On Thursday, November 1, 2012, students, parents, staff, and community partners gathered at 2997 Algonquin Road for a joyous celebration. Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School held its official grand opening and all in attendance were thrilled with the morning’s events. Bishop Plouffe began the ceremony with an opening prayer, and several invited guests spoke to the wonderful celebration and school opening including M.P.P. Rick Bartolucci and Mayor Matichuk. The entire group was welcomed by the school principal Louise Franklin as well as Director of Education Catherine McCullough. As part of the celebration, the school choir performed and a slideshow was shown highlighting the building and students now occupying the school. After the official ribbon cutting, the guests were invited to a reception and tour of the school facility.
Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Board was on hand during the celebration and was delighted with the morning celebration. “This is truly an occasion of great significance as its completion has occurred through the hard work of many dedicated individuals and strong community partners. This outstanding school was created with the communities of Corpus Christi, St. Theresa and St. Christopher coming together as one, and building on positive relationships,” MacDonald stated. “This new school’s commitment to excellence embodies the true spirit of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board positively supporting our students, and providing an outstanding and exceptional learning environment. On behalf of the Sudbury Catholic Board of Trustees, I congratulate all involved in this project, and look forward to the years to come watching the future growth of the school, and its students.”
Category: Promoted Event
Fire Prevention Week Recognized by St.Francis Flames
St. Francis students from teachers Graziella Visentin and Sandra Narduzzi’s class have been learning about fire safety this month. The annual Fire Prevention Week was also recognized between October 7th and 13th with an elaborate display at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre court area. On Thursday, October 11, the grade 3 & 4 students from St.Francis School took part in a trivia game that many are familiar with from television entitled, Jeopardy. However, the theme revolved around fire safety and prevention as it was hosted by the Sudbury Fire Department at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre. The game show host was not Alex Trebek, but rather he was replaced by a local fire fighter hosting the game. The game was renamed, Fire Jeopardy. Participants of the game were the grade 3 and 4 St. Francis Flames competing againstt another local school. Students were quizzed on various questions about fire safety in a fun and entertaining way. The excitement could be heard throughout the mall as shoppers stopped to observe and store clerks came to check out the excitement. The event concluded with a class photo in front of an antique fire truck and questions for fire fighters to answer. Students left the event ready to plan fire emergency exits in their homes with family members. They were also well informed about preventing fire hazards from happening in their own homes.
Terry Fox Run at St. Andrew
St. Andrew students and staff participated in a “Toonies+1 ” to support the Terry Fox Foundation on Thursday September 27th. The whole school community either walked, ran or skipped around the school for half an hour. Canadian music from the CD Canada is for Kids was played on the outside PA system for all to enjoy as they supported this great cause. Pictured are the two cousins Tomasso and Martina as they participated
M.M.A. Gets Into the Books with Teen Read Week
As part of the first ever Sudbury Teen Read Week, Marymount Academy students in teacher Allison Cameron’s English class got to visit the Sudbury Public Library to take part in the official launch of the event. Along with two other secondary school classes, the Marymount students were welcomed by event coordinator Pierre Dubuc, the Child and Teen Programmer for the Greater Sudbury Library.
Teen Read Week is a literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association that began in New York. This is Sudbury’s first event and its focus is to encourage teens to regularly read books just for fun so that reading recreationally becomes a habit.
As part of the official launch, the students were encouraged to attain a library card if they didn’t already have one and learn more about the services and products offered at the library including books, e-books, dvd’s etc. Also on hand were representatives from several community organizations to talk to students about their connection to the library and literacy including Laurentian University, Cambrian College, College Boreal and the Student Action Center for Youth (S.A.C.Y.).
Cameron was excited for her class to be invited to the Teen Read Week Launch and encouraged all of her students to sign up for a library card if they didn’t already have one. “What a great opportunity for our students to see what amazing books are available to them,” Cameron stated. “This event is a great way to engage our students through recreational reading – it doesn’t just have to be about assignments and school work. Teen Read Week emphasizes the importance of reading books just for fun, and I am sure that my students will respond enthusiastically!”
Events are planned for the remainder of the week at several of the Sudbury library locations including a “Walking Dead Project Runway” competition on Thursday at the newly renovated South End Library. For more information on all of these events, visit the Greater Sudbury Library website at www.sudburylibraries.ca.
Surpassing Science Expectations Across a Nation
Students at Marymount Academy had a very unique opportunity on Friday, October 12, 2012. Classes from four different grades took part in what could be the world’s largest science lesson. Students from a grade 7, 8, 10 and 12 science class took part in the attempt at a world record for the largest practical science lesson with the hopes of inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. Alongside thousands of other Canadians, different groups took part in this activity across Canada as the official launch of National Science and Technology Week 2012 through Science.gc.ca.
Following strict guidelines, students had to sign in, and the entire activity was documented with time-stamped video and pictures to ensure the group was following the outlined rules. After a brief video introduction from Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, the students watched another short clip that demonstrated the two different experiments – “the Kissing Balloons” and “the Water Mister”. Using simple materials such as balloons, string, plastic cups and water provided at each table, the students then worked together in groups to perform both experiments and document their findings. Working in the school’s cafeteria, giggles and laughter could be heard throughout as each student worked through their part of the experiment. Marymount science teacher Lise Callahan was the organizer for the event and made sure she followed all outlined instructions for her students to be included in this monumentous event. “It seemed pretty simple at first,” Callahan remarked. “Just sign up the students and provide the materials… however, I quickly realized that it was a much more involved process. We have to ensure that everything is done properly to be included in the world record attempt. The students have been quite excited leading up to this event and we are thrilled to be a part of it! At Marymount Academy, we have really outstanding students and knew that their level of enthusiasm for this project would be really high. I am proud of our school for participating and can’t wait to see if we do actually set the record!” All of the participants have to have their results sent by October 19 and would find out soon after if their attempt was successful for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.
University Information Night – October 15, 2012
There will be a University Information Night on Monday, October 16, 2012 for all students interested in finding out more information about Ontario universities. Representatives from all 21 of the provinces universities will be on hand to answer any questions from prospective students including admission requirements, residence, scholarships, application processes and much more. Students and their parents or guardians will be able to attend three different presentations from universities that will be thirty minutes in length. After each presentation, a question and answer period will follow. This university information night was created to help students in their decision making process before they apply to universities beginning January 2013. This event will be taking place at Lockerby Composite School from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
S.C.C. Student Braces for Event of a Lifetime – WE Day 2012
WE Day is an annual event that encourages student leadership, and it brings empowered youth together to show them they are not alone in their journey to impact local and global change. A student from St. Charles College is lucky enough to be attending one of the WE Days held in Toronto, at the Air Canada Centre. David DiBrina, president of the St. Charles College student council, as well as student trustee for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, has been selected to be one of the 20,000 students from across Ontario to have the privilege to be a part of the monumentous event. Speakers will include the likes Al Gore, Nelly Furtado, Hedley, and many more celebrities. This televised event is taking place on Friday, September 29th, 2012, and will be streamed live online. As a representative of the Sudbury Catholic Board, DiBrina will be tweeting live throughout the event on the Sudbury Catholic Twitter account and can be followed @ SCDSB throughout the day. When asked about his expectations of the event prior to his departure, DiBrina stated, “ I am sure that I will leave Toronto with a wealth of knowledge that I can bring back and share with my peers, as well as a renewed passion and increased confidence to make positive changes locally, as well as globally!”
Cards Runners Race for Diabetes
The goal for the St. Charles College marathon team this fall was to enter and complete a half marathon and they did it. Ten students, along with their teacher/coach and principal took part in the Sudbury Rocks Half-Marathon for Diabetes this past weekend in Sudbury. Ms. Catherine Levesque headed up the team in the fall with a commitment to run everyday no matter what weather conditions greeted them after school. They were ecstatic about having their principal, Patty Mardero join them in the 50-59 age bracket.
Other highlights:
Danielle Provencher got 1st in her age/gender category out of 3 females up to 19 years of age. Katie McDowell came 2nd in the same division.
Cody Malette and Jayden Lepack finished 3rd and 4th in their age/gender category out of 11 males up to 19 years of age.
St. Raphael School helps rule out Diabetes and Participates in Sudbury Rocks!
On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13, students from St. Raphael School participated in the 5K Sudbury Rocks! run/walk for Diabetes. Students trained after school to prepare for the run. Eighteen students and Teacher Ms. Reynolds ran on Sunday. Students were also encouraged to collect pledges for this worthy cause. Over $1340.00 was collected by the Royals to help rule out Diabetes! It was a great way to help the community and to keep fit and stay healthy!