On Thursday, January 11, 2010, students at St. Benedicts participated in a traditional smudging ceremony led by Elder Vince Pawis. Afterward, Mr. Pawis shared several traditional teachings such as the medicine wheel and clan names. The students learned how important it is to be respectful of others and of their connection to Mother Earth.
Category: Staff
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Launches New Breakfast Program
On Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School opened the doors to its new Breakfast Club. The program is a partnership between Breakfast Clubs of Canada, the Human League Association and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board. The Breakfast Club provides a healthy breakfast for the students in a relaxed environment and is operated by volunteer staff members and students. The club is open five days per week in the morning and allows students to help themselves to menu items such as fruit, fruit juice, yogurt, cereal and whole wheat bagels to name a few. This is the forth breakfast program operating in the SCDSB secondary schools. The primary goal of the program is to feed students who do not have the opportunity to have breakfast, allowing them to focus on their academics rather than being distracted by hunger.”
St. Ben’s in Pink to Support Janis Foligno Foundation
On Friday, February 5th, 2010, students and staff at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School donned pink to show their support in the fight againstt breast cancer. The students were encouraged to replace some or all of their uniform with a pink item. Those who participated paid a toonie for the opportunity to shed the uniform for the day in support of breast cancer research. All money raised will be donated to the Janis Foligno Foundation. Janis is the mother of two former St. Ben’s students – Lisa and Marcus. The proceeds will be presented to Marcus when he speaks at St. Benedict’s Open House on February 16th. It was a fun day to replace the uniform and raised money and awareness to support research for breast cancer.
Synthesizing in the Classroom
Grade three teachers met at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre on February 1, 2010 to learn about Synthesizing in the classroom. Lianne Perreault-Raymond, Curriculum Consultant for SCDSB inserviced the teachers looking at different reading strategies and comprehending in action. Synthesizing allows students to make meaning out of what they read so the teachers who attended the workshop learned different ways to use this strategy in their classrooms. This inservice helped the teachers examine the different ways to improve higher order thinking with their students.
Marymount Launches Their 2010 Heart and Stroke Campaign – “Strokes for Stroke”
Students at Marymount Academy launched the official kick off to their 2010 Heart and Stroke Campaign on February 3, 2010. The theme for the school’s campaign is “Strokes for Stroke” as the main fundraiser will involve the girls paying for a dress-down day and will be going to the Laurentian University swimming pool to enjoy an Olympic themed pool party. This theme was chosen for several reasons. Firstly, the girls wanted to promote exercise and a healthy lifestyle and swimming fits the bill. Secondly, they wanted to tie the event to the Olympics so the pool party will include several Olympic themed games and events with the several prizes to be won. On hand for the launch were several community partners including Mayor John Rodriquez and Police Chief Frank Elsner. Mayor Rodriquez spoke to the girls about the importance of community involvement and physical fitness. Rodriquez said that he was always delighted to visit Marymount as it is a school of heart and spirit. As February is Heart month, he stressed the importance of giving from the heart to support this mementous campaign and their involvement “says a lot about who you are as a individual, as a school and as citizens of Sudbury.” Chief Elsner also spoke to the girls about how he his family has been personally affected by heart disease and stroke and stressed that one of the main initiatives of the Greater Sudbury Police Service was getting involved with youth initiatives. Elner told the girls that he loved visiting Marymount because it is the school with the most spirit and he knows that with the students getting involved in this campaign, it shows that “our future is in good hands.”
Several other business were on hand as they have already begun to donate to the campaign. Lise Callahan, a teacher from Marymount who organized this event spoke to the girls about the importance of what they were undertaking. “We need to make the community aware that this is a problem for people of all ages. It does not just affect older adults, in fact, heart disease and stroke causes one in every three deaths in Canada every year.” The students will also be raising funds through raffles and other school events to support this significant campaign
Teachers Getting Even “Smarter” with the Smartboard
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board Technology Integration Mentors (T.I.M.’s) have been very busy the last few months inservicing our teachers in Smartboard training. Every elementary teacher who currently has a Smartboard in their classroom has been receiving Smartboard inservicing to help them better use this unique technology. Jennifer Connelly, one of the SCDSB T.I.M’s teachers said that by February 12, 2010, all of these elementary teachers at our board who have a Smartboard will be Level 1 certified trained.
St. David Catholic Elementary School Celebrates Family Literacy Day with Community
Students at St. David Catholic Elementary School celebrated Family LIteracy Day on January 27 with visits from many different special guests. Local celebrities and community partners joined the different classes and read together to celebrate the joy of reading. Some of the guests included Tony Ryma from CTV News, Constables Grant Dokis and Ryan MacKay, three Sudbury Wolves players, as well as board staff including Joan Yawney the Religious Education, Family Life and Faith Formation Consultant and Maurizio Visentin, Guidance Program Leader at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. The students also enjoyed visits from their own family members and different staff family relatives. The St. David’s community was thrilled with their special guests and look forward to future visits!
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre Launches Breakfast Program
St. Albert Adult Learning Centre officially launched its new Breakfast Program on February 1, 2010 to rave reviews. Students were at the school bright and early to help staff prepare for the first day of the program. St. Albert Office Supervisor, Ann Brisebois made sure that everything was ready and organized so that the students had healthy food options when arriving at the school. The program is funded by the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Human League. When asked about how she felt about the meal being provided at the school, student Angele St. Germain said that that it was fantastic. “It is absolutely excellent to get to school and have breakfast ready for us.” said St. Germain. “It is one less thing I have to worry about in the morning and makes it easier to start my day!”
Olympic Family Literacy Day at St. Mary
Family Literacy Day had an Olympic Theme at St. Mary Catholic School in Capreol. Students were able to use computers to search for answers to a scavenger hunt, decorate and then eat “medal” cookies, learn about the Olympic Rings and then create their own symbols to represent peace through sports, and also learn about the four Olympic mascots by utilizing the Smartboard and viewing video clips. But the best part of the day was seeing the Olympic Torch from the Torch Relay and one of the 12,000 torch bearers! James Callaghan, son of Steve Callaghan Chaplain at St. Charles College, visited with the students and staff in his Torch Relay regalia. James was a torch bearer in Collingwood on December 29, 2009. He showed video clips of his run and shared pictures of his brother, Nick, who was a torch bearer in Sault Ste. Marie. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is presented by Coca-Cola and RBC, and James was honoured to have been selected a torch bearer through the Coca-Cola contest he entered. James was chosen based on his extensive community involvement and an essay he wrote. James brought the torch so that students and staff could see and hear about the sacred history of the Olympic Flame, symbolizing the principles of peace, brotherhood and friendship. Every student had the opportunity to carry the Torch – what a thrill! Each student is now eagerly looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; they feel as if they have a personal connection to the games.