Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Category: Community

St Charles Elementary Comes Together to Share Who They Are

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Staff and students at St Charles Catholic Elementary School began the school year by reflecting on who they each are as individuals and what gifts and talents they bring to the school community. Everyone completed an “I am…” statement to share with the school.

Pictured are Jodie-Lee Clance and Emma Carpenter. Emma Carpenter, a grade 5 student explained, “doing this activity tells everyone about yourself and helps people get to know you. You can see that everyone is unique in their own way and this makes our school a special place!”

Putting the Fun in Summer Learning

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Forty-five Grades 1 and 2 Sudbury Catholic Students had the opportunity to take part in some summer learning programs from July 2-18. Working out of St. David Catholic Elementary School, students were enroled in literacy, numeracy and aboriginal education programming. The literacy and numeracy components included games and activities with an emphasis on the fun of learning. The aboriginal component included learning about the Seven Grandfather Teachings, Metis history and culture, as well as traditional cooking lessons and culturally based activities. Also included in the programming, were Tae Kwon Do lessons each morning to start the day, with the Sudbury Catholic mental health nurse and black belt – Roland Dutrisac.

Program co-ordinator and the Board’s Special Education consultant, Christina Raso was pleased with the student engagement at this year’s summer school programming. “We have been running these programs for a number of years now,” Raso explained. “and every year, the students are eager to get here and start as they really enjoy the play based activities and fun learning environments. The Tae Kwon Do component also really excites the students as they get to work off some energy first thing in the morning, and have a lot of fun learning the different moves involved.”

SCDSB New Director Joanne Bénard Receives National Award

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In the very first week of her new job, Sudbury Catholic Director Joanne Bénard attended the Canadian Association of School System Administrators (CASSA) national conference in Calgary from July 5-10 to receive an award. Bénard was selected as this year’s Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officer’ Association’s (OCSOA) recipient of the CASSA EXL Award. This award was launched in 2002 to recognize excellence among Superintendents and is sponsored by Xerox Canada Ltd. as well as CASSA. According to the CASSA website, “the EXL Award Program is based on three premises:

• It is important that the dedication and enthusiasm of administrators who guide children’s educational experiences be acknowledged. Recognition is a powerful instrument for building pride in accomplishment and continued determination to pursue excellence.

• The scope and quality of children’s educational experiences are determined primarily by the system’s leaders, who establish, through the important work of teachers and the support of school boards and caring parents, the character of a particular school system’s programs.

• Children’s attitudes toward learning and their perceptions of themselves as lifelong learners are established in their school years. Effective leadership, mentoring and modelling determine whether the school jurisdiction effectively creates this environment”

According to the Sudbury Catholic Board Chair, Jody Cameron, Bénard really fits the bill with this award, and the board is quite fortunate to have her join the Sudbury Catholic community as its next Director. “ Joanne truly exemplifies excellence, as we have seen through her past experience,” Cameron explained. “Having her recognized nationally for her dedication and service to students really speaks to the exemplary quality of service that Joanne delivers, and we are quite excited to have her join our team!”

Bénard was pleased to receive the award, as she was joined by her husband and daughter for the presentation. “It is a blessing and an honour to be recognized by my peers for doing what I love to do and that is working with others to improve outcomes for our youth. This award is certainly a highlight in my career and a great way to begin my new role with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.”

SCDSB Staff Share their Knowledge in Calgary

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Sudbury Catholic District School Board Superintendent Rossella Bagnato and Assistive Technology Teacher Jennifer Connelly visited Calgary from July 3-5 for the national Canadian Association of School System Administrators (CASSA) conference. The two were asked to present at the conference with this year’s theme being student engagement

The pair showcased their presentation entitled, “If you give a student a voice” which is a play off the children’s books- “If You Give a Moose a Muffin”, and “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie.” Bagnato and Connelly shared data from Sudbury Catholic that was collected through a “Tell Them From Me” survey which allowed students in a variety of grades to have a voice and express their concerns and issues while dealing with school and home life.

Through this data, staff was able to create a focus for student engagement and prioritize the needs of the students. Over 250 school system administrators attended the conference and were impressed with the Sudbury Catholic presentation. “Sharing best practice with others across the country is a great way to showcase the incredible work we are doing at our school board,” Bagnato explained. “We really put our students first with everything that we do at Sudbury Catholic, and we were very honoured to be asked to share our experiences. This was a great opportunity for us to let everyone know just how great our staff and students really are!”

See the book created to showcase our Sudbury Catholic student voice.

SCDSB Students Walk for Terry

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Each year in Ontario, more than 4000 schools take part in the Terry Fox run to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation. Monies raised last year by the province’s schools was $7.2 million, an increase of $1 million from the previous year’s total. Several Sudbury Catholic schools took part in this national fundraiser and collected over $10,394.32 this past year, with an overall total of $57,515.51 collected to date. Board Chair, Jody Cameron expressed his gratitude to the students and staff at Sudbury Catholic for their generosity and dedication. “In Canada, everyone is familiar with the Terry Fox legacy, and I am very proud of our schools for their commitment to this great cause,” Cameron said. “Our students, staff, parents and school communities recognize the importance of this foundation, and will continue to support it with our great spirit and commitment.”

Superhero Teachers at St. Andrew

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The classrooms and halls of St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School were filled with super heroes on Friday June 20th. Batman, Superman, Wonder woman, Exray Man and the Flash were some of the characters moving throughout the school. The classroom teachers entered in the fun by donning their Super Hero shirts. Pictured are from left to right: Mrs. Melody Henry, Mr. Mark Gautheir, Mr. Chad Laurin, Mrs. Shannon Meyer, Mrs. Marilyn Verega and in front are Mrs. Karen Healy and Mr. Rob Dagostino.

St. John Celebrates National Aboriginal Day

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St. John Catholic Elementary School students gathered on June 20 to celebrate a day in which we are called to learn more about First Nation, Metis and Inuit peoples. Student participated in a Prayer Service and had the opportunity to hear from local First Nation people about what National Aboriginal Day means to them. Will Morin guest speaker addresses the group about gaining understanding and respecting the contributions of the First people of Canada.

Hands on Learning for St. Francis Students

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St. Francis Catholic Elementary School teacher Rhonda Martel wanted to do something different for her students. As a teacher of the Junior Communications class, she knew that many of her students would be more engaged with hands on learning and looked for a way to bring this experience to her classroom. Made up of students ages 7-10 who have been identified with Autism or a communication learning disability, Martel knew that this class would really benefit with a unique hands on activity that would blend learning with a physical activity that the students would enjoy. Martel decided to apply for a grant she saw online through Learning for a Sustainable Future and Environmental Education. Successful in her application, Martel received money for her class to plant and grow a butterfly garden on the property of the school. Fortunately, there was an already existing empty planter that they chose for their project. Bringing the learning into focus, the class researched the lifecycle of the butterfly, migration patterns, and what kind of plants were good for and also attracted butterflies in our community. The students then started their garden from the dirt-up. They set up, planted, weeded and watered their selected plants that included perennial sage, milkweek, Shasta daisies, and Miss Ruby butterfly bush. The students take turns watering and weeding their garden and are quite excited each day to check out its progress. For the summer months, they have even set up a partnership with the daycare in the school – Jubilee Heritage Daycare, which will have some of its students take over the watering and weeding duties during the summer months to sustain the garden for the class into the fall. Martel was thrilled with the end result and knew that her class was quite proud of their butterfly garden. “It is so nice for my students to have this type of hands on experience and see the garden take shape from just soil, to flourishing, healthy plants,” Martel explained. “ It is these types of experience that really engage our students and give them the opportunity to have positive hands on learning, success and fun at the same time.”

St. David Celebrates Their Hubby Award with a Video

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St. David School is the proud recipient of the 2014 Edgar Burton Youth “Hubby” Award in
Education. This award is awarded to deserving individuals or organizations as a public
acknowledgment of their compassion, dedication, integrity and hard work for the people of
Greater Sudbury. The “Hubby” is a uniquely Sudbury Award. Award receivers are decided on criteria’s of giving, commitment, and belief in the people and City of Greater Sudbury.
The award is in memory of Hub Bray who was 60 when he died of cancer, leaving behind family and a city to mourn him. Hub Bray was a popular community leader and local lawyer who tended to avoid the limelight, but worked hard behind the scenes to improve
life in the city. He was president of the Sudbury Food Bank, which has organized the Annual Hubby Awards in his memory. The school created this video to celebrate their award and each other! Enjoy!

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