Students from Marymount Academy walked away from the region’s ninth annual Sudbury regional Envirothon competition as winners. In fact, the school’s two entries took the top two spots in this year’s competition. The Envirothon is a hands-on environmental program for students in Grades 9-12 and creates awareness about environmental issues in a variety of subject areas. Teams of 5 students prepare for the competition by intensely studying the various topics as well as preparing themselves to put together a project at the competition related to a different environmental issue -which is chosen every year. This year’s topic was “Protection of Groundwater Through Urban, Agriculture and Environmental Planning”.
Jason Weiler, the Marymount teacher in charge of the team has been involved with the Envirothon for the past 6 years and his teams have taken the top spot for 5 of those years. “It is a real credit to my students who continue to embrace the environment,” Weiler stated. “They are extremely dedicated to the team, and to being stewards of the earth, and am extremely proud of their achievements.”
Teammate Jenna Floyd (Grade 10) who is on the first place team was thrilled with their win and was excited for the upcoming competition. “It was a fantastic learning experience for us,” Floyd said. “It has really given us a chance to take our academics outside the classroom and embrace learning in a whole new environment.”
Both teams from Marymount will be moving on to the Provincial competition which will be held May 5th – 8th at the Tim Horton Onondaga Farms in St. George, Ontario.
Category: Student Achievement
Kiwanis Festival Awards Gold to St. Anne Music Student
It has been a year filled with long hours of practice, but the efforts have paid off for Haley Blinn, a Gr.8 French Immersion student at St. Anne School. Haley recently competed in the Kiwanis Music Festival where she took home the Gold Award for her baritone sax solo.
Haley actually participated in 2 festival competitions during the day. One was with her Sudbury Catholic School Band comprised of members from 4 Catholic elementary schools under the direction of Ms. Joanne Comisso, vice-principal of St. Anne School, and Mrs. Leann Urso, instrumental band teacher at St Francis, St. Raphael and Pius XII Elementary schools. Haley won silver with the band, which was a great honour, but when asked about her gold Award win, Haley was ecstatic. She said, “I was very nervous but like everything else, practice helps. I think it is the practicing that helped me win the gold.” Ms. Comisso congratulated Haley on all of her hard work and outstanding contribution to the band. All the staff and students at St. Anne School are very proud of you Haley and we wish you continued success with music in your future! Way to go Angel!
Inaugural Personal Support Worker Class Graduates from St. Albert
Family and friends gathered in the gym at St Albert Adult Learning Centre on February 25th, 2011 to celebrate with the students of the school’s inaugural Personal Support Worker graduating class. Nineteen students made up the graduating class and, as well as a Personal Support Worker Diploma, several students also received their Secondary School Diploma. Cassandra MacGregor, Principal of the school addressed the students and spoke about how proud the staff and community is of the group. “By the year 2020, statistics say that one in every five Greater Sudbury residence will be over the age of sixty-five, and the need for this service is growing rapidly,” MacGregor said. “ Through their perseverance and determination, this class has demonstrated great skill and knowledge, and I know that my family and friends will be in good hands if and when these students’ skills are ever required.”
Deputy Mayor Jocelyn Landry-Altmann and Sudbury Catholic Board Chair Barry MacDonald echoed MacGregor’s sentiments and also congratulated the class for their courage and will to succeed in the program.
Numerous community partners and agencies were also on hand to support the students as many did on the job placements with the different organizations. Several of the students have already been offered jobs beginning immediately after the graduation. Valedictorian of the class, Brenda Legrow, spoke to the group about their success and voiced her elation at finally reaching this stage. “It is through the strength of our minds, our bodies and our hearts, that we have made it here today,” Legrow said. “And we need to thank ourselves for overcoming all of our own trials and tribulations and making it this far in our journey.”
The next group of students has already begun their classes this past January and the staff of St. Albert expects the interest in this program to steadily increase over the next year as with the growing aging population, the need for this type of job is rapidly expanding.
For more information on the Personal Support Worker program at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre, contact the school at (705) 673-3031.
St. Francis Champions of Bears’ Classic Boys’ Elementary Basketball Tournament
This past weekend, the St. Francis “A” took home the gold at the annual Bears’ Classic Boys’ Elementary Basketball Tournament.
Congratulations Flames!
Final Standings
Bronze – Pincrest
Silver – St. Denis
Gold – St. Francis
All-Star Selections
St. Denis – #10 Imho Traoré
St. Denis – #23 Matthieu Trottier
St. Francis -#14 Chase Presacco
St. Francis – #4 Nico Presot
St. Francis -#22 Kordell Simmons
St. Charles College-Mock Trial Champions!
They practiced for hours, afterschool and on weekends, but the students in teacher Jaime Sauve’s Grade 12 Academic Law class really didn’t expect to be the Hennessey Cup Mock Trial champions. “These kids put in a lot of really, really hard work and effort,” Sauve said, “and we went into to the competition bringing our absolute best, but we didn’t anticipate such a great final result!”
The St. Charles College Mock Trial team practiced for several months on their assigned case which involved an impaired driving incident. The students had to be prepared to argue both for the prosecution and defence, and only found out at the trial which side they would actually be arguing for. In the end, the team had to argue for the defence both for their initial presentation, as well as in the final round againstt the team from Lockerby. Each team had a lawyer assigned to them to assist them with their preparation for the competition and the team from S.C.C. worked with James Ross from the law firm of Conroy Trebb Scott Hurtubise LLP as well as with local lawyer Len Walker. Both lawyers were very committed to helping the team prepare for the competition and the students are very grateful to them for all of their help.
In April, the students will travel to Toronto to compete at the Provincial Mock trial competition and recognize that they have a lot more work to do to prepare. “Now we are representing Sudbury and that is a huge deal to us,” Sauve said. “The students are committed to continuing their focus and are excited about the upcoming competition.”
Mock trial competitor and student Kayla Dumont was thrilled with the result at the courthouse and feels that this whole experience will help her for he future career path. “This mock trial and all of the preparation involved really gave me insight as to what a real career in law will be like,” Dumont said. “It has now inspired me to explore my options for a possible career in this field.”
Fellow competitor Sara Rovinelli also enjoyed this whole experience. “This competition has taught me how really think on my feet and how to adapt quickly to situations and respond under pressure – all qualities that will help me later on in life.”
The students wanted to make sure to thank their teacher Jamie Sauve for her dedication to the team, lawyers James Ross and Len Walker for their commitment to helping the students throughout this whole process, as well Madame Justice Patricia C. Hennessy for providing them with this positive learning opportunity.
As well as winning the overall competition, students Sara Rovinelli won the Best Advocate Defense award and Noel Walker won the Best Witness award.
St. Mark Catholic Elementary School Student Advances in Lions International Peace Poster Contest
Alyssa Kotanko. a grade 6 student at St- Mark Catholic Elementary School has taken the first step to becoming an internationally recognized artist by winning a local competition sponsored by the Warren & District Lions Club.
Alyssa’s poster was among more than 375,000 entries submitted worldwide in the 23rd annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the contest to emphasize the importance of world Peace to young people everywhere.
“Peace on earth and goodwill toward human kind”, the 11 years old from Markstay said. The posters were selected by the school’s administration for its originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the contest theme “Vision of Peace”. The judging was held at the end of October at the school.
Markstay & District Lions Club President, Lion Steven Olsen, said he was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students at St- Mark School. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m so proud that we were able to provide them the opportunity to share their visions”
Kotanko’ s poster will advance to face stiff competition through the district, multiple and international rounds of competition if they are declared the international grand prize winner,” Lion Steven Olsen said.
One grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash award of US$5,000, plus a trip for the winner and two family members to the awards ceremony at Lions Day with the United Nations. The 23 merit award winners will each receive a certificate and a cash award of US$500.
“Our club is cheering for Alyssa as her poster advance in the competition, and we hope that her vision will ultimately be shared with others around the world,” Lion Steven Oslen said.
Locally, Alyssa will be honoured for her participation by the Warren & District Lions Club on November 25th at their award recognition ceremony.
View international grand prize and merit award winners at www.lionsclubs.org.
Turning Points at Sudbury Catholic
Students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered at the Sudbury Catholic District Board office on October 28, 2010 to take part in the SCDSB’s first annual Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony. This essay contest is an initiative which 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 Board was approach last year about piloting the program and SCDSB administration felt that it was a good fit for Sudbury Catholic students as it ties in well with faith-based curriculum and the monthly virtues that each school celebrates.
Students from Marymount Academy and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School in Grades 9 to 12 took part in this contest and their essays were then submitted to students at York University for the first tier of judging. Second tier judging occurred back at board level and then all names and winning essays were submitted back to Turning Points for publication. Students who wrote winning essays were awarded plaques, a copy of the publication, as well as monetary awards at Thursday night’s celebration.
At the awards ceremony, the students were honoured for their efforts and several students had the opportunity to read their essays allowed. The audience was visibly moved by these emotional accounts and several of the teachers involved spoke of the courage and strength of their students to be able to write such heart-felt accounts of their experiences. Jody Cameron, SCDSB Board Chair congratulated the students for their outstanding efforts and encouraged them to continue on their journey of self-discovery and emotional and spiritual growth.
English Teachers from all four Sudbury Catholic Secondary Schools participated in the Turning Points inservice on October 29 to prepare for their second semester’s English classes and Catherine McCullough, Director of Education expressed her delight that the program is now expanding. “I am thrilled that the pilot program met with such success at two of our secondary schools and know that expanding to all four will only mean that even more of our students will be able to participate in such a unique and rewarding writing initiative.”
Winning Essays included:
Grade 9/10 Awards
3rd place: Corissa VandeWeghe, Four Kisses
2nd place: Kalya Richardson, Another Person’s Mistakes
1st place: Jorden Barberio, Stripping the Blue Chair
Grade 11/12 Awards
3rd place: Alexandria Tsimiklis, A Final Goodbye
2nd place: Shelby Eyre, A Subtle Charisma
1st place: Jennifer Roy, An Unforgettable Encounter
St. Charles College Scores Big in Golf
St. Charles College won the city golf championships for team play in recent weeks finishing one stroke ahead of St. Benedict. John Maley finished second in individual play with a score of 73. For NOSSA, the boys finished a close second to North Bay. For individual play at NOSSA, Stephen Gonko finished tied for third with a score of 73 followed closely by Evan Purcell and John Maley. The Cards displayed outstanding shot making but came up just short to qualifying for OFSSAA. Team members were John Maley, Stehen Gonko, Even Purcell, Ryan Purcell and Brady Reilly.
Relay of Life 2010 – Rainbow of Hope
On June 18th 2010, students, staff and members of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Garson gathered for the 2nd annual Relay for Life. This year’s theme was, “Rainbow of Hope!” Each class was invited to show their “colour of the rainbow” by choosing a type of cancer and wearing its associated colour on the day of the walk. Students cheered on surviving family members, who proudly displayed on balloons, how many years they have been cancer free! Through donations and the purchase of luminaries in honour of those who have lost their lives, we were able to fund-raise $3200.00 to aid in cancer research! A huge thank you goes out to the Canadian Cancer Society, the Sudbury Health Unit, the CWL from St. John the Evangelist Parish, many volunteers as well as the students and staff from St. John school. Together, are making a difference!