Students at St. James Catholic Elementary school had the unique opportunity this past month to witness the hatching of baby ducks. Grade 5 student, Danielle Battistelli has a love for ducks so her family offered the school a whole kit including eggs, an incubator and all supplies and equipment needed in order to hatch some duck eggs. The school jumped at this chance to show students the miracle of new life and within a few weeks time the first batch of eggs hatched. Everyday at lunch, Battistelli and her friends set up a demonstration and are available to answer questions regarding the new hatchlings. As well, these students contribute to the morning announcements calling themselves “The Hatchers” and give daily updates on the ducklings. There have been eight ducks born so far and some students were lucky enough to witness the eggs cracking and seeing the ducks emerge. All of the new ducklings have been named and some of these names include Bubbles, Twitter and Chezabell. The Battistelli’s have contributed a few more eggs and when the first set of ducklings are ready to bring back to their house to be raised as pets, there will be a whole new set of ducklings for the students to observe. Grade One teacher Sarah Pappin found her students to be positively amazed by the whole process. “My students were absolutely awestruck when they saw the eggs hatch,” Pappin said. “They were speechless at first, and then couldn’t stop talking about how excited they were to see real baby ducks hatch.” Pappin explained that this was a fantastic opportunity for all the students at St. James to work with community partners, and families and have a hands on experience with new life.
Category: Student
St. Bernadette Soars in Jump Rope for Heart
Students at St. Bernadette Catholic School raised more than $3,400.00 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation during their annual Jump Rope for Heart campaign. The students stay active and help a great cause. This is certainly one physical activity that has many benefits. Recently the students from JK to grade 6 at St. Bernadette Catholic School participated in the various skipping events organized by the St. Charles College high school students from Mrs. Paola Gutscher’s class. Once again, the students received tremendous support from the families and friends for this fundraising event. They would like to thank all the pledge donors in their school community. A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Gutscher’s class for all their help in making this event a fun-filled afternoon.
St. Christopher’s Grade Three Class Making a Difference Across the Globe
The Grade 3 class at St. Christopher Catholic Elementary School spent the afternoon counting the grand total that they raised for the Ryan’s well foundation. They were excited to discover that they surpassed their goal and raised an amazing total of $318. Money was raised through a classroom bake sale and collection jar. They students were very proud that they were able to make a difference and were thrilled that the money will be going towards building a well in Africa.
And the Winner is…
On June 8, 2010, the three winning schools for 2009/2010 were presented with their prizes at the Board meeting. The winning schools of the SCS Conservation CHALLENGE for 2009/2010 were:
1st prize – Corpus Christi School
They (Principal/Lead Teacher and several lead students) were presented with a $1,500 cheque and the CHAMPION banner by Mr.Jody Cameron, Board Chairperson!
2nd prize – Immaculate Conception School
They (Principal/Lead Teacher and several lead students) were presented with a $500 cheque by Mr.Jody Cameron, Board Chairperson
3rd prize – St. Charles School
They (Principal/Lead Teacher and several lead students) were presented with a $500 cheque by Mr.Jody Cameron, Board Chairperson
With its ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility and stewardship, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board (SCDSB) once again launched the School Conservation CHALLENGE for the 4th consecutive year, in September!
In 2006, Senior Administration approved the creation of a contest/challenge that would enhance the effectiveness of the Dearness Conservation Program in addition to acknowledging “Environmental Champions” within our schools! Thus, the “SCDSB School Conservation CHALLENGE” was born.
The selection of the CHAMPIONS for the School Conservation CHALLENGE is based on a point system using the three following categories:
1. An unannounced site visit during the school year.
2. An interview with the Principal of each participating school.
3. Submission of reports and other relevant materials by the participating school.
The school that has attained the most points using these three categories is deemed the winner – the school wins $1,500 to put towards a greening project at their school and a banner that they can display with pride for the next year! Two runner-up schools receive each a prize of $500 for greening projects as well!
Previous winners include Pius XII School (2006/2007), Immaculate Conception School (2007/2008) and St. Francis School (2008/2009).
Hip-Hip-Hooray for Baby Day!!!
On June 10th, Sudbury Catholic staff who had a baby (or grand-baby) born in 2009 were invited to the Catholic Education Centre to celebrate together as a community. There were beautiful babies everywhere and the new moms, dads, grandparents and siblings enjoyed each other’s company while board office staff provided some helping hands in order for guests to enjoy prayer and lunch together. The first annual Sudbury Catholic Baby Day was a huge success and everyone in attendance were thrilled to have the opportunity to get to know the “graduating class of 2027”. Congratulations to all the families and huge thank-you’s to all those who helped organize this great day! We are already looking forward to next year!!
Golden Visit at St. John
Tessa Bonhomme inspired students and staff today at St. John School in Garson to never take their eye off the goal. Through a personal account of her struggles and triumphs during her twenty year career in hockey, we learned that with commitment, perseverance and hard work anything can happen – even a dream!
Congratulations all Award Recipients
It was a great night for Aboriginal students from St. Benedict CSS, Marymount Academy, and St. Charles College. Students from all three Catholic Secondary Schools walked away with awards ranging from excellence in athletics, extra-curricular involvement, academic achievement and cultural recognition. “It’s a wonderful way for the community to come together to support our students’ achievements” Shelly Frappier, Native Studies Teacher from St. Benedict CSS stated.
For the past six years, aboriginal students across the Sudbury area have been honoured for their accomplishments during the school year at the Aboriginal Secondary School Awards Banquet. The banquet honours achievements in a number of categories and encourages community, family and peers to come out and support our youth. “It makes me feel very proud when I see former students of mine up on stage being honoured for graduating secondary school” explained Verna Hardwick, Native Language Teacher at St. David and St. Raphael schools. Verna Hardwick and her Ojibwe language students sang the opening honour song, said the opening prayer in Ojibwe and closed the evening with a closing song.
Special thanks to the wonderful staff of the United Way and Gezhtoojig Employment and Training who sponsor this event, in conjunction with local school boards and community agencies.
Congratulations to all award winners and graduates!
Corpus Christi Wins Annual Battle of the Books
Congratulations to the Corpus Christi Battle of the Books Reading Club on their fine performance at the final competition on May 19 as they placed first in a field of 16 teams from around the Sudbury District. Students demonstrated great teamwork skills and amazing memories as they responded to questions about books they’ve read throughout the school year. Many thanks to the Sudbury Public Library for hosting the event and Chapters for sponsoring the event.
International Day for Biodiversity: The Green Wave
Grade 8 students at St. Francis school participated in the 2010 Green Wave program. On May 21st 5 trees were planted in the name of biodiversity. The Green Wave is a global biodiversity campaign to educate youth about biodiversity. It will contribute to worldwide celebrations of the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22). It also supports other national, international and global tree planting initiatives. In order to encourage as many school as possible to participate in the Wave, the Convention on Biodiversity invited groups to plant trees on May 21st, or May 22nd.
Pictures, maps and more information about the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Green Wave program can be found at [ http://greenwave.cbd.int/en/home ]http://greenwave.cbd.int/en/home.