Sudbury Catholic District School Board

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Closing the Gap between Elementary and Secondary School

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On February 7th and 8th, teachers and students from St. Anne Catholic School and Bishop Alexander Catholic Secondary School (BAC) in Hanmer participated in co-teaching sessions to help bridge the gap between elementary school and secondary school. These sessions were sponsored by Sudbury Catholic District School Board in hopes that grades 7, 8, and 9 teachers would create a collaborative inquiry into the questioning strategies used across the three grade levels. Teachers were brought together in a collaboration session and encouraged to use open ended questions to facilitate the teaching and learning process. “This is a great learning opportunity for both students and teachers. The use of open ended questions allows students to use more meaningful answers that support their previous knowledge,” said Jody O’Daiskey, grade 8 teacher at St. Anne School.

Over the course of two days, teachers from both schools engaged in co-teaching math lessons using similar styles and the same final assessment . Throughout the lesson, various assessments as, for and of learning took place. Students worked together to solve the final open ended assessment question, while teachers circulated to provide guidance when needed. Students from O’Daiskey’s classroom at St. Anne Catholic School enjoyed this experience. “I thought it was a great opportunity, and we learned that there were several possible outcomes. This showed us that there isn’t always one right answer when you have an open ended question. I also thought it was fun working with teachers
from BAC so they could see what some of us were capable of,” said Taylor Lawless, student in grade 8 at St. Anne School.

Bridging the gap between elementary school and secondary school is an important focus of the collaborative inquiry. All teachers involved agree that activities such as these lead to greater student success when they reach secondary school. “I think that bringing these knowledgeable teachers together in a co-teaching session, can only lead to better success for all students involved,” said Guy Mathieu, current principal at St. Anne School and founding principal at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. “I believe that given the opportunity to meet with teachers from the elementary panel allows us
to better understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This in turn can only benefit the students coming to us in the secondary panel,” said Robert Boucher, a secondary teacher from Bishop Alexander Carter CSS.

Upon completion of the entire inquiry process, the teachers involved will bring all of their findings, including; student artifacts, pictures and video, to a final collaboration meeting with teachers from all elementary and secondary schools in the Sudbury Catholic District school board. These results will be presented and discussed to further bridge the gap and allow for greater student success for all.

Bags for Beds at St. Charles Elementary

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The Dearness Conservation team at St. Charles Catholic Elementary Catholic school challenged their students to bring in milk ‘bags for beds’ and they did – “We can’t believe that the school collected over 2000 milk bags” says Rolande Nault, Club 50 Azilda member, ‘this will definitely make life a lot more comfortable for children and their families, especially those children in the Mariam Centre Orphanage and Outpatient Care in Haiti’.

The ladies at Club 50 Azilda take milk bags, cut them into strips, tie them together and then roll them up into balls just like yarn, then crochet or knit them into finished mats. These mats are very useful in keeping out parasites and can be used as beds for surgeries as they can be washed for the next patient. They become very soft in the heat and are also waterproof. ‘The ladies do an outstanding job creating these mats and then ensuring that that are shipped to Haiti’ says Ms. Giroux, teacher and Dearness Conservation Team member at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School. “This challenge had our students ‘think locally and act globally’ a quote that is said many times to our students to instill lifelong responsible citizenship. This challenge was a great opportunity to partner with a community organization, teach students the importance of reusing materials and teaching them the importance of giving back”.

St. Charles Cardinals Take On the Wolves

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It’s not everyday that high school kids get to challenge the Wolves at a game of hockey. On February 14th, Life Skills students at St. Charles College went head-to-head with four members of the Wolves team for a couple friendly rounds of floor hockey.

Classroom teacher James Suchoplas organized the event. “Events like this build special memories for the students whether they are fans of hockey or not. It’s also an important lesson in being a team player and a way for the kids to showcase their school/team spirit.”

Wolves player Ryan Hanes says “It’s a win-win situation for the kids and us players to come in and give a little back to the community that we play for.”

St. Anne Catholic School Student Headed to Provincials for Cadets

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On January 28th and 29th, Daniel Caton, a grade 8 student from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer, participated in a regional biathlon competition for the Royal Canadian Cadets. The competition took place in Sault Ste. Marie, with approximately 190 participants from Northern Ontario. The two day event invited many spectators and had both individual and relay events.

Caton’s relay team finished second overall and advanced to the provincial championship which will be help in Sault Ste. Marie on February 18th and 19th. Daniel held the best record for targets hit on his own team, hitting 8 out of 10 targets. “I was really excited and proud of my team. All of the training was well worth it. I think we have a good chance to place in the provincial championship,” said Caton. Daniel also participated in an individual event, where he placed 22nd overall.

Daniel is a part of the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron of the Sudbury Armouries. He has been involved with the Cadets for approximately two years, and has enjoyed the experience thus far. He is also an honour roll student in teacher Jody O’Daiskey’s class at St. Anne School, part of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. “I am very happy for Daniel and his accomplishments. He has worked hard training for this event. It was wonderful to see him beaming with pride when he shared his accomplishments with our classroom,” O’Daiskey said.

Cupid Arrives Early at St. James School

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Cupid arrived early at St. James Catholic School with a message for all students. Every student and staff member received in a Valentine Candy Gram along with a reminder from Cupid. The message read, “On Valentine’s Day we remember to let those we care about know that we love them. Tell your parents, brothers, sisters and other family members how much you love them. Be kind to your friends and remember to smile. Happy Valentine’s Day”.

St. John Catholic School Celebrates “World Day of the Sick”

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In keeping with the spirit of the “World Day of the Sick” (Saturday, February 11th), a celebration was held at St. John Catholic Elementary School on Wednesday, February 8th,at which time students, staff, and invited guests joined together to take part in a prayer service honouring their community. Reverend Jim Ketzler from St. John the Evangelist Church led the service in which statues and crucifixes that were donated by the Sisters of St. Joseph from the former St. Joseph Health Centre (General Hospital) were blessed and then distributed around the school. As well, there were special blessings for all health care providers and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick for all those who were present and in need. “At the beginning of the school year, all of the principals gathered together with Bishop Simard, Senior Administration and our parish partners, to put together pastoral plans for our schools,” Tricia Dowdall-Cerilli, Principal of St. John stated. “We had discussed many options, but we knew that this was definitely something we wanted to celebrate as we were so honoured to be gifted these crucifixes and statues from the hospital. Seeing as in the month of February, we celebrate the virtue of empathy – we knew that the timing was perfect for us to bring our community together, and take part in such a wonderful, meaningful celebration.”

“Beyond the Hurt” Program at Bishop ACCSS Recognized by Education Minister

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On Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School participated in a teleconference with Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School in Toronto and the Honourable Minister of Education Laurel Broten on the topic of Mental Health and the dynamics of bullying and harassment in secondary schools.

Bishop Alexander Carter had the opportunity to speak about their school program, “Beyond the Hurt”. Bishop Alexander Carter is a safer school community because of the Beyond the Hurt team. The team led by two teachers Heather Duguay and Shelley Raymond and currently 10 Bishop students, seeks to raise awareness of bullying and harassment while providing a supportive environment for youth.

The dialogue was purposeful and helped to support the direction of the group for future endeavours.

St. John’s Families E.A.T.!

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On February 1st, the Sudbury and District Health Unit and St. John Catholic Elementary School came together to offer an informative and tasty evening for families called E.A.T. (Eat Healthy, Anaphylaxis Awareness and Take and Taste). The SDHU began the evening with a presentation on allergies and anaphylaxis awareness. Families then sampled a variety of tasty, nutritious and nut-free lunch items such as egg salad pitas, veggie wraps, snack mix, fennel salad and black bean brownies. Students and their families explored new fruits such as papaya, mango, star fruit and grapples. There were interactive games for the children and recipes for the parents!

St. James Hosts JK Registration Night

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Prospective JK students and their families enjoyed a variety of stations at the Kindergarten registration evening held on February 7th at St. James Catholic School in Lively. The up and coming JKers experienced a glimpse into school life by participating in a wide variety of activities; such as hands-on Smart Board activities, playing with gym equipment, and visiting and exploring the Kindergarten classrooms.

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