Six students from Bishop Alexander Carter teacher Lori Roy’s Grade 11 English class didn’t realize that by submitting their poetry assignment, they would end up as published poets in a national anthology. Ms. Roy had asked her students to write a poem based on their independent study novels. The students had 5 different books to choose from that all had to do with “us versus society”. They were asked to write a comparative poem and were given the option at the end of the assignment to submit their work to Creative Communications which is a website dedicated to a “celebration of today’s writers.” Thousands of poems were submitted and only the best are picked to put into their yearly publication entitled “A Celebration of Poets”. Poems submitted by Amanda Phillips, Austin Seguin, Evan Spurrell, Brittany Marmen, Stephanie Thorne and Kaitlyn Charette were all selected to be published in the book. “We were really surprised to be picked.” said Marmen. “I would say that I am definitely inspired to start submitting more of my work to different publications in the future.”
Category: Topic
Marymount Launches Their 2010 Heart and Stroke Campaign – “Strokes for Stroke”
Students at Marymount Academy launched the official kick off to their 2010 Heart and Stroke Campaign on February 3, 2010. The theme for the school’s campaign is “Strokes for Stroke” as the main fundraiser will involve the girls paying for a dress-down day and will be going to the Laurentian University swimming pool to enjoy an Olympic themed pool party. This theme was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, the girls wanted to promote exercise and a healthy lifestyle and swimming fits the bill. Secondly, they wanted to tie the event to the Olympics so the pool party will include several Olympic themed games and events with the several prizes to be won. On hand for the launch were several community partners including Mayor John Rodriquez and Police Chief Frank Elsner. Mayor Rodriquez spoke to the girls about the importance of community involvement and physical fitness. Rodriquez said that he was always delighted to visit Marymount as it is a school of heart and spirit. As February is Heart month, he stressed the importance of giving from the heart to support this mementous campaign and their involvement “says a lot about who you are as a individual, as a school and as citizens of Sudbury.” Chief Elsner also spoke to the girls about how he his family has been personally affected by heart disease and stroke and stressed that one of the main initiatives of the Greater Sudbury Police Service was getting involved with youth initiatives. Elner told the girls that he loved visiting Marymount because it is the school with the most spirit and he knows that with the students getting involved in this campaign, it shows that “our future is in good hands.”
Several other business were on hand as they have already begun to donate to the campaign. Lise Callahan, a teacher from Marymount who organized this event spoke to the girls about the importance of what they were undertaking. “We need to make the community aware that this is a problem for people of all ages. It does not just affect older adults, in fact, heart disease and stroke causes one in every three deaths in Canada every year.” The students will also be raising funds through raffles and other school events to support this significant campaign
Traditional Elders in the Classroom at St. Andrew
The St. Andrew School grade six class welcomed Vince Pawis and Thecla Neganegijig, both traditional Elders who work with the board at the Outdoor Education Centre in Killarney, to their school. Vince started the presentation with a traditional Smudging ceremony to elliminate all the bad energy in the room. He spoke to the students and their teacher about the Medicine Wheel and traditional medicines of tobacco, sage, sweetgrass and cedar. Mr. Pawis also tied in the 7 Grandfather Good Life Teachings of wisdom, respect, love, bravery, humility, honesty and truth. The students and their teacher, Mr. Gautheir, were very interested to learn more about First Nation culture and tradition.
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre Launches Breakfast Program
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre officially launched its new Breakfast Program on February 1, 2010 to rave reviews. Students were at the school bright and early to help staff prepare for the first day of the program. St. Albert Office Supervisor, Ann Brisebois made sure that everything was ready and organized so that the students had healthy food options when arriving at the school. The program is funded by the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Human League. When asked about how she felt about the meal being provided at the school, student Angele St. Germain said that that it was fantastic. “It is absolutely excellent to get to school and have breakfast ready for us.” said St. Germain. “It is one less thing I have to worry about in the morning and makes it easier to start my day!”
St. David Catholic Elementary School Celebrates Family Literacy Day with Community
Students at St. David Catholic Elementary School celebrated Family LIteracy Day on January 27 with visits from many different special guests. Local celebrities and community partners joined the different classes and read together to celebrate the joy of reading. Some of the guests included Tony Ryma from CTV News, Constables Grant Dokis and Ryan MacKay, three Sudbury Wolves players, as well as board staff including Joan Yawney the Religious Education, Family Life and Faith Formation Consultant and Maurizio Visentin, Guidance Program Leader at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. The students also enjoyed visits from their own family members and different staff family relatives. The St. David’s community was thrilled with their special guests and look forward to future visits!
Olympic Family Literacy Day at St. Mary
Family Literacy Day had an Olympic Theme at St. Mary Catholic School in Capreol. Students were able to use computers to search for answers to a scavenger hunt, decorate and then eat “medal” cookies, learn about the Olympic Rings and then create their own symbols to represent peace through sports, and also learn about the four Olympic mascots by utilizing the Smartboard and viewing video clips. But the best part of the day was seeing the Olympic Torch from the Torch Relay and one of the 12,000 torch bearers! James Callaghan, son of Steve Callaghan Chaplain at St. Charles College, visited with the students and staff in his Torch Relay regalia. James was a torch bearer in Collingwood on December 29, 2009. He showed video clips of his run and shared pictures of his brother, Nick, who was a torch bearer in Sault Ste. Marie. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is presented by Coca-Cola and RBC, and James was honoured to have been selected a torch bearer through the Coca-Cola contest he entered. James was chosen based on his extensive community involvement and an essay he wrote. James brought the torch so that students and staff could see and hear about the sacred history of the Olympic Flame, symbolizing the principles of peace, brotherhood and friendship. Every student had the opportunity to carry the Torch – what a thrill! Each student is now eagerly looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; they feel as if they have a personal connection to the games.
Grade 6 Day at Marymount Academy
Marymount Academy held its annual Grade 6 day on January 28, 2010 and had over 250 girls take part in the event. Students contemplating Marymount for Grade 7 toured the school in groups with Marymount student guides. As well, the girls watched different presentations and played games in an effort to win various Marymount prizes.
Valley East Schools Compete at Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition
Students from the Valley East area participated in the second level of the Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition on January 28, 2010. Students from Immaculate Conception, St. Anne, St. Mary as well as from other boards came together at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School bringing all of their best “free throw skills” to win a chance to move on to the District Free Throw Championship. Students who came in first at their school level competition were invited to participate againstt the best of the best in the Valley area. Richard Rivais,a member of the Knights of Columbus, has been involved with this competition for the past ten years. Rivais was joined by other Knights including Yvan Gunville, Michael Frawley and Bernie Shank who helped run the event. The Knights also had Rivais’ daughter Tracy Rivais and son-in-law Sean Preseau on hand to help with the running of the competition. The winners who placed first at this competition will participate at the District Championship. In the event that the first place winners are unable to compete, the second place winners are given the chance to participate at the final competition. Congratulations to all of our students who participated!
First place winners:
Sydney Hall – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School
Riley Merrimen – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School
Tessa Scoville – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Second place winners:
Britney Chevrier – St. Mary Catholic Elementary School
Nicholas Whissell – Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary
Jordan Connors – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Anthony Campioni – St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
St. James Recycles for Haiti
Along with all of the money raising efforts going on at our Sudbury Catholic Schools, Grade 5 Eco-Squad leaders at St. James Catholic School in Lively are collecting milk bags which are used to make sleeping mats. The bags are then crocheted by a neighbour Cindy Kavanaugh into comfortable, waterproof mats which will be forwarded to Haiti. The mats can be used for eating or sleeping and also due to their bright colours these mats do not attract bugs. It takes 250 milk bags to make one large mat and 150 bags to make a smaller mat. To date the students have collected over one thousand milk bags. The St. James students will continue their campaign until the end of March.