Mothers and grandmothers were invited to a celebration in their honour at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School on May 5, 2010. As part of the school’s Catholic Education week events, the JK/SK and SK classes put on a special ceremony for all of the students’ mothers and grandmothers. The JK/SK teacher Rosemary Tripodi and SK teacher Lissa Sanchioni had the students work on songs, poems, video slideshows and other tributes to their guests. As well, the celebration included refreshments, two separate draws (one for mothers, one for grandmothers) and take home gifts made by the students. One of the mom’s in attendance, Brooke Belowos, was thrilled with the celebration. “This celebration was absolutely adorable!’ said Belowos. “What a wonderful opportunity to take part in my daughter’s class.” Rosemary Tripodi thanked all of the guests for attending their event. “It is because of you that we are here today.” said Tripodi. “ As May is the month dedicated to mothers, we felt that Catholic Education week was the perfect time to honour our mothers and grandmothers as they are the students first and most important teachers of all!” St. Raphael is one of the Catholic elementary schools that has been selected to be an Early Learning Program site and this event was also an opportunity for parents to get a first hand look at the hands on learning and commitment to students offered at St. Raphael.
Category: Topic
Order in the Court for Grade 5 Students at Immaculate
The grade 5 students at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School had an exciting opportunity on May 2, 2010 to take part in a “Law Day”. As part of the Grade 5 curriculum, students are required to learn about citizenship and government so Immaculate teacher Chantal Rancourt felt that having her students visit the courthouse would make the material much more meaningful and interesting. Two lawyers – Lucille Shaw and Trevor Kestle from Miller Maki visited the school to explain the judicial process. To give the students an even richer experience, the lawyers extended the program even further and booked the Sudbury courthouse for their mock trial and even arranged for retired judge Justice Michel to preside over their case. “The students have been very enthusiastic about the whole process and were quite excited to take part in the mock trial.” said Rancourt. “The students got really involved in the whole unit and were really looking forward to acting as different members necessary during the trial.” The students filled all of the roles required including lawyers for the defence, lawyers for the prosecution, court reporter, bailiff, court sketch artist, jury etc. Christopher Balaz, one of the students involved felt it was a great opportunity for their class. “This is just awesome!” said Balaz. “It is a great experience and makes me consider going into law.” Several parents were also on hand to watch the mock trial take place and said that their kids were really eager to experience the court room with real lawyers and judges on hand.
Poems Are Everywhere!
Anthony Armstrong, a local Sudbury author and retired teacher, visited senior English classes at St. Benedict C.S.S. to give students a poetry workshop. He told them, “Poems are everywhere. I bump into them every day.”, and then demonstrated this fact by reading his poems titled Lily Creek and My Photograph Album. Armstrong captured the students’ attention with his thought provoking, and other times amusing, anecdotes to explain the inspiration behind his poems. For example, when he told U.S. border guards he wanted to visit the VietNam Memorial to write a poem, they asked, “Why? Can’t you write a poem in Canada”? By reading the poems from his book Shirtless Tattoo, Armstrong left the students in the room with new insights into life, the human condition, and inspired with the possibility of writing their own poetry.
St. Benedict Band Goes on Tour
The St. Benedict Band’s went on tour recently and some of their excursions included performances at Southridge Mall, St. Christopher School, St. James School and Corpus Christi. Joanne Comisso, teacher at St. Benedict and Band Director felt that the students were ready to showcase their talents so was thrilled at the many opportunities they have had to perform. “The students have been working very hard so it is great that they have had several invitations in and around the community.” said Comisso.
Award-Winning Author Visits St. Charles Elementary
On Tuesday, May 4th, award-winning author Frank Glew spent the day with students at St-Charles School in Chelmsford. Mr. Glew, author of That Chickadee Feeling, presented his wonderful books and shared his messages about taking care of our earth, accepting diversity and loving each other. Students from JK to grade 4 proudly displayed their work inspired by Frank Glew’s books.
A “Bon Voyage” for S.C.C. and B.A.C.C.S.S. Students
Congratulations goes out to the senior french immersion classes who participated in another successful class trip. This time they visited the multicultural city of Montreal. The students were excellent ambassadors of both St. Charles College and BACCSS. They were treated to a humouristique, bilingual dinner theatre presentation where play on words was the order of the day. They also visited Notre Dame basilica as well as Mont Royale. All were in awe of the newest presentation of Cirque du Soleil. Shopping in the Old Port and downtown Montreal was also on the menu. Many of the students impressed the citizens of Montreal with their use of french. Plans are already under way for next year’s trip.
Trillium “Try Day” Program at Marymount Academy
On Monday, May 3, 2010 grade 7 and 8 students at Marymount Academy kicked off Catholic Education Week with a Trillium “Try Day” program. The day-long Floorball Tournament has been funded through a campaign from OFSAA called the Trillium “Try Day” School Program, supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Through this program, OFSAA grants up to $800 for schools to implement new or non-traditional sporting events or physical activities into the physical education program at the school. The grant money allows schools to purchase equipment, resource materials, clinics, facility rental and transportation for programs that are new to the school and students. This is a great opportunity to help motivate students toward incorporating physical activity into their lifestyle, in the hopes of producing healtheir, more active young people and adults.
Marymount Academy was selected to be a part of this “Try Day” school program for the 2009/2010 school year. The new sporting event that will be conducted is Floorball, which is a combination of hockey and soccer, the 2 most popular sports in Canada. Floorball is a fun,quick, and active sport that provides a great workout in a friendly environment. Cassandra MacGregor, Vice Principal of the school said that it was a great opportunity for the students to develop team spirit. “As well, it is a great way for the students to try out a new sport while getting their daily physical activity.” said MacGregor.
SCDSB Students Committeed to be “Partners for Life”
Community Partners were invited to the Lakehouse at Science North recently by Canadian Blood Services as a thank you for being a part of their Partners for Life program. Several students from St. Benedict, Marymount Academy and Bishop Alexander Carter along with school Chaplaincy Leads Rob Pappin and Jennifer Geddes were presented with plaques for their schools to thank the students and to remind them of the importance of supporting blood donation in the community. Steve Tipman, a representative from Canadian Blood Services spoke to significant efforts of the organizations that have become part of the Partners for Life program. “Knowing that one donation can save three lives, these different organizations have made huge contributions to Canadian Blood Services.” said Tipman. Rob Papin got involved with this program when he was the Chaplaincy Lead at Bishop and continued it when he transferred to St. Benedict. “It is really great to see our students involved in the community.” said Pappin. “It is a great way for students to prepare for their futures by getting them to talk about and take part in these kind of programs today.” Adam Lapatka, a grade 11 student from St. Benedict felt honoured to be a part of Partners for Life and to be a student ambassador for the program at his school. “I wanted to set an example for students and take part in this program. “ said Lapatka. “It is definitely a manageable commitment and one that I encourage all students to sign up for.”
Corpus Christi Students Inspired by Community Helpers
Students in teacher Eva Scola-Lawryshyn’s Grade 1 class showed up for school on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 dressed as community helpers. The class’s Catholic Education Week activity had the students dressed up in many different career outfits such as doctors, teachers, police officers, construction workers and principals etc. to pay tribute to the different occupations that people have. The class also invited parents in for part of the day to work with the students to create an ABC mural that showcases the different community helpers in Greater Sudbury.