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”.
Category: Community
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.
St. David School Hosts Wellness Day… Taking Care of YOU!
On April 24, St. David Catholic School hosted a “Wellness Day” focusing on supporting students to lead healthy, well-balanced lives. The morning kicked off with motivational student-created videos, acknowledgement of community partners and introductions to the day’s wellness workshops. The grade 4-8 student participants were divided into groups and attended two out of six sessions of their choosing. All students participants were given the opportunity to choose which sessions they wanted to attend.
The day consisted of various healthy habit-forming activities and coping strategy workshops which included yoga, outdoor education team building, “What’s your Spark”, tae kwon do, dance, and healthy cooking options. The school hosted presenters from a number of community agencies within the city including the Sudbury District Health Unit, Better Beginnings-Better Futures, Killarney Outdoor Education Centre and several wonderful student teachers from Laurentian University.
Katie-Ann McLean, grade 8 student at St. David School, described the day as “an opportunity to learn how to relax your mind, body and spirit” .
St. David Catholic School accessed a community grant from Breakfast Club of Canada to host this special day. “For over twenty years, Breakfast Club of Canada has been nourishing children’s potential by making sure as many of them as possible have access to a healthy morning meal before school, in an environment that allows their self esteem to grow and flourish”. Thank you Breakfast Club of Canada, and Better Beginnings-Better Futures for all that you do for St. David Catholic Elementary School, and so many other schools.
Regals Fight Cancer Campaign Surpasses Goal
On April 24, 2015, Katherine Boyce, Marymount Academy student and the school’s Catholic Charities Council president asked the entire school student body to stand up if they have ever had anyone in their life that had been affected by cancer. One by one, every single student, staff member, and invited guest stood up. Upon seeing the entire gym full of people on their feet, Boyce spoke to the group, “This is why we stand up to Cancer –this is why Regals Fight Cancer!” The school wrapped up their Regals Fight Cancer campaign with a variety of head-shaving, dying, hair donating, and leg shaving – which was all dependent upon the amount of monies raised to support one of their own – a grade 12 student who is battling cancer, and to give to the Northeastern Ontario Cancer Foundation. In the end, the Regals surpassed their $10,000 goal, raising over 21,000 dollars to support their fellow regal and the NOCF. Heads were shaved and dyed, and the students enjoyed seeing their teachers support both Marymount, and Greater Sudbury community by following through on their promises. Several students and teachers also had their hair cut and donated for wigs for chemotherapy patients who have lost their hair. Lucie Cullen, principal of the school was emotional throughout the presentation. “Katherine Boyce made mention at the beginning of the presentation that Marymount is a family,” Cullen explained. “And in every sense of the word this is true. Today shows how close we are as a school community, a strong Regal family, supporting one of our own as well as giving back to our city. As always this school community makes us incredibly proud!”
Called to be Resilient Leaders at Sudbury Catholic
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board in conjunction with the Sudbury & District Health Unit is celebrating putting importance on partnerships and building strong relationships in education. Senior Administration, Principals, Vice-Principals Managers and several other leaders within the Sudbury Catholic Board and the Sudbury & District Health Unit gathered on April 8th, 2015 to participate in an interactive learning session featuring Dr. Wayne Hammond, of Resiliency Initiatives Canada. Dr. Hammond presented research-based information about Resiliency and a Strength-Based Approach. The presentation was very well received by all participants and will further the work of the Principal Learning Teams as they continue to examine their calling to “Be Resilient Leaders” in their schools.
That same evening Dr. Hammond also presented to an auditorium full of parents from the “soon to be” Holy Trinity Catholic School community. He shared his outline of a strength-based parenting approach that strengthens a child’s abilities to meet life’s challenges with thoughtfulness, confidence, purposefulness and empathy. Dr. Hammond believes that, “The real task of parenting is not to prepare the path for our children, rather to prepare them for the path that they will need to walk.”
Diana Salvador, Principal of St. Bernadette Catholic School and Principal appointed to Holy Trinity Catholic School said, “I look forward to working diligently at Holy Trinity Catholic School to put Dr. Hammond’s message into practice in partnership with the parent community to foster a trusting school culture where students, parents, teachers and all stakeholders feel valued, connected and engaged in their educational journey.”
Earn Credit While You Travel This Summer! – Parent Info Session April 30, 2015
Be part of an exciting, affordable, experiential learning program this summer, that enables you to earn high school credits on the road. SCDSB and EduTravel are offering Grade 9 students an opportunity to earn their Civics and Careers credits while they travel to Ottawa, Montreal and New York City.
Civics and Careers CHV2O/GLC2O (French Immersion available)
Ottawa, Montreal and New York City
Pre-Trip Dates: July 6, 7, 8, 9
Travel Dates: July 10 – 16
Post-Trip Dates: July 20, 21
Registration deadline: Monday, May 25th
Parent Information Session
Thursday, April 30th at 7pm at SCDSB Office (165 D’Youville St
Sudbury, ON)
Celebrating Earth Day at St. Francis
April 22, 2015 is Earth Day and the students in teacher Christina Bedoya’s Gr.1/2 class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School have been learning about how we all have an impact on our environment. Students learned and shared ways to help our environment through everyday tasks such as turning off the lights or taking a quick shower instead of a long one. They also learned the power of reducing, re-using and recycling because we truly have “the whole world in our hands”. If we all work together to respect God’s creations and planet Earth, we really can make a difference.
Holy Trinity Families Unite through Exercise
It was all in the name of building new friendships for the future students of Holy Trinity Catholic School in an active and healthy way!
Families of children who currently attend St. Andrew, St. Bernadette and St. Raphael Catholic Elementary Schools came together in the gymnasium at St. Charles College on April 16th, 2015 to participate in a fun-filled evening of Zumba and Yoga. Many parents and teachers enthusiastically took to the gymnasium floor and the gym mats to participate in the exercises!
The night was made possible through the funding of a Ministry of Education Parents Reaching Out grant focused on increasing parental engagement in education.
As gracious hosts, the St. Bernadette School families collected items to create gift baskets with themes like “cooking with family”, “a family indoor movie night” and “outdoor family activities”. Sudbury & District Health Unit Public Health Nurses, Stacey Gilbeau and KC Rautiainen, also joined in the amusements and helped out by drawing the winners of the three baskets at the end of the evening.
Celebrating Administrative Assistants’ Day at St. Raphael
The Early Learning Kindergarten class at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School surprised Laura Owens, the school administrative assistant, with a message from the class to honour her today. Mrs. Owens is the first person people meet as they enter the school. She is always smiling and helpful. The students of St. Raphael School are grateful for all she does to help students.