Aboriginal Support Worker, Joel Agowissa, shares with SKFI students at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School the medicines of the four directions. As a part of the Aboriginal Biinoojic Centres (ABC) program, students in Kindergarten and Grade 1 have met with Joel for 5 weeks to learn more about Aboriginal teachings. Students have enjoyed this program. Thanks Joel, for sharing your knowledge and passion for Aboriginal Education!
Category: Topic
St. Francis Student Wins Poster Contest
Little did Meagan Ierino, a Grade 6 student at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School know, that five months ago when she entered her poster into the Royal Canadian Legion, Lockerby Branch’s, Remembrance Day Poster Contest, that her poster would win, not once, but three times; locally, divisionally, and now regionally! Art Moore was on hand from the Royal Canadian Legion, Lockerby Branch to award Meagan her medal and prize.
The Royal Canadian Legion conducts their Remembrance Day Poster Contest and Public Speaking Contest annually, and invites students from all Sudbury schools to participate.
St. Francis is very proud of Meagan.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
The grade 4 students at St. Bernadette Catholic French Immersion School tried their hand at journalism by writing and creating their very own classroom newspaper. Entitled “Sabrecats en action”, the newspaper contains articles about various school events with direct quotes from first hand witnesses. Principal, Diana Salvador, said that ,”Students were enthused and engaged throughout this project. Students interviewed staff, peers, parents and community members and took their roles as reporters very seriously. The finished product is excellent!”
The classroom teacher, Mlle Aubin stated, “The students enjoyed their time as a reporters. Watch out The Sudbury Star, these students are the next generation of journalists!
St. Albert and ICAN Making a Positive Difference in Health Care Through Partnership
The ICAN Independence Centre and Network in Sudbury is a community- based non-profit organization that provides services, resources and support for people with disabilities. St. Albert Adult Learning Centre is a school in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board that offers adult and continuing education programs with the purpose of preparing individuals to succeed in today’s workplace through a variety of programs and initiatives. One of the programs that St. Albert offers is a Personal Support Worker (PSW) program. While these two organizations differ greatly in their mandate, they do share a common theme – a quest to seek and train people who are enthusiastic and compassionate, and who are motivated to work in the PSW field.
In a recent interview, Chief Executive Officer for ICAN, Marie Leon, explained that with a growing population of seniors, there is a greater need for qualified PSWs, particularly those who are committed to providing quality care for their clients. The challenge is to recruit motivated candidates and retain them within the organization. She explained that when demands for a profession are high, so are turnover rates.
St. Albert’s PSW program is in its third year and 24 spots are available for each intake (every six months). Students must pass an aptitude test and a formal interview before gaining admission to the Program. ICAN is one of the facilities that accepted PSW students to do the practical portion of the, so a positive partnership between the two organizations already existed. In the Fall, both ICAN and St. Albert entered into formal discussions to take their partnership one step further. In an an effort to recruit and retain strong PSWs, an agreement was reached whereby ICAN would sponsor up to six students. ICAN supports each student by paying their registration fee of $1,500, and by providing a weekly stipend to support the student financially during their program. Once the student finishes the theory portion of the course, they are hired immediately as a casual employee. In return, the student must commit to working for ICAN for two years in order to fulfill their obligation of the agreement.
According to the school’s principal, Karl Dreger,it is a win-win for both parties. “ICAN is a progressive organization which offers its employees a competitive wage and a comprehensive benefit package.” “There is a comprehensive interview process for these six coveted spots,” Dreger explained. “Not only is the student candidate interviewed to gain admittance into the PSW program, but select students who we believe would be good candidates for the ICAN program are interviewed again by the ICAN staff.
One of the students who was given this opportunity, Amy Winn, gushed about her experience at St. Albert, as well as her upcoming career placement with ICAN. “I have been a career waitress for 15 years,” Winn explained. “I heard about the St. Albert PSW program through word of mouth, and decided it was worth looking into. I had been out of school for 15 years and all I could remember about school was that I struggled to stay awake. This program at St. Albert is anything but boring – the teacher is absolutely incredible – she is very knowledgeable and every day teaches us something interesting and exciting. This school is the perfect setting for learning as there are no distractions like in a regular school. I am excited about this opportunity, and feel very lucky to have been chosen to be a part of this incredible partnership with ICAN.” Principal Karl Dreger echoed Winn’s sentiments about the teacher and the school. “We are so fortunate to have Dawn-Marie Brunet as the program lead for this course. Not only is she a certified teacher, but she is also a certified Registered Nurse (R.N.) with many years of experience. Someone with this type of experience is very hard to come by. The students really respond well to her teaching, and the end result is a group of PSW’s who are inspired to make a positive difference in our community. This is a really great example of the outstanding and supportive environment at St. Albert. These days, we must seek and forge partnerships outside of the education sector to keep our programs strong and viable. A synergistic relationship such as this is a wonderful model that we are very proud of”
For more information on the PSW program, the partnership with ICAN or other St. Albert programs, please call the school at (705)673-3031 or visit their website at:
[ http://www.st-albert.sudburycatholicschools.ca ]www.st-albert.sudburycatholicschools.ca
Dr. Karen Gordon invites Sudbury Catholic Students to “Spill Your Guts”
On March 18th, 25th and 26th, students at all four of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s secondary schools had the opportunity to listen to world-renowned speaker Dr. Karyn Gordon. A familiar face at the Board, Dr. Gordon was asked to come back once again to talk to the students about the every growing problem of anxiety and self-esteem. Dr. Gordon is a relationship expert for organizations and families, and has over 14 years of professional national media experience in TV, print and radio including CityLine, Chatelaine Magazine and “The Mom Show”.
A decision was made by the Sudbury Catholic Safe Schools Team to invite back Dr. Gordon, as the board was given funding from the Ministry of Education to provide students with resources that would support mental health initiatives. Dr. Gordon’s presentation entitled, “Spill Your Guts”, talks to students about healthy self-esteem with the main message for the students being that “your self-esteem can, and will dictate how you make decisions in your life, therefore positive self-esteem will result in good decisions.” Dr. Gordon went on to explain the three most important ideas to remember for a healthy attitude in life.
1. Stop blaming and focus on what you can control in your life.
2. Set realistic and achievable goals
3. Seek out people and resources to help you achieve these goals and support your healthy choices.
Dr. Gordon admitted that although this sounds easy, it isn’t necessarily so. She advised the students “ I know that it isn’t an easy process to have a healthy self-esteem, but it is definitely possible!” The students had the opportunity to ask questions after the presentations and were able to meet with her for a short time to talk about their own experiences.
Regals “Finding Kind” at Marymount Academy
Last spring, several teachers at Marymount Academy received word that they were successful in their grant application to the Ministry of Education. Their application focused on the problem of adolescent girls, and the growing levels of anxiety and depression in today’s society. Recognizing that this is a universal problem, these teachers felt that being in an all-girl school environment, it was a great opportunity to bring forward some solutions in their own school community. Teachers Lisa Levecque, Kim Fahner, Tammy Jutila, Anna White and Chaplain Jen Geddes began looking for ways in which they could change the focus for students – looking to the positive in themselves, and in others. One of the main ideas they landed on, is a campaign called “Finding Kind” (www.kindcampaign.com) which is a campaign driven by two American students – Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson, who created a documentary as well as a non-profit organization. According to their website, their mission statement is that “the Kind Campaign is an internationally recognized movement and school program based upon the powerful belief in KINDness that brings awareness and healing to the negative and lasting effects of girl-againstt-girl “crime”.
All the students gathered in the gym on Wednesday, March 27 to screen the documentary – “Finding Kind”. Teacher Tammy Jutila introduced the film to the students with a very important message. “It is a simple message really,” Jutila said. “You are not alone. Every single girl has encountered an experience at some point in their lives in which they become aggressors or victims of jealousy, rumours, name-calling etc. Finding Kind is about recognizing this in all of us, and encouraging change – it starts with you!”
As a follow up to the film, the students and staff took a pledge of their own promising to be kind to others creating a more positive environment.
The students were also informed that, later in the spring, the school will be creating a Finding Kind Club, open to all students so that anyone needing some support/advice etc. can talk to peer mentors and staff to help them with issues, as well as celebrate acts of kindness.
According to teacher Lisa Levecque, another facet to this initiative is an exciting project that links back to the campaign – which will be a school film festival gala that will take place during Catholic Education Week (May 5-10). Students will be encouraged to create their own videos that showcase documentaries, stories and reflections on kindness. “We thought this was a great tie-in project for the students,” Levecque said. “Right now as we approach the end of the Lenten season, we thought what a great opportunity to focus on our Catholic values, and the simple idea of being kind. With the use of technology, students will be creating very powerful and compelling movies that will positively impact each other, as well as create a healtheir school environment.”
Second Annual “Dragon’s Den” a Hit at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Recently, students in grade 8 at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Hanmer participated in their annual “Dragon’s Den” science fair and became inventors for the day. Grade 8 students displayed their inventions for the entire school community to view and ten groups were selected to present their inventions to the panel of Dragons in the afternoon. The dragons consisted of Mr. Mathieu, Principal of St. Anne Catholic School, Mrs. Connelly, Curriculum Coordinator at Sudbury Catholic Schools, Mr. McKee, teacher at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, and Ms. McNicoll, registered nurse and community member.
Students worked extremely hard over the past 3 weeks planning, constructing, interviewing, testing, and marketing their new inventions. Their final products demonstrated the development and evaluation of innovative devices, models, techniques and approaches in technology and engineering. With the help of their teachers Julie Caissie, Jody O’Daiskey, and Jules Guenette, students integrated several technologies, inventions, or designs and constructed technological systems that could have human and commercial benefits.
St. Anne Angels created highly original products that demonstrated resourcefulness and creativity in design. Some of the top products were the “Purf”, created by Robyn Gagne and Coral Brabant, which transforms a scarf to a purse, as well as the “Kibble Katcher”, created by Alexander Gardner, which helps keep pet food from being scattered across the floor. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board held a board wide science fair on March 6th, and seven projects from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer were among those featured.
St. David School Green Team Prepare for Upcoming Earth Day
In preparation for Earth Day 2013, the grade 3 Dearness Conservation “Green Team” at St. David Catholic School spent the morning creating environmentally themed buttons with the help of Lesley Comyn Lippold of Lellyrella. Lesley Comyn Lippold is a local entrepreneur and environmental mentor to the St. David “Green Team”.
For over a decade, Sudbury Catholic Schools has been aggressively working on numerous Energy Conservation projects and initiatives to maximize efficiencies, including the Dearness Conservation program. The aim of the DC program is to involve students and staff in efforts to reduce the ecological footprint of their schools. The St. David School “Green Team” is a large group of students that work as a leadership team throughout the year to promote DC green initiatives and help build a healtheir and greener St. David School community.
The students, under the leadership of Ms. Comyn Lippold and their classroom teacher, Terri Lynn Lepage, created buttons with messages about saving electricity by shutting the lights off, the importance of daily composting & recycling, and eating foods that come in their own natural packaging such as fruits and vegetables.
Some student favourite themed messages included “Lettuce be Green”, “May the Forest be with You” and “Don’t drop the Ball”.
These buttons will be distributed to students at St. David School in grades JK to 8 who are “Caught Being Green” during the month of April in celebration of Earth Day and in promotion of the school’s Dearness Conservation initiatives.
Sharing an Easter Message
St. James Catholic Elementary students Maria Bozic-Iotzov, Lucas Mullaly and Bella Lanci recently went to the radio station HOT 93.5 to create an Easter ad. They want to wish everyone a safe and Happy Easter. During this time of Easter remember the Lord and May this year’s Easter bring you hope and joy – from the students at St. James School.