Staff and students from St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School have taken on the Operation Christmas Child Project as a Social Justice project during the month of November. On the website of Operation Christmas Child it says:”Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desparate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of God’s unconditional love. Every gift-filled shoe box is given unconditionally regardless of religion, gender or race.” We are very proud of the generosity of the staff, the students and many of their families for all of their support for this project.
Category: Community
“I know I am a small person, but why do you need to make me feel smaller?
A special pre-screening of a bullying documentary took place today at St. Charles College on November 21, 2012 for one thousand students.
The movie Bully was featured at Cinefest in September. It is not being released in American theatres until May 30th, 2013.
Teachers involved in student council and the school leadership class contacted the film company about showcasing the film to the student body before its release to the public and they agreed.
The director of the film, Lee Hirsch was bullied as a child and follows the stories of two families dealing with the deaths of their children who were victims of bullying and took their own lives.
Students at St. Charles College also heard a first hand account from a senior student who was a victim of ethnic bullying in the past.
Justin Trac bravely shared his story of bullying and urged others to stand-up for what is right and just to make other people’s high school experiences that much better.
He said the powerful question that he used when he finally stood up this bully: “I know I am a small person, but why do you need to make me feel smaller?”
Each student in the audience also received a wristband with the slogan “delete” the drama.
Taking the “Pinky Pledge” at Pius XII
Pius XII Catholic Elementary students participated recently in a ‘Pinky Pledge’ as part of their anti-bullying week events. Pius has linked up with Secret Deodorant with an anti-bullying campaign ‘Mean Stinks’. Girls made a pinky promise to be a ‘Drama Free School’. Students pledged that they will be kind, symbolized by wearing blue polish on their pinky fingers. Pius XII school has many activities and events lined up for 2 weeks to celebrate Bullying Prevention.
“If I can do it, why can’t you?”
Close to one thousand students were touched by the life story of Shayne Smith at St. Charles College this week.
Smith is a member of the Canadian National Wheelchair Basketball team. He competes with only half a hand for dribbling and passing the ball.
Shayne contracted a dangerous and deadly form of meningitis at four months of age. The blood poisoning forced doctors to amputate both his legs and a hand.
To make matters worse, Shayne also had to deal with a rough relationship with his father that led him down a path of drugs, and school suspensions.
His determination has allowed him to triumph and he brought his inspiring message to the students. The story tied in nicely with the school’s anti-bullying message. This month, St. Charles students are active in presentations and activities centred around Bullying Awareness and Prevention month.
Students were very receptive of the presentation and many wanted to take pictures or to exchange words personally with Shayne afterwards.
Students continued the conversation by tweeting and sending Facebook messages to Shayne.
Shayne lives in Toronto but his presentation was provided by an organization called the Tutor Doctor.
St. Andrew Wins Provincial Award
On November 15, 2012, EQAO presented 27 elementary and secondary school communities in the province of Ontario with the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement. According to the EQAO press release, “They are representative of the many school communities across the province that have made effective use of EQAO data and evidence from other sources to enhance and support student achievement. These schools are at various stages in their journey of learning and continuous improvement. All are notable for their demonstration of leadership, proactive initiatives and sincere effort to help every child succeed. These are schools that have adopted an action plan based on their unique circumstances and are working toward improved student outcomes.”
The Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement award is a recognition program established by the EQAO board of Directors in 2009 to pay tribute to Dr. Stephenson’s lifelong commitment and outstanding contributions to both education and public service.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School is one of the recipients of this award for 2012. “As one of the schools profiled in EQAO’s 2011-2012 Provincial School Reports, we wish to honour this school’s community for its efforts, over many years, at improving student achievement and for its use of EQAO results to improve student learning.”
Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is thrilled with honour bestowed on the school. “On behalf of the board, I congratulate the staff at St. Andrew for their ongoing dedication to their students, and the entire school community. Winning this award is evidence of their hard work and commitment to ensuring the success of all of their students.”
A team from the school, including both the current and former principal – Melody Henry and Carmela Pitman, as well as two teachers – Mark Gautheir and Marilyn Onucky-Vervega, attended the awards recognition event in Toronto.
Trent Cull Visits St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School
The School Improvement Plan for St. Andrew School under Catholic Care and Concern states that every month visitors from the community will be invited to the school to speak to the students about career opportunities and the importance of staying in school. This month Mr. Trent Cull, father of Wyatt and Gabe and coach of the Sudbury Wolves, visited our school to share his dreams with our students. Mr. Cull told the students that you have to work hard, stay in school and always dream”big”. The students were very interested in his hockey career…where he played, where he coached, what does coaching entail and “What’s up with the Wolves?” Pictured are Mr. Cull with his sons Wyatt and Gabe and Shrisha a new student to our school and our country.
St. Anne Angels Learn about “Being Brave”
Remembrance Day takes on a special meaning in the Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) French Immersion class at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Hanmer. Student Cameron O’Daiskey holds her great-grandfather’s medal. “He got them by being brave in WWII,” said Cameron O’Daiskey.
The class read various books about poppies and veterans. Their favourite book was Proud as a Peacock by Jane Barclay. They also used the iPADs in the classroom in order to research the medals and their meaning. This inquiry led the class to wonder how they could earn medals and make “the world a better place.”
St. Raphael Students Stand Up to Bullying
The Grade 7’s students at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School wrote public service announcement about Standing Up To Bullying to support anti-bullying in the school. Both classes participated in wearing pink on the day they shared the PSAs with each other. One of the students, Gabriella Alves stated, “It was fun to dress in pink for a cause. The bullying PSAs told stories about our classmates, from the victim’s perspective, and were very powerful.” Well done Grade 7 students. You should be proud of your efforts of standing up to bullying!
Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes!
Box after box, bag after bag, over 1500 pairs of shoes lined the hallway ready to be sorted. As part of a social justice initiative last year, the students and staff at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board collected a multitude of shoes to donate to other students and people in need in the community. The “Sudbury Catholic Shoe-Drop” was an initiative that was launched in May of 2012 as part of Catholic Education Week and continued until the end of June. To connect with this initiative, the SCDSB also asked Catholic trustees from across the nation visiting Sudbury for the Canadian Catholic Schools’ Trustee Association A.G.M. in June to support this cause. Many came with bags full of brand new shoes that were donated from their local community shoes stores. As well, students and staff from the Conseil scolaire de district catholique du Nouvel-Ontario also stepped up to the plate and sent over numerous boxes from their own shoe drives. It has taken a few months to get the shoes all to one location and preliminarily sorted, and now the task at hand is a doing a more comprehensive inventory of the shoes. Christina Kilby, the grade 8 teacher at St. David Catholic Elementary School volunteered her class to be in charge of sorting all of the shoes by size to make it easier for donation. “I knew that this activity would be a great opportunity to connect to this month’s virtue of justice,” Kilby stated. “Working with my students to service the needs of others definitely speaks to this virtue, and allows my class to be able to connect to their faith through empathy and compassion.” Once organized, the shoes will be sent to those who might need some warm and dry footwear in the Greater City of Sudbury through various charities and outlets. Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Board for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was thrilled with the response to the call for new and gently used shoes. “What an outstanding success this has been to support those in need in our community,” MacDonald stated. “Especially as we are gearing up for the Christmas season, as well as cold and wet winter weather, this considerable donation is a true reflection of the generous and compassionate spirit of the Sudbury Catholic DSB family, as well as its partners both in the community and across the nation!”