Despite the fact that mental health concerns affect one in five young people, fewer than
25 percent of children and youth with mental health problems receive treatment. The
biggest reasons for this are a lack of understanding and a fear of being stigmatized or
negatively perceived by others.
In Ontario, May 4-10, 2015 is declared Children’s Mental Health Week. This week is
about increasing mental health awareness, decreasing stigma, and increasing
knowledge about available help. Sudbury Catholic Schools would like to take this
opportunity to extend awareness of mental health and our board’s Mental Health and
Well-Being Strategy to students and parents.
Each of our schools will be provided with information cards and magnets to send home
with each student, highlighting the SCDSB Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy and
the website portal. Through these resources parents can become more aware of child
and youth mental health, gain knowledge of our board’s efforts, and have access to
resources.
Schools with students in grade 7+ will also receive posters to display throughout their
hallways and classrooms. By showcasing these posters, we are de-stigmatizing mental
health and creating a safe and accepting environment in our schools that is proven to
influence student well-being and improve conditions for learning.
Thank you for your continued efforts in making Sudbury Catholic Schools a place where
well-being matters! If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact
the Sudbury Catholic District School Board at 705-673-5620.
Category: Community
St. Charles College Presents: Aida
In the heart of ancient Egypt a love story blossoms between a couple of star crossed souls mates. Radames, an Egyptian warrior, falls in love with the slave girl Aida, who is in fact the strong-willed princess of Nubia. With a plot to kill the Pharaoh and Radames’ wedding to the Pharaoh’s daughter at hand, both he and Aida must choose between duty to their people or their own love. Their beautiful and heartfelt journey, fantastic music by Elton John, dancing, lavish costumes and set are sure to capture the hearts of audience members of all ages!! Call St. Charles College for more information – (705) 566-9605.
Staff and Students at St. Charles Pray the Living Rosary to Kick Off Catholic Education Week
The St. Charles Catholic Elementary school community came together to pray the Living Rosary to kick off Catholic Education Week 2015. Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 made up the individual beads of the rosary, surrounding the remaining students with the peaceful prayer.
The word rosary means “crown of roses”. Our Lady has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving Her a beautiful rose and that each complete rosary makes Her a crown of roses. The Holy Rosary is considered a perfect prayer because within it lies the awesome story of our salvation. With the rosary, in fact we meditate the mysteries of joy, of sorrow and the glory of Jesus and Mary. It’s a simple prayer, humble so much like Mary. The heavenly Mother has invited us to say the Rosary as a powerful weapon againstt evil, to bring us to true peace.
Indigenous Celebration Held
The Diocesan Centre is planning an inclusive day of celebration based on indigenous culture, and would love a big turn out at this event. All students, staff, families and friends are welcome and encouraged to attend! It looks to be a great day planned!
INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Fielding Park
5:30 am. Sunrise Ceremony ~
8:00 am. Pancake Breakfast ~
9:00 am. Teaching Carousel – Stations will be set up to be rotated through – 6 stations with 20 minute presentations at each~
a) Children drumming station~
b) Craft – decade of the rosary with four/six colour beads + leather OR~leather bookmark
c) 7 Grandfather teachings
d) Legends – Elders telling the stories~
e) Medicines and Wheel
f) Sacred Elements (fire keeper, tobacco, stones, feather, pipe, drums, smudge, animals) ~
11:00 am. Healing Circle – prayers, scripture (trilingual), blessing~
1:30 pm. Feast – “pot luck”
3:00 pm Travelling Song/Blessing~
For more information and access to resources, please consult:
http://arise-ssm.weebly.com
St. Charles College Students Ignite a WIC
It started over a series of text messages between students one evening. The question arose “how can we, as young people be instruments of change in the world?” Jordan Bates-Wright used that question to spearhead a World Issues Committee at the school level.
Bates-Wright, a St. Charles College student who is serving as President of the club is starting big with the launch of a website and a charity gala that she hopes will continue year after year. She says “I started this because I was concerned that young people don’t care about events happening in the world and wanted to do something impactful.”
The “Change” charity gala will promote some of Sudbury’s locally run non-profit organizations in an effort to raise awareness and showcase their mission.
The gala will take place on May 29th between 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the Croatian Centre. Tickets are $30 and include a meal. Money raised will be split by the charities in attendance.
Bates-Wright says given the circumstances happening in Nepal right now with the earthquake, they hope to add a Red Cross element to the night.
For tickets or more information, please contact the school at (705)566-9605.
Exploring Opportunities in the PEACE Program
Assistant Deputy Minister Janine Griffore and Nicole McAllister, Education Officer visited St. Albert Learning Centre on April 22, 2015 to look at a unique program happening with students enroled in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s PEACE program.
The PEACE program, which stands for Personalized, Experiential, Alternative, Catholic Education, is an alternative program for for secondary students who are disengaged, on a long term suspension or expulsion, behind in credit accumulation and have social/emotional issues. The students learn techniques to overcome obstacles all while earning credits towards their secondary school diploma and are supported with their social and emotional needs, and learn how to give back to the community through community partnerships.
At the end of last year, a proposal was submitted by staff, to bring in a project that would allow these students some hands on learning, and gain business experience. The Peace Pen program was born. The purpose of the Peace Pen program is to help the students to thrive in a non-traditional classroom setting. Through this project, the students earn credits by participating in different aspects of a school run business venture.
The “business” offers promotion materials to our board. The Peace Pen project involves the fabrication of customized, hand-made, one-of-a-kind wooden pens presented in engraved boxes. After purchasing a wood lathe and laser engraver, the class purchased special pen kits. Each pen, when complete, includes a written description of the program, signed by the student who created it. As well, it includes a description of the wood used for that particular pen.
This project has already blossomed into an engraving business as well, with requests coming in from the school board for specific engraving pieces used throughout the schools and buildings. Students are involved in different aspects of the Peace Pen project such as marketing, accounting, promotion and communication, inventory and production. According to Michel Grandmont, the board’s secondary consultant who supports the class, “This contextualized approach to meeting curriculum expectations makes it real for students. They are actually operating a small enterprise, all the while meeting the different curriculum expectations,” explained Grandmont. “Depending on the tasks and activities the student is involved in, he or she will earn credits by meeting overall expectations in several secondary courses such as mathematics, business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and English.”
The students divide up the tasks such as production and the development of promotional materials such as brochures, website and the creation of an instructional video. One of the students involved in the program, Jessica Blais, was given the task of explaining to their Ministry of Education guests, the Peace program, the Peace Pen project, and how much both have changed her life. “Working with Peace Pens has forced me to leave my comfort zone and face my fear of talking to people,” Blais explains. “Once I overcame my fear, I felt like I could do anything I set my mind to. This small classroom business is teaching us valuable life lessons while we work toward achieving our diploma, which I now see in the near future. I am very grateful for this second chance.”
Café d’amitié
Students at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School meet on a monthly basis with their Café d’amitié partners. Pictured here are the Grade 1 students with their Café d’amitié partners from Grade 6. Students participate together in a variety of activities that can range from reading to creating art projects to playing games. This is an excellent way to foster a sense of belonging, build relationships amongst students, provide students with social and emotional models and development opportunities and help children feel safe and accepted at school. This month in honour of the virtue of Stewardship and Earth Day, Café d’amitié was dedicated to demonstrating how we can show our love for all of God’s creations and do our part to respect the earth.
St. James Explores Resiliency
St. James Catholic Elementary School staff joined guest speaker Stacey Gilbeau from the Sudbury Health Unit to discuss Resiliency.
The St. James school community continues to strive to create a culture that supports positive mental health and well-being in practical and effective ways. Educators can promote mental health by identifying and enhancing students’ strengths and helping students identify their “Spark”.
Update on Negotiations
You may have heard in the media that the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association ((OECTA), representing elementary, secondary and occasional teachers in our Board voted to approve strike action.
Central bargaining is continuing between the province, unions and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA), which represents Catholic school boards at the provincial table. At present, we are not aware of any planned labour disruptions by OECTA.
Our Board continues to support efforts to reach a negotiated central settlement as the best way to avoid strikes and other labour disruptions.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board values all of our teachers as dedicated, caring professionals committed to student success.
We will continue to keep parents, and students informed and to ensure accurate information is fully communicated to the Sudbury Catholic community should there be any developments affecting our schools.