Several St. Gabriel’s Villa residents gathered together on June 28 to take in a performance by the Grade 2/3 students from St. Charles Catholic Elementary School. Under the guidance of teacher Michelle Robinson, the students had been working tirelessly for the past three months on their “Music and Dance from Communities Around the World “ concert. The students took the residents on a virtual airplane journey through a multi-media presentation and through slides, and video, gave a description of each “destination” before each act. The dancing and music was then reflective of the country they had a stopover in. Some of the places that were “visited” included South Africa, Cuba, New Zealand, Greece, China and the Siksika First Nation Reserve in Canada. The final act of the show was a spectacular Hula dance reflecting Hawaiian culture, performed by the students’ teacher. According to Robinson, “the goal of the concert, was not only to create a culminating task that would integrate Social Studies, Music and Dance, but also to create a memorable and authentic experience for the children.” The residents showed their appreciation for the students’ performance with enthusiastic applause and huge smiles for the kids. Sandra St. Denis, Principal of the school, expressed her gratitude for “Miss Robinson’s dedication to student learning and her amazing creativity.” The class was rewarded for a job well done with juice and cookies after the performance, and were invited to visit them again in the new school year.
Category: Student
St. Anne Kindergarten Student Authors Her Way Into Prize Winning Story
How young can you be to write your own story? Just ask St. Anne School student Ashlyn Carrierre. She is the newest recipient of the Ontario Catholic Elementary Teacher’s Young Author Award for 2011. Ashlyn is a student within the English Senior Kindergarten class at the Sudbury Catholic School in Hanmer. In January of this year, she wrote her own fairy tale entitled, “Princess Shalla and Prince Aucoinia Get Kidnapped.” Her story was then submitted to the Young Author’s contest in the fiction category for the Junior and Senior Kindergarten division. In April, the school received notification that Ashlyn’s story had won!
“I am so excited,” said Ashlyn. “I am so happy that I got a plaque. It feels really good to be an author.” In an awards ceremony that took place on June 17th, Ashlyn was presented with a plaque for her wall. The plaque shows not only Ashlyn’s name, but also the title of her fairy tale. The Ontario English Catholic Teacher’s Sudbury Unit President, Mr. Kent MacNeill, presented the award to Ashlyn in front on the entire school body as well as her family who were also attending. Her classroom teacher, Cheryl MacRury, told the assembled group that Ashlyn had a wonderful imagination for a little girl of her age and that she was very deserving of this award. Ashlyn knew that fairy tales started with “Once upon a time” and that they ended with everyone “living happily ever after”. She had picked her own characters and setting. She had come up with a problem for the characters and then the solution. And finally, all on her own, Ashlyn had used words like ferocious, sparkly, huge and dungeon, as well as names like Queen Shata, Princess Shalla, and Prince Aucoinia.
Ashlyn may or may not be Ontario’s newest author, but there is a good chance that she may be Ontario’s youngest author. Both staff and students from St. Anne School hope to one day be able to walk into Chapters and read books that Ashlyn has authored. She is certainly a little girl with a wonderful ability to write entertaining stories. Good luck with your talent in the future Ashlyn! St. Anne School is very proud of you!
Sudbury Catholic Schools Launch Poster Campaign – “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers”
National Aboriginal Day is about celebrating pride and culture and that is just what
Sudbury Catholic District School Board did with the launch of their poster campaign “In the Wisdom of Our Grandmothers” during Better Beginnings Better Futures’ celebrations at O’Connor Park. This series of seven posters represents each of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. It also features families from our schools. The concept is about honouring our first teachers, our mothers. Each poster has three generations of women on them, grandmother, mother and daughter. Director, Catherine McCullough commented, “we are honoured to have families involved in creating this excellent resource for our schools. Their participation in this initiative speaks to their pride as Aboriginal women and to their commitment to Aboriginal Education at Sudbury Catholic. What better day to celebrate this but, National Aboriginal Day.”
E-Waste Collection at Marymount Academy
The entire student body of Marymount Academy was issued a challenged by one of the computer studies classes. “Bring in your garbage” was what the girls were asked – but not just any garbage. Students and staff have been asked to bring in all of their e-waste for the week of May 30 to June 3, 2011. This collection was the idea of teacher Desiree Lacourciere’s class after having several conversations about the effect of electronic waste on the environment. The students contacted a company called Greentec to help them with their collection. As well, the class divided into groups and put together short videos to inspire the entire school to join them in their collection. All of the videos were viewed and voted on, and the winning video was premiered for the entire school at the e-waste collection launch on May 30. When addressing the students, Lacourciere encouraged all students and staff to talk to their families and find whatever old electronics they had to contribute. “My students were the inspiration for this initiative,” Lacourciere said. “ In class we learned so much about the harmful effects of electronics on the environment and we knew that we couldn’t just sit back – we had to get on board as a school community.” Lucie Cullen, principal of the school echoed Lacourciere’s encouragement and spoke of the importance of getting involved. “At Sudbury Catholic Schools, we are called to be stewards of the earth, and at Marymount Academy we always take action when we are passionate about what we believe in.”
The students have one week to collect items such as old computers, printers, printer cartridges, cell phones, batteries, digital cameras, monitors, televisions etc.
“Heart Heroes” Make A Difference At St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
Primary and Junior students at St. Anne School in Hanmer questioned teacher, Mrs. Desmarais. “What is a Heart Hero?” Mrs. Desmarais’ response was that a Heart Hero was anyone that wanted to help keep all kid’s hearts strong and healthy. She outlined to students how they could work together to make a difference not only to their own health, but to the future of healthy hearts everywhere. Those words were all that the Catholic Board students needed to hear. In association with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the elementary students participated in the “Jump Rope for Heart” fundraiser.
The students prepared for the event by raising pledges. Next, they began a campaign of improving their skipping skills and stamina during gym classes and recesses. A skipping “phenomena” took over the school. The school administration and teachers helped with the excitement by offering incentives for students with the most pledges. Goals of $1000.00 to $5000.00 or more would result in students being able to throw pies at staff members in front of the entire student body. Mr. Guy Mathieu, the school principal, stated, “The amount of enthusiasm that has been generated with this fundraiser is incredible! I am always amazed at the school spirit demonstrated by the students, not only with their efforts in bringing in pledges, but also at their enthusiasm within the gym at the actual pie throwing contest.” All money amounts raised are put to good use by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. A pledge of as little as $5.00 can be used to purchase test tubes for lifesaving research, while funds of up to $150.00 can be used to buy a blood pressure monitor to keep patients healthy.
The fundraising activity was a huge success! More than $5000.00 was raised. A school assembly will be held in June where staff members will keep their promises to the St. Anne “Heart Heroes.” Even though the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is over, school skipping ropes are still in demand by students in all grade levels. The Sudbury Catholic Board students have learned, “They can make a difference in the lives of others!” Way to go Angels!
School Works as a Team to Support Community
St. David School parent Council, along with parent and community volunteers support the Donovan and Flour Mill communities by hosting a “Community Closet” every month at St. David Catholic School. The volunteers collect gently used clothing, toys, books and home appliances throughout each month and then offer these items to community members, students and families in need. The volunteers include grade 8 students, parents and community members wanting to support their neighbours. The “community closet” will start again in September 2011, when the next school year begins. St. David parent Council, “thanks everyone for their generosity and support”. They “appreciate the donations and feel great that they were able to give back to their community”.
Local School Overflows with Parents’ Support
The parents of St. David Catholic School flooded the school during a recent student led conference and showcase portfolio morning. The staff prepared a quiet area in the school for parents and students to conference about student success using student showcase portfolios, but was flooded with so many parents, grandparents, neighbours and even babysitters that they had to empty 3 other classrooms and use these spaces for additional conference areas. The school staff was delighted with the unexpected family turnout, but did have to make some quick adjustments for sheer numbers.
“Student led conferencing is when you have students conduct formal conferences with their parents or guests to display their school work as well as discuss their learning, educational goals and strategies for meeting those goals. Student led conferencing puts students at the heart of the process so that they have the opportunity to tell the story of their own achievement and successes. These conferences offer an authentic outside audience necessary for portfolios to be serious, real world tasks and they bring parents into the assessment process”, explained school literacy coach, Jennifer Gran. Dawn Wemigwans, school principal stated, “We most definitely plan to do this again. It was a great success for our school. Our students and their parents were visibly proud of each other and of course we were too.”
St. Albert Participates in Spring Clean Up
Staff and students at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre did their part to keep their community clean. They participated in a spring clean up of area streets around the school. They received supplies and support from the city and in the end, picked up over 20 bags of garbage from around the neighbourhood.
Beaded Bracelets for Shannen
The story of Shannen Koostachin who stood up for what she believed made a strong impression on Native Studies students of St. Charles College, who decided to give her a helping hand. Shannen, a member of Attawapiskat First Nation, believed that all children in Canada deserve the best start in education, regardless of where they live or where they come from. Tragically, Shannen died in a car accident in 2010 and Shannen’s Dream was created- a charity to support the children of Attawapiskat in their quest for a proper school. The Native Studies students beaded bracelets and baked cupcakes to sell at St. Charles College, to support Shannen’s Dream on April 27th, the National Day of Action. “Shannen showed great courage in speaking up for the children on Parliament Hill. It felt good to support her dream,”said Native Studies student, Leeann Peltier.