Educators from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board took part in Triple P Training (Positive Parenting Program) recently which provides participants with an overview of the nature and significance of child behaviour problems. The training also familiarizes participants with the principles of effective parent consultation. Educators were also guided though an exercise to assist in the identification of available and effective parenting services and resources in their communities as a starting point for increasing support networks.
Category: Staff Achievement
SCDSB Students Committeed to be “Partners for Life”
Community Partners were invited to the Lakehouse at Science North recently by Canadian Blood Services as a thank you for being a part of their Partners for Life program. Several students from St. Benedict, Marymount Academy and Bishop Alexander Carter along with school Chaplaincy Leads Rob Pappin and Jennifer Geddes were presented with plaques for their schools to thank the students and to remind them of the importance of supporting blood donation in the community. Steve Tipman, a representative from Canadian Blood Services spoke to significant efforts of the organizations that have become part of the Partners for Life program. “Knowing that one donation can save three lives, these different organizations have made huge contributions to Canadian Blood Services.” said Tipman. Rob Papin got involved with this program when he was the Chaplaincy Lead at Bishop and continued it when he transferred to St. Benedict. “It is really great to see our students involved in the community.” said Pappin. “It is a great way for students to prepare for their futures by getting them to talk about and take part in these kind of programs today.” Adam Lapatka, a grade 11 student from St. Benedict felt honoured to be a part of Partners for Life and to be a student ambassador for the program at his school. “I wanted to set an example for students and take part in this program. “ said Lapatka. “It is definitely a manageable commitment and one that I encourage all students to sign up for.”
Dr. Jeffrey Wood, Guest Speaker at MISA NEOEN Carousel Event
Dr. Jeffrey Wood was a keynote speaker at a recent MISA-research carousel organized by Jean McHarg, Superintendent of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board on behalf of the eight school boards and one school authority.
Dr. Wood emphasized the importance of the collaboration of all stakeholders to share the research being done in our region by the eight school boards and one school authourity and the two universities. Future plans would include having doctoral and masters students conduct research in the school boards on major initiatives presently being implemented.
SCDSB Native Language Teacher Shares Gifts of Song and Culture
Over the years, many of the staff at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board have had the opportunity to meet Verna Hardwick. Hardwick has been a Native Language teacher with the board for 17 years and often travels from school to school with her students singing in her native language of Ojibwe. A quiet, reserved woman, she often surprises people when she begins to sing. Instead of the soft-spoken voice one would expect, Hardwick sings with a voice seemingly from deep within her and the result is a beautiful, strong, clear sound.
Before her career as a teacher began, she had many different jobs including driving different kinds of buses including transit and school buses. When she joined the Sudbury Catholic Board, it was as for a pilot project with Native Language at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School. The singing didn’t begin until approximately 10 years ago when she was at the Friendship Centre and she was listening and observing others sing in Ojibwe. At first she learned how to communicate with a drum but had never attempted singing on her own. Only out of circumstance did Hardwick undertake singing solo when she attended one event and found out that she was the only one who showed up. That was the beginning of Hardwick sharing her gift of song. She soon began to introduce drumming and singing to her students. One of the reasons for this came from her students as Hardwick explains, “the students wanted to learn to share their culture and it comes from the heart – whatever you are feeling inside, it is going to come out.” Singing with her students eventually inspired Hardwick to begin contemplating the creation of her own C.D. as people kept asking her for one when she sang at workshops and different events. Working with another Sudbury Catholic teacher, Teddy Bubbalo, Hardwick finally produced the C.D. this past year. The C.D. entitled “Aanii”, includes some of her favourite songs, songs “that the Creator has given us.” said Hardwick. She hopes that others can use her C.D. so that those that don’t have music in their classrooms or lives, can now share in her culture and music. The C.D. is a very personal project as each of the songs have great meaning to her and even the graphic on the cover is her own drum, photographed by her daughter. She chose these songs because some of them are healing, and some give guidance for the students. Shkakimi Kwe is an original song that Hardwick wrote that means Mother Earth and was inspired to write it after an earth day presentation.
Upon reflection of her career with the Board, Hardwick feels that Sudbury Catholic has been very supportive of her and her sharing of her culture. Administration and staff at the Board feel that Hardwick has been absolutely instrumental in moving the Board forward in regard to aboriginal education and enlightenment. All of the Sudbury Catholic Schools are constantly requesting Verna and her students to visit their classrooms and show off their vocal and drumming skills for their students. When asked about any more C.D.’s in her future, Hardwick replied, “Never say never… it was a stressful process and a lot of work, but the end result really made it all worth while!”
“Gangs and Youth. A Community Action Plan.”
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is proud to be a partner in the “Gangs and Youth. A Community Action Plan” initiative in conjunction with our fellow school boards and community agencies in Sudbury.
Representatives from the Board staff and Trustees participated in a “Gangs and Youth” Media Conference held at the Greater Sudbury Police Service to promote awareness around gang activity. The Board took this opportunity to reinforce the fact the Sudbury Catholic District School Board works hard to engage our students in our educational programs and extra-curricular activities. We believe that our school communities offer the best opportunities for our youth, thus enabling them to become positive members of society. Our Board supports and maintains positive school climates that enhance safety and focus on prevention and early intervention with opportunities for reconciliation, forgiveness and restoration of the community.
Pilot Apple Technology Project Huge Success for St. David’s Grade Fives
The Grade 5 students were so excited they could hardly sit still as their St. David teacher Jennifer Gran asked them to open their macbooks and turn on their ipods. Gran along with Leann Laframboise, one of the Sudbury Catholic Technology Integration Mentor Teachers had put together a proposal and submitted it to Apple Canada with the hopes that the Grade 5 class would be selected to pilot a technology project. Luckily, the two teachers’ proposal was selected out of the hundreds of proposals submitted from across Canada. Apple selected Gran’s class which allowed the students the use of ten MacBook computers with wireless connectivity, digital still and video cameras, and iLife ’09, Apple’s award-winning digital media software as well as ten ipods. For the last four weeks, the class has created podcasts, comics, digital stories, movies and posters. As well, the students used ipods for different activities such as reading, navigating apps and browsers and literacy and numeracy games. Gran was thrilled that her class had the opportunity to have some really hands on learning time with the provided technology. “If you have a high number of identified students, the technology really levels the playing field in regards to learning. “said Gran. “The technology gives the students many different options for learning. They don’t all learn the same way and with the macbooks and ipods, they can choose the way they learn most effectively, which makes teaching easier for the teacher.” For each different activity, the students were divided into groups and sat down with either Gran or Laframboise to consult on their projects. All of the students got the opportunity to use both pieces of technology daily. After St. David’s, the next school to receive the kit will be St. Francis Catholic Elementary School which was also one of the schools to be selected from across Canada.
Marymount Academy Announces Advanced Placement Program for September, 2010
Marymount students, teachers, trustees and guests gathered at a press conference held at the school to launch a very exciting and progressive program known as the Advanced Placement Program or AP as it is more commonly referred to.
Beginning in September 2010, Marymount students in Grades 9 and 10 can enrol in the pre AP courses while students in Grade 11 and 12 will be able to register in the AP courses. “Advanced Placement courses offer university level content to our students at the high school level allowing them to delve deeper into the course material and ultimately making them feel more comfortable and gain more confidence when entering university,” says Lucie Cullen, Principal of Marymount Academy. Another benefit of the Advanced Placement Program is that it allows students to accelerate through university as students may achieve advanced academic standing or equivalent credits at universities in Canada and the United States and overseas. According to Dan Bartolucci, Program Leader at Marymount Academy, the Advanced Placement Program is recognized worldwide. “Admission offices regard AP students as high achievers,” states Bartolucci. “Post secondary institutions in more than 30 countries recognize AP in their admission process, including 90 percent of North American colleges and universities.”
Marymount Academy will roll out the Advanced Placement Program in September of 2010 by offering three courses: English, Math and French at the AP level with Geography and Science courses being added the following year. The AP courses will be taught concurrently with the curriculum, and students will write the university exams at Marymount in May. The exams are sent to a central location in the United States for marking and the results are mailed to the students in July. Each AP exam is given a grade point a 5-point scale: Students that score 4 and 5 out of 5 on their exams will receive AP or university credits. Jody Cameron, Chair of the Sudbury Catholic District Program is also very impressed with the school’s Advanced Placement Program. “The AP Program is a perfect fit for Marymount Academy,” Cameron told the student body and the media. “Its innovative, progressive and meets the needs of our students by providing them with opportunities and challenges beyond their grade level. As a result of this program they will walk into colleges and universities with much greater confidence and knowledge as well as credits. It is with great pride that the Sudbury Catholic District School Board support Marymount and its dedicated staff in launching the AP Program.”
St. Andrew Elementary Holds a Hats for Haiti Day
Staff and students of St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School have been praying daily during their afternoon Prayer Break for the people of Haiti. On January 19, 2010 the school held their “Hats for Haiti” day. Money was collected to support the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace in their effort to help the people in this devastated country.
Even though they are a small school of 152 they have big, generous hearts as they raised $721.70. The St. Andrew school council then decided to top the school donation to $1000. Quite a phenomenal accomplishment for a small school!
SCDSB Staff Published Authors in National Magazine
Dawn Wemigwans, Aboriginal Lead and Christina Raso, Special Education Consultant are both Sudbury Catholic District School Board staff who go above and beyond in their roles on a regular basis. Even though their daily workloads allow them little time for anything else, they both realized the importance of sharing best practices with other boards across Canada. Theresa Harris, Executive Director for the Ontario Catholic supervisory Officer’s Association asked all of the Catholic school boards across the province to submit their ideas and initiatives that engage young children in schools. The two women decided to write an article highlighting the value of providing authentic aboriginal learning experiences to students and how this already is taking place at our board. The selected articles were them submitted to a national magazine entitled “Leaders and Learners” which is the official magazine of the Canadian Association of School Administrators The article written by Wemigwans and Raso was one of seven from the entire province selected for the magazine.