Sudbury Catholic District School Board

St. Charles College to Host Visitors from Labrador Straits

St. Charles College is once again involved in the YMCA Youth Exchange Program. The school’s students have been twinned with a group from the Labrador Straits in Labrador. Students from Labrador will be in Sudbury from June 26 to July 1, 2005 to visit Sudbury and take in some of the great sites our city has to offer.

The students from St. Charles College will be visiting Labrador
from August 22 to August 29, 2005 in return as part of the exchange
program. In addition, students from St. Charles College and Labrador
Straits are invited to a luncheon on June 30, 2005 at Respect is Burning on Durham Street. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Robert Gregorini, the owner and chef of Respect is Burning. Mr. Gregorini is offering the meal to the students at no charge as a way to give back to the community and to his former highschool as he is a graduate of St. Charles College.
After the luncheon the group will depart for Anderson Farm.

YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada promotes cross-cultural awareness and a
sense of national identity among Canadian youth aged 12 to 18. Travel
costs are funded by the Government of Canada through Exchanges Canada.
YMCA Youth Exchanges Canada sponsors exchanges between two groups of
equal size in different communities. Each group hosts the other.
During their stay in Sudbury, the youth will live with the families of
their twin group. Since 1976, thousands of young people have
experienced the cultural and geographic diversity of Canada through
participation in YMCA Youth Exchanges.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School students unveiled their new stock car and racing team at the school just hours before heading off for the Laird International Speedway near Sault Ste. Marie on June 16, 2005. The 1984 Plymouth Reliant stock car was virtually rebuilt by the Grade 12 Technology class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. Teacher Steve Bailey and the students dedicated hundreds of hours in time and labour to get the car in top racing condition.

The Technology Class stripped out the car’s interior, built a roll cage, battery box, bumper covers, firewall, fuel tank rack, hood pins, floor repairs, body work, and installed a seat and a safety harness. Drea Centis, a professional painter and Bruno Timpano, an auto detailer completed the finishing touches on the car to get it ready for race day.

The racing team consisting of drivers Steve Villeneuve and Bruno Timpano and team manager and whip, Steve Bailey, Transportation Technology Teacher at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School left to compete in the Laird International Speedway immediately after the car was unveiled to the school community.

The desire to work on a stock car came from the Grade 12 students. “We thought the idea of rebuilding and racing a stock car was a pretty cool idea,” stated Mr. Bailey. “Not only was it a fun and exciting project to work on but it also involved doing a lot of things that are in the Technological Education Curriculum Guideline.”

OECTA Elementary School Teachers Ratify Agreement with SCDSB

The Sudbury Elementary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have ratified a new four year collective agreement (retro-active) from
September 2004 to August 2008. The OECTA membership voted in favour of the contract by 98.3 percent. The new agreement includes a wage parity adjustment on August 31, 2004 and annual increases totaling 9.5 percent over a four year period. The agreement ensures that the stable and co-operative work environment will continue at the Board’s 20 Catholic elementary schools.

Gary Kingerski, OECTA President, Sudbury Elementary stated that “when both parties began negotiations there was a willingness on both sides to come to an agreement without having to resort to work interruptions, a strike or lockout and/or arbitration. With this recent agreement, our elementary students can be assured that there will be no labour interruptions in the education sector.”

Paula Peroni, Chair of the Board’s negotiating committee and Board Chair is pleased with the fact that the contract has been ratified by the membership, stating that, “the fact that the OECTA membership ratified the agreement by such a large majority is extremely encouraging. Both parties during negotiations were looking to ensure that the interests of students were at the forefront of our discussions.”

OECTA Secondary School Teachers Reach Tentative Agreement with Board

The Sudbury Secondary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have reached a tentative agreement with its Catholic secondary school teachers. The OECTA negotiating team will present the details of the tentative agreement to its members on Tuesday, June 7. It is recommending acceptance of the contract. A membership vote on the contract will take place on Monday, June 13. The Board’s salary negotiation committee will bring the tentative proposal forward to the Trustees with a recommendation for approval on Tuesday, June 21. Paula Peroni, Board Chair, and Chair of the Board’s negotiation committee and Dan Charbonneau, OECTA Secondary Unit President, stated that both parties were pleased with the outcome of negotiations.

SCDSB Receives $2.5 M in Additional Funding

Rick Bartolucci, MPP for the City of Sudbury was in town Monday morning to make a major funding announcement to the four area school boards for the 2005-06 school year and to reaffirm the McGuinty government’s commitment to spend more than $20 million for Sudbury Schools to support the New Era of Student Progress. “Area school boards will this year receive budget increases totaling $20,019,921,” stated Bartolucci at a Press Conference held at North Eastern Elementary. The money, which is part of a second full year of an extraordinary province-wide $8.3 billion, four-year increase in publicly funded schools will help ensure stability and a new era of progress for kindergarten to Grade 12 students.

• Sudbury Catholic District School Board will receive an additional $2,496,840 (projected increase of 4.3%)
• Conseil scolaire du District du Grand Nord de l’Ontario will receive $2,981,983 (projected increase of 8.2 percent)
• Conseil scolaire du District catholique du Nouvel-Ontario will receive $4,153,910 (projected increase of 5.1 percent)
• Rainbow District School Board will receive an additional $10,387,188 (projected increase of 8 percent)

“The McGuinty government has increased funding by more than $900 per pupil since taking office to provide smaller class classes, more individual support, new resources and more opportunities for high school students. Funding for more than 3,100 new teachers leads the expansive list of new investments this year,” announced Bartolucci. “Province-wide, the increase for 2005-06 will total $820 million, including $50 million in reinvestments generated by savings paid for by reforms in the funding formula. This boost, combined with ongoing funding, will bring our total education investment this year to $17.2 billion. Targeted investments will support more results for students in strategic priority areas, including literacy and numeracy skills for elementary students and more help for struggling high school students,” concluded Bartolucci.

Hugh Lee, Superintendent of Business and Corporate Affairs for the SCDSB welcomes the $2.5 million in additional funding. “The infusion of the $2.5 million for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is of great significance. It means more money for our Grade 9 One to One Laptop Program, for Early Literacy and Junior Literacy Programs and Teacher Development,” stated Lee.

OECTA Elementary School Teachers Reach Tentative Agreement with SCDSB

The Sudbury Elementary Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have reached a tentative agreement with its Catholic elementary school teachers. The OECTA negotiating team is recommending acceptance of the contract. The Board’s salary negotiation committee will bring the tentative proposal forward to the Trustees with a recommendation for approval on Tuesday, June 21, 2005. Paula Peroni, Board Chair and Chair of the Board’s negotiation committee and Gary Kingerski, OECTA Elementary Unit President, stated that both parties were happy with the positive result of negotiations.

St. Anne Students Run for World Harmony

Staff and students at St. Anne Catholic School had the opportunity to participate in the World Harmony Run at their school recently.
The World Harmony Run is a global torch relay that seeks to promote international friendship.

An international team of runners carry a flaming torch, (symbolizing the aspiration of human oneness), through more than 70 countries around the globe. Staff and students were told of the significance of the Run, listened to the World Harmony song, signed a banner, and were able to touch the torch as they each made a silent wish for World Harmony.

The St. Anne Catholic school community formed a gigantic circle in the school yard with Mr. Thomson’s Grade 6 class joining the World Harmony runners for a few laps around the circle, passing the torch among themselves. The World Harmony Run afforded the school a wonderful opportunity to participate in a global event which helped connect grassroots efforts to world harmony. For more information about The World Harmony Run, please visit
http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/canada

St. Paul Students Have Green Thumbs

Students, parents, grandparents and staff at St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School celebrated the last of this year’s Earth Day activities recently by planting more than 400 Red Pine seedlings in the school grounds to help re-green the area. The seedlings were donated courtesy of Vermilion Forest Products Management along with two tandem truckloads of black loam from John Van Druenen, (Garson Pipe Contractors Ltd.) to bed the seedlings.

Mr. Toppers Pizza, (owner’s Kelly and Carolyn Toppazzini) kindly provided pizzas to feed all of the volunteers after the planting was complete. Pam Rivet from Dr. Signs provided ice cream treats to all planters and Stella Legault from the Colonial Inn brought juice boxes to quench their thirst after planting.

St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School would like to thank Vermilion Forest Products Management, John Van Druenen of Garson Pipe Contractors Ltd., Mr. Toppers Pizza, Pam Rivet and Stella Legault for their kind donations. Special thanks to the Ministry of Natural Resources staff: Don Mark, District Information Specialist; Amber Hamilton, Ontario Ranger Supervisor and Jesse Levert, Senior Forest Technician for coordinating the event and all students, parents, grandparents and staff for their hard work. Last, but not least, thank-you to Wal-Mart for jump-starting the entire project, and who continue to support the re-greening effort of St. Paul The Apostle Catholic School.

Official Grand Opening of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School

Officials with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, along with guests from the Ministry of Education, local, provincial and federal governments, teachers, parents, students and the Board’s partners in education were at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School in Valley East on Monday to celebrate the official grand opening of the newest English Catholic high school in the Valley.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board has had a long-standing tradition of bringing quality Catholic Education to the students of Valley East and Capreol. The Board is pleased to announce that the construction of the new Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School is now complete. This new modern facility sets the stage for Christ centred student-learning offering a full range of programs in English and French Immersion from Grades nine through 12. The most Reverend Bishop Jean-Louise Plouffe celebrated the inaugural mass in the school’s gym, followed by the blessing of the school’s chapel, short speeches from invited guests and a special ribbon cutting ceremony.

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