The St. Paul Running Club participated in the 10th annual SudburyROCKS road race on Sunday, May 10th 2015. A total of 17 students and 4 teachers participated in the 5km race around downtown Sudbury. Pictured are the students and teachers Mme Gautheir, Mme Hayes and Mlle Vendramin sporting their race shirts and finishing medals.
Category: Student Achievement
SCDSB Celebrates Sixth Annual Turning Points Essay Contest Awards
Invited students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered together on May 6, 2015 to take part in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Sixth annual Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony. This essay contest is an initiative that stems from the Learning Partnership, which is an organization that champions a strong public education system to deliver innovative programs, credible research, policy initiatives, executive leadership and public engagement across Canada. Turning Points is a character development and literacy program that allows students to reflect on their fundamental values and, through a process of self-reflection and dialogue, write a narrative essay about a significant event, or turning point in their lives. The Turning Points Essay Contest is a powerful character development and literacy program that all 4 of our secondary schools, as well as the intermediate students at St. Anne participated in this year. There are 3 divisions, Grade 7/8, Grade 9/10 and Grade 11/12. Cash prizes were awarded for secondary essays and all essays will also be published in an annual anthology that will be sent to students and participating schools next year. The students that took part in this contest and authored the winning essays were awarded plaques, a copy of the publication, as well as monetary awards at the celebration. Joanne Bénard, Director of Education for the Board was on hand for the celebration and awarded the students their prizes. After hearing the students read their essays, Bénard was visibly moved by their words and experiences. “I want to thank these students for sharing with us your strength and resiliency, and for being able to see the shining light in your experiences,” Bénard stated. “You have shown us that everyday is a blessing by sharing your emotional stories of strength and courage, accounts of laughter and tears, your deepest secrets, greatest fears, and biggest triumphs. What emerges as these essays take shape is just magic, and it reminds us all of the goodness and beauty in all of our students.”
Top Winners include:
Grade 11/12 Division
First Place – Mia Tullio
Second Place – Emily Brohart
Third Place – Taylor Emery
Grade 9/10 Division
First Place – Jenna Hoolans
Second Place – Julia Moore
Third Place – Alexis Gunther
Grade 7/8 Awards
First Place- Madison Penrose
Second Place – Amy Lucas
Third Place – Kaylee Kruk
Sudbury Catholic Schools – Relays for Life at St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul
As part of their school’s Catholic Education activities, St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul Catholic Elementary Schools held an in-school Relay for Life on Friday, May 8, 2015. For St. John, this year marks the school’s seventh year hosting the event. St. John teacher and event organizer Irene Raymond was talking to staff at the other two schools and decided that they too would start an in-school Relay for Life event. At each school, students, staff and invited guests started off their day in the gymnasium to listen to speakers from their own school communities talk about their own experiences, as well as local cancer organizations talk about the positive impact the schools’ relays have on the community.
All three schools surpassed their fundraising goals with St. John raising over $4500, St. Paul raising over $6400 and St. Anne raising over $13,500.
Organizer and St. John teacher was overwhelmed with the participation and fundraising efforts at all three schools. “What an amazing turnout for all three Sudbury Catholic schools! I am so very proud of our successes! It was truly an amazing and emotionally humbling experience – we are all so proud of the efforts of all the students, staff, families and community partners that supported this year’s Relay for Life events – it is so very touching and impactful!”
Young St. Bernadette Poets Get Noticed
The students of St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School were in the spotlight at a Poetry Café hosted at Chapters for Catholic Education week. Their tremendous creativity caught the eye of Tom Leduc, Sudbury’s Poet Laureate. Leduc was in attendance and is interested in featuring some of the poetic versus on his website which is featured on the Greater Sudbury Public Library website.
The poems presented were written by students as part of their poetry study for Language Arts classes. Topics included: My family, my sibling, my pet, the environment and even one about tacos.
World Religion Study Project Leads to Elaborate 3D Synagogues Designs
Give Grade 11 French Immersion students at St. Charles College a challenge and they will meet and exceed it. The students are studying world religions this semester. As part of their Judaism studies, they were given the task to build a 3D synagogue including all the necessary elements of a synagogue on the inside.
Teacher Jessica Demore says “The students stepped up to the challenge. One group completed the task using 321 spoons to build their synagogue. Others got fancy and virtual and constructed their synagogues using the ever popular building program, Minecraft.”
The French Immersion students will be visiting a synagogue later this month as part of their studies. They will also study Islam and Hinduism, all the while comparing it to their Catholic faith before the end of the school year.
Regals Fight Cancer Campaign Surpasses Goal
On April 24, 2015, Katherine Boyce, Marymount Academy student and the school’s Catholic Charities Council president asked the entire school student body to stand up if they have ever had anyone in their life that had been affected by cancer. One by one, every single student, staff member, and invited guest stood up. Upon seeing the entire gym full of people on their feet, Boyce spoke to the group, “This is why we stand up to Cancer –this is why Regals Fight Cancer!” The school wrapped up their Regals Fight Cancer campaign with a variety of head-shaving, dying, hair donating, and leg shaving – which was all dependent upon the amount of monies raised to support one of their own – a grade 12 student who is battling cancer, and to give to the Northeastern Ontario Cancer Foundation. In the end, the Regals surpassed their $10,000 goal, raising over 21,000 dollars to support their fellow regal and the NOCF. Heads were shaved and dyed, and the students enjoyed seeing their teachers support both Marymount, and Greater Sudbury community by following through on their promises. Several students and teachers also had their hair cut and donated for wigs for chemotherapy patients who have lost their hair. Lucie Cullen, principal of the school was emotional throughout the presentation. “Katherine Boyce made mention at the beginning of the presentation that Marymount is a family,” Cullen explained. “And in every sense of the word this is true. Today shows how close we are as a school community, a strong Regal family, supporting one of our own as well as giving back to our city. As always this school community makes us incredibly proud!”
Spelling Like a Champ
Marymount Academy student Julia Burns is a spelling bee champ. The grade 8 student recently won the regional spelling bee for the Regional completion for the intermediate division which was held at Tom Davies Square on April 12, 2015. On May 3, Burns will be traveling to Toronto to take part in the provincial spelling bee sponsored by the Spelling Bee of Canada. Burns has always enjoyed spelling and has taken part in previous competitions, but had never come out on top. Encouraged by her teacher Debra Michaud, the Marymount Academy student decided to give it a go and studied the 2015 Study List to prepare for the competition. When asked about the upcoming event, Burns was quick to say she was very nervous but excited to take part. “We are extremely proud of Julia and her efforts,” Lucie Cullen, Marymount Academy principal stated. “She is a delightful girl and we know she will represent Marymount strong in the next stage of the competition, like a true Regal!”
BACCSS Students Tops at OTSC
The Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC) is Canada’s largest skilled trades competition, hosting over 65 contests, 1,900 competitors and 20,000 spectators at RIM Park in Waterloo. One of those 65 contests is TV Video Production, and in order to compete at the OTSC, participants must first make it through a qualifying round. On Saturday, April 18th, 2015, Christine Harte and Autumn Millar, two Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) Information & Communications Technology (ICT) students at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, travelled to Canadore College in North Bay to compete againstt other teams from various secondary schools around Northern Ontario. Only the top three competitors who received at least a 60% score in the qualifying round were permitted into the OTSC. The task was to produce a thirty-second public service announcement video on the theme of cyberbullying. Competitors had to complete their filming and editing within a specific amount of time, after which their work would be critiqued, reviewed and evaluated by a number of judges. When the results came in, Christine and Autumn were awarded first place, and will now be competing in Waterloo on May 5th for the provincial title. “Christine and Autumn are excellent students,” says Steven Facchini, the teacher of the SHSM ICT program at Bishop Carter. “Aside from video production, they’ve demonstrated excellence in 2D graphic design, 3D modelling, web development, game programming and various other media production skills I teach in my program. We are all extremely proud of them. They are undoubtedly looking forward to the OTSC in May.”
“The Blue Dot Movement” at St. Charles Elementary
St Charles Catholic Elementary School participated in the National Day of Action with “The Blue Dot Movement” from the David Suzuki Foundation on April 17, 2015 All 344 students wrote their wishes for the planet Earth on their own blue dot and watched a video about Canadians wishing to make a difference for our country and our Earth as part of the monthly virtue of Stewardship. The students are excited about celebrating Earth Day as they will also be signing a letter addressed to the mayor and Sudbury council asking for their support in adding the following 3 items to the Charter of Rights and Freedom:
1) The right to clean air
2) The right to clean drinking water
3) The right to pesticide free food
“We want our students to understand just how important it is to be stewards of the earth,” Dave Soehner, principal of St. Charles. “Through this Blue Dot Movement, our students have really come to understand how important these basic necessities are to the entire planet and that it is everyone’s job to help make it happen. They understand that they have a voice and can help be a part of the change.”
Anyone can join from coast to coast to protect the people and places we love. Find out more at bluedot.nationbuilder.com