day at St. Andrew the Apostle Church.
The three schools will form Holy Trinity Catholic School in the fall. This is the first time all three student bodies came together in the church to celebrate the Eucharist. Students at all three schools helped in the mass presenting the readings, altar serving and forming a choir. Father Sam D’Angelo presided over the mass.
Faith Based Play Day at St. Andrew
St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School celebrated Catholic Education week with a Faith Based Play Day. Each classroom teacher and the Core French teacher lead the teams of children in faith based activities. There was singing, creating a story, forgiveness melts a frozen heart activity , love letters, the parable of the Good Samaratin and discussion of the miracles of Jesus. Pictured is the group who explored “what joy means to me.” Thank you to each teacher who planned, organized and led each team in an activity.
SCDSB Staff Inspired by Engaging Speaker
Todd Cunningham-a motivational speaker, Ph.D. recipient, clinical and school psychologist, and researcher from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children, visited one of our secondary schools for the SCDSB Professional Activity Day. Todd discussed strategies for students who learn differently and the potential of assistive technology. He shared his own story with the students as he has struggled with a learning disability and has learned to accommodate his dyslexia with the use of assistive technology. His engaging presentations was held on April 28th at St.Charles College.
Young St. Bernadette Poets Get Noticed
The students of St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School were in the spotlight at a Poetry Café hosted at Chapters for Catholic Education week. Their tremendous creativity caught the eye of Tom Leduc, Sudbury’s Poet Laureate. Leduc was in attendance and is interested in featuring some of the poetic versus on his website which is featured on the Greater Sudbury Public Library website.
The poems presented were written by students as part of their poetry study for Language Arts classes. Topics included: My family, my sibling, my pet, the environment and even one about tacos.
Garden of Life Celebration at Holy Cross
A Garden of Life celebration that was held on Friday during education week at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. The Full Day Kindergarten students, teachers, educators and parents helped plant flowers and vegetables for the future FDK garden. Father Jim led the group in prayer and offered a statue of Mary to look over the garden in the years to come. It was a huge success and they look forward to caring for their garden in the weeks ahead.
MMA Regals Inspired by Olympic Gold Medalist
Olympic gold medal curler Brad Jacobs visited Marymount Academy on Monday May 4 to speak to the students about following their passions and not giving up on their dreams. Jacobs recalled his gold medal experience and explained that he has always been passionate about curling. By following his passion, he was able to inspire a nation and make his dreams comes true. The students were riveted by his experiences and were inspired by the champion and his tales of the Olympics.
Exploring Paths of Joy at St. Charles Elementary
To prepare for this year’s Catholic Education Week theme, “Exploring Paths of Joy”, St. Charles Catholic Elementary School students created their own unique footprint to symbolize their personal journey within our school community. The footprints were put together by Mme Bouzane’s class to make a giant quilt!
Students in all grades enjoy walking past the mural to admire the many patterns and designs and to find their own!