Three students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have been selected as winners of the Young Authors Award through the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association. Ethan Matte, a student at Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary Award won for his non-fiction submission entitled “The Art of Fishing”. In the secondary panel, St. Benedict student Nikki Lemieux won for her non-fiction submission entitled “Consumer or Consumed”. The final winner is Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School student Shanleigh Brosseau for her short story submission entitled “La Couleur D’Amour”. Her short story “La couleur d’amour” was inspired by the approaching celebration of St. Valentine. Shanleigh enjoys writing in her spare time, especially “chapter books” on her IPhone. Her enthousiasm of music and writing is what pushed her to create a very metaphorical short story of a broken heart pendant.
All three award winning submissions can be found in this year’s OECTA Young Authors Awards 2014.
Congratulations to all three students for your outstanding writing pieces and we look forward to reading future works!
Category: Topic
St. James 5/6 Softball Team Captures Gold!!
On Friday June 6th, 2014 the grade 5/6 St. James Catholic Elementary School softball team participated in the Greater Sudbury Police Service annual slo-pitch tournament. The tournament serves to honour the memory of Sgt. Rick McDonald, who loved baseball and working with youth in our community. Sgt. McDonald was killed in the line of duty on July 28, 1999. The annual GSPS 5/6 Slo-Pitch tournament allows young students from across the Sudbury region to interact with police officers and have a great day playing ball.
The St. James team won their first two games to capture a spot in the championship final. The team was down a few runs early on but battled back with teamwork and lots of cheering from their fans to capture the championship! Way to go Bears!
Second Annual Cubs and Bears Junior Co-ed Soccer Tournament Results
On June 15, 2014, Holy Cross Catholic Elementary and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary Schools hosted the second annual Cubs and Bears Junior Co-ed soccer tournament. Participating were 15 teams from 3 different schools boards – the English and French Catholic boards as well as the French Public.
The top 4 teams are as follows: 1st place Jean-Paul 2 2nd place Holy Cross 6
3rd plac St. John 4th place Holy Cross 5
Congratulations to all the teams, students and coaches for a job well done!
Thank you to all the volunteers and staff that co-ordinated the tournament, and helped to make it such a success!
Primary Track and Field at St. John
On June 11, St. John Catholic Elementary School held it’s very own Grade 1 & 2 Track and Field! Primary students admired the junior students who were participating in the board wide track and field event, so teachers at St. John decided to to hold their very own competition for the young up and coming athletes. Each winner was presented with an award for their achievements. Pictured are the proud students showing off their certificates.
Celebrating First Communion at St. Andrew
On Friday June 6th, the twenty St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School students who celebrated receiving their First Communion this spring enjoyed some cake and juice in the St. Andrew school library. Mrs. Henry, the principal, told all the students how proud she was of them as they become more active members in the Catholic church. The children all received a First Communion prayer card to keep in their prayer books or to use as a bookmark. Pictured is the group with their special cake.
Family Fun Math Night at St. John
Families were invited to join staff and students on June 11 at St. John Catholic Elementary School for an evening of Mathematical Games that were practical, relevant and help develop a positive attitude towards the Math Curriculum. In an information and technology-based society, math skills are essential and this is taught through the Ontario Math Curriculum.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board Numeracy Facilitator, Kathy Belanger, hosted and presented a fun Math Games Night showing that through ‘Math Games’ children have the potential to learn Math, be more focused and increase their Math retention.
Some of the skills that Math Games promote are:
□ Problem-solving Skills
□ Organizing Information
□ Development of Hand-Eye coordination
□ Concentration Levels
□ Memory, and their ability to communicate and use Mathematical language
Families had lots of fun, and they left with Math goodie bags filled with a dominoe set, pack of cards, dice, Parent pamphlet, and a list of games.
Celebrating Roots of Empathy at St. James
The Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) class at St. James Catholic Elementary School has enjoyed the “Roots of Empathy” program this past year, but has especially enjoyed the visits by Baby Kinsley. Kinsley was only 4 months old on her first visit and by her last visit she had turned 11 months! FDK students, staff and Baby Kinsley have loved watching and being part of her milestones throughout her first year. Last week, there was a classroom celebration to wish Baby Kinsley farewell for the year.
Smudging Ceremony For New School Site
On Tuesday, June 10, the entire St. David Catholic Elementary School joined their community partners at the location for the new school’s site. Just off of Frood Road, between the Spectrum and CTV buildings, approximately 250 students and staff joined Sudbury Catholic board staff as well as other community organizations to smudge the new site with elder Vince Pawis. Dawn Wemigwans, principal of the school welcomed all the students, staff and guests, and after a prayer by student Czesh Malik, the group listened to student singers/drummers while Pawis smudged the site to bring good feelings to the space. Wemigwans explained to the group that, “today we are smudging the space for our new school. We are doing this to clear any negative energy and bring only good thoughts and prayers into the building of our new school.”
Michael Bellmore, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees also addressed the crowd during the ceremony. “It is very exciting for us to be part of such a unique building opportunity that embraces the natural space around it, and incorporates nature as a focus in its design,” Bellmore stated. “We are so pleased that the architects’ design for the school is so forward thinking – having both nature and culture taking centre stage, and allowing for a distinct and remarkable space for our students.”
The new school is scheduled to be open in September, 2015, and will be a Full Day Kindergarten to Grade 6 elementary school.
St. Charles College Educational Assistant Eileen Kennedy Wins SCDSB’s Annual Chairperson’s Award
Every year at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, nominations are sought for the Chairperson’s award. This award is given to a person or persons who makes outstanding contributions to the Catholic school system. The Board believes in the importance of recognizing employees who embrace Catholic values, demonstrates initiative and ingenuity, and contributes positively to the lives of students and staff. At the board’s annual retirement dinner, on June 11, 2014, Sudbury Catholic staff Eileen Kennedy was presented with this year’s award. Kennedy has been a deaf/blind intervenor for the board for the past 27 years working in both the elementary and secondary school level. Currently, Kennedy works with students at St. Charles College and was nominated by several of her school co-workers as well as board office staff. Jody Cameron, Chair of the Board, presented Kennedy with her award and spoke about Eileen’s contributions to the Sudbury Catholic community. “In her role as an intervenor, she constantly strives to find unique and fun ways to encourage these most challenged students to communicate. She researches best practices and activities that will help these students find success in the classroom,” Cameron stated. “She is dedicated to preserving and ensuring the dignity of her students, and her disposition and open-hearted kindness is admired by all who have had the pleasure of working with her.” Cameron cited many examples of how outstanding an educator Kennedy is, and thanked her for her selflessness, and dedication to the Sudbury Catholic students. A very humble person, upon receipt of the award, Kennedy was quick to explain that educating this group of students takes a real team effort. “Over the years, I have worked with some amazing Board administration and teachers,” Kennedy explained. “I would also like the trustees and administration of our board to know that our Intervenors and EAs have been envied all across the country. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at conferences in Winnipeg and Vancouver and have come to know that we are valued here more than anywhere. You respect our knowledge and experience and we truly appreciate that.” Kennedy described many of her experiences where she was able to positively connect with and engage the students as “this helps their world seem a little less overwhelming and more meaningful.” Kennedy closed her speech by expressing that she was honoured to be the first educational assistant to be chosen by the board for this award, and that she is happy to have the privilege of having a career all these years doing what she really loves, and that the award is “icing on the cake!”