The entire student body at St. John Catholic Elementary was treated to a live, interactive performance on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. Musical entertainer, Errol Lee performed for the primary, junior and intermediate students to spread his message of peace and respect. Entitled “Building Positive Relationships” this interactive muliti-media performance had the students, singing, dancing, signing to Lee’s songs about the importance of respect and peace for themselves and others. Phrases like “the pathway to peace is respect”, “behaviour is a choice”, and “if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem” were repeated by the students as Lee encouraged them, through song, to like themselves and understand the significance of these words. Accompanied by a skilled breakdancer, Lee’s performance engaged the students and had them completely involved with the movement and lyrics. Carmela Pitman, princpal of St. John was thrilled to have Lee perform for the school. “Students respond well to music – especially when it incorporates such a strong and positive message,” Pitman said. “We have had Errol at many of the Sudbury Catholic Schools for several years because the students thoroughly enjoy his music and most especially his positive message.” Lee feels that what sets him apart from other performers is that he believes “positivity is for people what water and sunshine are to flowers. It nurtures, it enriches, it feeds, it generates growth.” As well as the morning performances, Lee also held workshops about respect, positivity and peace for students in the afternoon.
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Marymount Academy Student Experiences a Summer of Science
This past summer, one Marymount Academy Student had the opportunity of a lifetime. Sandy Qiu, a grade 12 student, spent six weeks taking part in the elite Summer Immersion Program at the Deep River Science Academy in Deep River, Ontario. What started off as a suggestion from one of her friends, resulted in her participation an intensive co-op program focusing on hands on science. At this academy, exceptional high school students actively participate in research, perform experiments, as well as listen to guest lecturers on various science topics. The students also had the opportunity to participate in numerous recreational activities and meet like-minded students from across Canada. All of the successful participants in the program are awarded two high school co-op credits in acknowledgment of their hard work and dedication. Qiu’s project, titled, “Antimony Adsorption on Zirconium Hydroxide in Aqueous Solutions” was completed alongside a University tutor and Scientific Supervisor.
Deep River Science Academy Program Director, Danielle Martin was pleased to have Qiu as part of the science program. “Sandy Qiu was a wonderful addition to our program this summer,” Martin stated. “ She was an excellent ambassador of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and we hope that her attendance instils a sense of pride within your Board. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful student with us this summer.”
Qiu felt that it was an exceptional experience and was glad to have been chosen to take part in it. “It was great to be able to be a part of such a unique program,” Qiu stated. “I was so fortunate to be selected to be one of the participants and it was really an outstanding experience. It is definitely something I would like to continue with in the future.”
Doors Now Open at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School
There were a lot smiles on students’ faces this past week at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. The brand new school for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board has had a great first week opening its doors on September 4th, for over 410 south end students.
The JK to Grade 6 school is an outstanding new facility and incorporates a multitude of energy saving measures marking it as an extremely “green” school. As well, Holy Cross has implemented brand new technology features that will allow all the students to “be connected” on a variety of levels with computers, smartboards, ipads, amplification systems, etc. It is a dual track school with both regular English as well as French Immersion programming available starting off with four full day early learning classrooms (two regular English and two French Immersion).
Louise Franklin, Principal of Holy Cross was delighted with the first week and is excited to see both the students and staff settling into their classrooms. “It is wonderful how in only a few days, we have forged extremely positive relationships between staff, students and families in this new Catholic school community.” Franklin said. “We are so fortunate to be able to offer this outstanding facility, and exceptional educational opportunities to our south end families.”
Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board echoed Franklin’s comments. “Holy Cross is an amazing school with myriad of cutting edge attributes including its green features, as well as its technology infrastructure. We are very proud of the hard work done by the staff and the board to ensure a smooth opening, and are excited to experience this brand new environment during this upcoming school year. What makes it exceptionally unique is the campus approach in the south end – servicing the needs of families for pre-school (daycare), elementary (Holy Cross) and secondary (St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School) students all on the same property – making it a truly full-service campus.”
Ensuring Bike Safety for Students in Killarney
One of the major signs of summer is the visible presence of bikes on the roads. This is the same in Killarney. To ensure the safety of all of her students, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary teacher Irene Dembek invited O.P.P. officer Rodney Petroski and Sudbury and District Health Unit Health Promotion Worker Daniel Prévost into the school to talk about bike safety. All of the school’s students were encouraged to bring their bikes in and each bike was inspected to ensure a safe ride for the student. “With all of my students, I want to ensure that their safety is first and foremost,” Dembek stated. “With our community partnerships with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Sudbury and District Health Unit, we work together to make sure our students understand the importance of bike and road safety – it is something I do every year.”
Wild at Heart Animal Refuge Inspires Students to Make a Difference
Students in Cheryl MacRury’s Early Learning class and Kathy Belanger’s Grade 7 class at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School have been inspired. For the past year, these two classes have worked together to support the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge. What started out at as a proposal from the two teachers, resulted in a successful grant application from the Canadian Federation of Teachers to support the students learning about, and helping animals in the wild.
The students decided to call themselves the ABC’S – All Because of Caring Students, and decided that this project was about making a difference in the world, despite being a small group of young students. The project involved contacting and visiting community businesses to begin a fundraiser for the animal refuge. Knowing that ever cent makes a difference, they began a penny drive to help out the animals. Throughout the year, the classes had contact with Wild at Heart Animal Refuge veterinarian Dr. Jouppi and learned about what the centre does to support, protect and care for wild animals.
On June 20th, 2012, the students got on a bus, and visited each of the community business that helped them collect for one last collection, and the last stop on the road trip was at the Wild at Heart Animal Refuge where they got to see the facility and meet with Dr. Jouppi. Dr. Jouppi explained to the students that the centre should be ready within a year to be an educational facility – set up to educate groups about the animals – with an average of about 700 animals visiting the site each year, usually with 150 at the centre at any given time. Dr. Jouppi thanked the students for their donations and support and encouraged them to continue in their efforts to support the care of wild animals. “Living in Northern Ontario, it is our duty to treat animals with respect and to learn to live in harmony along side the animals as they were here first.” Jouppi said. The veterinarian also encouraged the students to tell others about the centre as they are in constant need for volunteers, not only to support the animals, but to help with the construction of the renovations to expand the centre, as well as with fundraising and education.
Both teachers have thoroughly enjoyed working on this year-long project with their students as it has positively affected the classes in numerous ways. “Not only did our students learn about protecting our environment and all the creatures that God has given us,” MacRury stated. “They have learned numeracy from counting the money, they have learned to be stewards of the earth, they have learned communication skills, technology skills in creating multi-media projects, and they have learned empathy in being more aware of what is happening in the world around them.” Kathy Belanger echoed MacRury’s comments and added that they two different classes working together has been a great experience for all the students as well. “Have students in different grades partner up and work together has given them both a different perspective and allowed for a really enriching mentoring opportunity. The younger students really look up to the older students and have been encouraged to be role-models. All of our students rose to the occasion and the whole experience was outstanding. I think this project will impact them for the rest of their lives as it was more than just a fundraiser, it allowed them to have more of a global perspective as it reinforced the importance of thinking of others before themselves.”
At the end of the penny drive, the students had raised over $200 for the centre as well as donated a newly built crate for the animals, a basket of fruit and other food items for the animals.
St. Francis Students Winners with Fast Flowing Water Poster Contest
St. Francis students Makaylah Kruk in grade 5 (french immersion) and Jordon Pileggi in grade 6 (french immersion) took part in this year’s annual Fast Flowing Water Poster Contest. Both students submitted outstanding posters and walked away with fourth and fifth place finishes.
MaKaylah took fifth and wond a $100 Cineplex gift card and Jordan took fourth place and won a $150 iTunes gift card. Congratulations to both MaKaylah and Jordan!
Little Prospectors at St. Andrew
St. Andrew School’s grade 1/2 and JK/SK classes welcomed Mr. Brady, Joe and Jack Gouchie’s grandfather, on Tuesday June 12th. He showed them all the exciting things that a prospector uses and does in this field of interest. Mr. Brady brought in several rock samples and let the children use a black light device to find the hidden minerals in these samples. The children were all very engaged and we thank our grandparent visitor for sharing his love of prospecting.
In Memory of Johnathan
On Friday June 8th St. Charles Elementary School in Chelmsford held its 8th annual Johanthan Hetu Walk. Johanthan was a student that attended St.Charles School 9 years ago before he passed away with cancer. This year St. Charles was proud to present $8 957.64 to the NOFCC in support of other children struggling with cancer. This brings the eight year total for the walk to $43 536.64. Vicky Wilton from the NOFCC was present for the walk along with members of Johanathan’s family. After the walk the Johnathan Hetu Award was presented to Zach Tremblay and Marissa Rayner. This award is presented to students who have a positive attitude towards school and a healthy living.
Fun Fair Success at St. Andrew
St. Andrew School Catholic School Council hosted another very successful June Fun Fair. Under the direction of Mrs. Mary Smith, parents, staff and students came together to enjoy a barbecue, face painting, fish pond, cupcake walk, penny table, raffles, silent auctions and a bake table. The School Council Chair Emily Sheppard and several of her council members and parents from the school volunteered their time to operate the various stations. This highly popular school event has been happening at St. Andrew for over 10 years and in that time Mrs. Smith, the organizer. has been very involved. This was her last Fun Fair as her youngest child Hannah leaves St. Andrew to move into grade 7. The entire St. Andrew School community are very grateful to Mrs. Smith for all her hard work and dedication to the school. We wish her much happiness in her future endeavours which we are sure will be in the schools her children all attend.