The St. Paul Choir under the direction of Ms Kristine Shewchuk and Mme Ashley Nodwell participated at the Kiwanis Music Festival at the end of March. The choir, consisting of over 40 members from Grades 1 to 6, sang the song “I Am a Small Part of the World” by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse. After a lot of hard work and practice, the students were very excited to receive a Gold Award. At the Kiwanis Award Ceremony, the choir was also recognized with the “Elementary School Choir Award”. The adjudicator wrote “What an absolutely enjoyable and thoroughly engaging performance today!” The staff, students and parents are very proud of their dedication in keeping music alive in our school.
Category: Student Achievement
St. Raphael Presented with $5000 Cheque and One Surprise to Support Lifeskills Students
International members from the United Commercial Travellers (UCT) were on hand at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School on April 9 to present the Lifeskills class with a cheque for $5000. Several months earlier, teacher Elissa Zuliani decided to enter her Lifeskills class in a contest she had read about in one of the UCT catalogues. The contest was open to all North American schools who support students with intellectual disabilities. Zuliani put together a two minute video that showcased the exceptional qualities and values that her students possess. The final winner was to be decided by votes so, after a heated battle for first place with Eldon High School in Eldon, Missouri, the students at St. Raphael placed second.
Visibly moved during the presentation, Zuliani thanked the representatives from UCT International including the CEO of UCT –Joe Hoffman from Ohio as well as the International President of UCT – Bob Kellog from Michigan. Also on hand for the presentation were several members of the local UCT branch. Zuliani also thanked her fellow teachers, parent council members and all of the parents of her students. “We are so proud of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and the Greater City of Sudbury for their votes of support,” Zuliani stated. “This was truly Sudbury at its best! I thank UCT for this incredible funding which will enhance their learning. I am overwhelmed both professionally and personally – it is not about the money, it is about the message –that people with disabilities are valuable members of society and it is our obligation to support them and to nurture them – mind, body and spirit”. The members of the local UCT decided to surprise the staff and students with an additional cheque for $2500 as they felt the students should have won first place. As well, the students were promised a pizza lunch in the upcoming days as part of the celebration. The money will go towards the purchase of technology to support the Lifeskills students in their ongoing learning.
St. Raphael Celebrates their “Hero”
St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School Students, staff and community partners were on hand to celebrate one of their own on Wednesday, April 9. Primary Lifeskills student Wii’um Morin was the honoured guest as he has been selected to be one of the Canadian Down syndrome heroes for 2014. The school wanted to show Wii’um how proud they were of him, and spoke of his outstanding character, creativity and loving spirit. Wii’um took it all in stride while sitting on the stage, and quietly listened as teacher Kelly Beaton spoke of his exceptional personality, and unique outlook on life.
Sizzling Science at SCDSB Science Fair
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board would like to congratulate the following students and schools on their excellent achievements at recent Board-Wide Science Fair on March 26. After the judges had completed their task, thirteen projects were selected to advance to the Regional Science Fair to be held at Laurentian University on April 12th, 2014.
Best of luck to all students in the upcoming Regional Science Fair.
Sudbury Catholic Schools, Science Fair Winners
Marymount Academy
Brittany Thorton – Viscosity: Can it Save You?
Julie Burns – Screen Time and Depression
Sophia Zulich – Electronic Lemons
Mackenzie Bruce – Cotton Cruelty
Emelia Kucyk – Video Game for the Blind
Dana Rachkowski and Hailey McDonald – Aquaponics
Alessandra Kempson – the Effects of WiFi
St. Raphael
Billy Moskal – Does Colour Affect Plant Life?
Emma Dionne – Does Music Affect Your Ability to Memorize?
Colton Gobbo – Hoe Do Video Games Affect Your Health?
St. Ben’s
Laura Rinaldi – Magnetic Spring
Enoch Kim and Max Rizzard – Gauging Gauss and Fluctuating Ferrofluid
St. James
Marina Leblanc – Les pieds froids
Marymount Regals Take OFSSA Curling Gold
The Marymount Regals curling team came home OFSAA champions this past weekend with an 8-3 win over Brockville in Brampton. The team, consisting of skip Krysta Burns, vice, Monica Graham, second Cynthia Furlotte and lead Kaylyn Collin and Kayla Nickson were elated with their gold medal win and the school’s second curling crown ever, and first since 1981. Team coach/teacher Brenda Thompson was extremely proud of the girls and was thrilled that they played so well and remained undefeated during every round. “I, as well as the rest of the school, are so proud of this team and their commitment to playing to the best of their ability,” Thompson said. “ Many of the students and staff were able to watch the final game line online, and were ecstatic to see the team crowned as the provincial champions, which is an absolutely incredible accomplishment!”
St. Ben’s Robotics Team Mentor Rookie BAC Team
On November 14th, 2013, seven St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School students along with the teacher lead, Julianne Falconi, conducted grade level presentations to Bishop Alexander Carter students.
St. Benedict was the first school in the Catholic Board to participate in FIRST Robotics, an innovative competition that combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to raise funds, hone teamwork skills, design, manufacture, and program robots to perform prescribed tasks againstt a field of competitors (www.usfirst.org). Last year, team ‘RoBenedicts’ attended a regional competition in Toronto as well as the World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
St. Benedict is excited to announce that there will be two new schools joining in on the robotics program: Bishop Alexander Carter and St. Charles College. St. Benedict will be mentoring and guiding these two teams throughout the off-season, robot build-season, and competitions. “We are happy to be mentoring other schools that are participating in FIRST Robotics. The experience is incredible and it’s exciting to see more people getting involved,” said Team Captain, Mark Abantao.
The goal of the presentation was to spark student interest and recruit members for the newly formed BAC team. Overall, it was very successful, and the St. Benedict students will be attending St. Charles on Monday November 25th.
In attendance from St. Benedict were Mark Abantao (Team Captain), Max Bennett and Brendan Sullivan (Engineering Leads), Elisa Basik and Francesco Modesto (Business Leads), Carter Bourette (Programming Lead), Owen Sarmatiuk (Strategy Lead), and Ms. Falconi (Teacher Lead).
St. James Students Winners in Community Writing Contest
Local newspaper Walden Today held a writing contest for their students about helping the environment. St. James Catholic Elementary School was recently notified that four of their students were winners in the contest. In Gr. 2 Lucas Mullaly took First Prize, Gr. 4 Jackson Drigo took Third Prize, Gr. 6 Claire Niemelainen took Second Prize and Patricia Deschenes took Third Prize. The students will attend a formal celebration at Tom Davies Arena to receive their prizes. Congratulations Bears!
“Wrecking Ball Face-Off” at St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School
In order to help meet their fundraising goal for the Terry Fox walk, the Teachers of St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School challenged students to a wrecking ball face off. On Friday, September 27, 2013, students paid a toonie to try to knock their teachers off of an inflatable wrecking ball to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation. The teachers and students had a blast, and to date have raised over $3674.00!
St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School Supports Terry Fox National Run Day
On Thursday, September 26, 2013, the students and staff of St. Raphael Catholic Elementary School participated in the annual Terry Fox School Run Day. By participating in this event, students shared in Terry’s example of generosity, spirit, and compassion. So far students have raised about $3600.00 and have made a difference in the lives of so many people! Not only did students raise funds for cancer research, but they learned from Terry’s example of never giving up, and helping others.