Over 75 girls from Marymount Academy and St. Charles College participated in the Jill of All Trades event hosted by Cambrian College with the help of many community sponsors, to encourage girls from Grades 7-12 to consider a career in the skilled trades.
This day-long event was packed with activities and hands-on learning, designed to foster in young women a better understanding and appreciation for skilled trades, and inspire them to consider a rewarding career in skilled trades.
The virtual event included:
3-45-minute interactive workshops showcasing a number of skilled trades offered at Cambrian (Build Your Own Motor, Hydraulic Robot Arm & Wiring an Extension Cord)
Keynote address from an amazing guest speaker in the field
A tour of Cambrian College labs
A Jill of All Trades shirt and a backpack filled with tools and PPE for participants
“This event was two years in the making, and after having to reschedule and retool the scope and delivery of activities, we are beyond thrilled to finally have some of our young women take part in such a great experience”, said Dan Levecque, OYAP and SHSM Co-ordinator for Sudbury Catholic Schools.“We were very impressed with the level of participation and engagement with our students throughout the day, and we have received so much positive feedback from both students and teachers. It certainly exceeded our expectations”
These young ladies were so excited to be able to build and complete their projects successfully.
November 1-7 is Treaties Recognition Week, an important time of year where Ontario students acknowledge and learn about treaties as well as the histories, perspectives, and contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board (SCDSB) is celebrating its participation in Treaties Recognition Week. This year, we honour Indigenous histories, perspectives, and contributions through meaningful lessons, presentations, readings, events and celebrations for students and staff at all our schools.
School Highlights
St. John
At St. John Catholic Elementary School, students in Mrs. Galipeau’s class learned about wampum belts in an activity where they could make their own belts out of Lego. Students in Grade 5 and 6 created the 1764 Treaty of Niagara wampum belt. Pictured are Nathan and Olivia, Jaguar students proudly showcasing their class’s completed belt. Wampum belts represent agreements and promises that last “as long as the sun shines and rivers flow”.
On Nov. 2nd, Grade 2 students in Mrs. Child’s class at St. Charles Catholic Elementary School read “Dakota Talks About Treaties.” Afterwards, they created a word web to describe what the word “treaty” means. Also, reading a story was Ms. Trudeau and Ms. D’Angelo’s class! “A Family Cookout” was read to help students explore measuring objects. Afterwards, Ms. Trudeau led an engaging lesson on making bannock where students used their knowledge in a real-life context. However, reading wasn’t the only popular activity. Mrs. Blakely’s grade 1 class learned all about the medicine wheel, smudged, made wampum belts and created their very own classroom treaty.
At St. David, a school-wide activity was implemented in preparation for the week. The Grade 5 class mapped the forested area in an educational exercise that touched on Indigenous identity, history, and ways of being. In an abundance of activities, students learned about treaties, promises, wampum belts and what it means to be indigenous. The school listened to “The Drum Calls Softly” and students created versions of the artwork in the video.
Over at Pius, Treaty Recognition Week was in full force. The school’s Grade 6 students took part in a lesson that included constructing their own Wampum commitment string. Wampum commitment string symbolizes an agreement of respect and peace. Collectively, all the strings will attach and form a family circle to honour Treaty Week.
To commemorate Treaty Week, the students in Grade 2/3 FI at St. James explored the significance of wampum belts as representations of promises that were made to last. They recreated the Treaty of Niagara wampum belt with Legos and other materials and mapped out some of our province’s treaties.
St. Benedict’s kicked off Treaty Recognition Week with Smudging available to students and staff. Classes participated in the Treaty Awareness dialogue. For example, Treaty is ‘Legally Binding’ and that there is also a ‘Sacred Element’ to the agreements. In addition, the school’s Life Skills Class learned and designed a Wampum Treaty Belt of their choosing. Tobacco was offered to our Indigenous Support Worker, Ms. Agowissa, for knowledge sharing. “We Are All Treaty People and are in the Robinson Huron Treaty region.”
Other highlights included secondary students participating in the Robinson Huron Treaty “Treaty Talks with Tomorrow’s Leaders”. Students were able to listen to different Ogimaak/Chiefs from RHT communities share treaty knowledge past, present and future about ‘Gweksijigewin’ (making things right). This knowledge was applied on Friday, Nov. 5th, with presentations from the students.
It truly is very exciting to see what beautiful things our schools are doing to honour this essential part of the learning experience. Thank you to all our staff and community leaders, who took the time to capture and share some of the many wonderful things they were able to participate in this week. For more school activity updates, check out Indigenous Education SCDSB.
November 1-7 is Treaties Recognition Week, an important time of year where Ontario students acknowledge and learn about treaties as well as the histories, perspectives, and contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
The best way for students to discover Indigenous peoples and treaties is to meet with community leaders and listen to their first-hand perspectives. Students must be exposed to Indigenous history and perspectives, and we must take advantage of local resources whenever possible. This week, several resources and events are available for SCDSB students, staff, and the community to take advantage of.
RESOURCES & EVENTS:
TREATIES RECOGNITION WEEK 2021
Treaty Week 2021, Presented by the Robinson Huron Waawiindaamaagewin
When: Nov. 1-5th (Recorded Sessions Available)
Description: The Robinson Huron Waawiindaamaagewin is hosting a series of online streaming events to bring awareness this week. Attached is a schedule of the events. To view the full schedule and preview recordings, please visit Robinson Huron Waawiindaamaagewin’s Treaty Week Website.
Description: Alongside Dominic Beaudry, an Anishinaabe Language & Cultural Facilitator, Science North is hosting an online session that will look at the innovations that Indigenous people have adapted throughout history and are continuing to do so daily. Students will have a chance to explore how the Ojibwe used STEM to construct canoes, Wampum Belts as hypertext (HTML) and how Ojibwe students are taking the robotics world by storm.
Tree of Hope: Tree Lighting Ceremony
When: Sunday, Nov. 14th starting at 6pm
Description: Police services across the province light trees in honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. This year’s event will occur at 190 Brady St. (Greater Sudbury Police Service) and include drumming, smudging, guest speakers, and more. For more details, refer to the attached poster.
Treaties Recognition Week was introduced in 2016 to honour the importance of treaties and help students and residents of Ontario learn more about treaty rights, treaty relationships, and their relevance today.
The Ministry of Education works with the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs every year to support and amplify its annual public awareness campaign to increase knowledge and understanding of treaties and treaty relationships. This campaign includes resources that teachers in the classroom can use to plan activities about treaties.
International students & their host families enjoyed an evening of food and fun! Each family received a DIY pizza kit. Together, students and their families kneaded the fresh dough and personalized their pizza with their favourite toppings. After supper, international students from all of our secondary schools joined in via Zoom to learn about the history of pizza and to play a Kahoot trivia game about Sudbury! We were ecstatic to discover that our students, although they haven’t been in Sudbury very long, were quite knowledgeable about our city! We look forward to planning more fun nights with our students and families!
Pictured is Lo, a grade 11 student at Marymount Academy from Japan, with her host family members Bella and Tracey.
Pictured is Irene, a grade 11 student at St Benedict Catholic secondary student from Spain with her host sisters Emma and Audrey.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board offers international students an opportunity to achieve a competitive academic advantage while shaping students to be the leaders of tomorrow. Students receive exceptional math, science, social science, and language instruction in first-rate, innovative labs and school facilities. Administrators, teachers, support staff, and students are committed to creating a safe and welcoming school environment to help international students feel at home in our school communities. Extracurricular highlights include championship-winning sports teams, dynamic school clubs and student committees, and outdoor adventure opportunities.
For more information about our international education program, including program options and details regarding the application process, please visit the international education website at Come to Study Interested in becoming a host family for our students? Visit the following Link
Pictured are international students from all of our secondary schools coming together to learn about the history of pizza and play a Kahoot trivia game about Sudbury!
The International Day of the Girl was established by the United Nations in 2012 and is recognized as a day to acknowledge girls and their rights, education, and opportunities.
Skills Ontario offered a series of online events and challenges to celebrate this special occasion from October 4th-11th.
Students at Marymount Academy seized the opportunity to learn about women in the trades and participated in the following challenges put on by Skills Ontario:
The week ended with a virtual conference, For Girls, By Girls! dedicated to empowering girls through relatable and engaging content. For Girls, By Girls provided viewers with the opportunity to hear from girls in elementary and senior elementary to discuss their perspectives of how they perceive the skilled trades and technologies. Keynote speaker Kyara Cabrera Fong, Auto Body Technician Apprentice and Panel Leader Courtney Chard, Pipe Welder led the conference.
Pictured are the creations from Mrs. Rinaldi’s grade 7 class.
NOTE: REGISTRATION FOR THE TAKE ME OUTSIDE FOR LEARNING CHALLENGE 2021/22 IS NOW OPEN
The Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge is a commitment to ongoing outdoor learning throughout the school year, which involves taking your class outside once a week. For teachers who sign up for the Learning Challenge, they are provided monthly professional development opportunities, resources and outdoor learning activity ideas
Last year, over 3033 educators participated in the Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge and with your help, we are hoping to surpass this number and empower even more schools to take part.
The deadline for registration is October 20th! Join our very own St. David School who has already registered 8 classes!
Did we mention there are lots of amazing prizes up for grabs for teachers who participate in the Learning Challenge?
We are pleased to announce that the SCDSB’s Monday, October 25th PA day will focus on mental health and wellness.
As we continue in this time of Covid-19, all staff will report to their home school for a combination of small gatherings where public health guidelines will be followed and zoom for portions of our day. See the pdf below for more details.
Schedule of our Day
8:30 – 9:30
Prayer and Reflection
9:30 – 9:45
Break
9:45 – 10:45
Keynote Presentation: Boosting your Positive Outlook (Zoom)
10:45 – 11:00
Break
11:00 – 12:00
School Improvement Planning (Principal led)
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch
1:00 – 3:00
Supporting Minds: An Educators Guide to Promoting Students Mental Health and Well Being (Principal led)
On June 25th, 2021, St. David School was named a grand prize winner in the National Schools of the Future competition presented by MindShare Learning.
MindShare Learning is Canada’s leading EdTech strategy consulting, news, and professional learning events company. It specializes in providing strategic solutions to learning and technology providers in the K-12, higher ed and lifelong learning space, to support student success.
Last spring, our very own St. David School completed a video submission that showcased various remote learning activities and events that were completed with staff and students.
Based on their amazing video submission, St. David school placed third overall in Canada, and first overall in Ontario. For their work and creativity the school was awarded a prize pack estimated at $10,000 which was personally delivered earlier this month by MindShare Learning’s Founder and President, Robert Martellacci.
Prizes included…
Online Platform Access to Nelson Edwin
Collaboration Station from Dell Technologies (includes Dell Latitude 5420 Notebook, Alienware Keyboard, Mouse, and Mouse Pad)
Gaming Backpack for Teachers (includes Yeti Mugs, Wireless Keyboard, Wireless Mouse, EDU Headset, and HD Webcam)
Smith Systems Steelcase Furniture (2 Soft Rockers, 2 Oodle Stool)
And More!
Robert Martellacci, Founder and President of MindShare Learning came in person to congratulate students and deliver the prizes. “What I was so impressed with is the passion that the teachers had in supporting students and creating a community. St. David stood out to me for the enthusiasm shown by both students and teachers to create an environment that is dedicated to enhancing modern learning. We had a judges panel that viewed all video submissions. The imagination and creative thinking that engaged kids at St. David exceeded the expectations we had. The leadership here is something to be shared nationally and the inspiration of our contest is really about getting beyond pockets of innovation and sharing best practices and successes that inspire others across the country on how to be better and how to help kids learn better. That is why we selected St. David’s as third overall Canada and number one in Ontario.” Says Mr. Martellacci
The school community would like to thank Christina Raso (our temporary grade ½ teacher and the Board’s Experiential Lead Consultant) for supporting the school in promoting experiential learning. Experiential learning opportunities are directly connected to our student’s engagement. When students are engaged, they are happy and excited to learn,” stated Dawn Wemigwans, St. David School principal.
Pictured are students and staff a long with MindShare Learning President!
We must make sure that we are working in partnership with Indigenous people to create a better future. On September 30th our board’s 18 schools acknowledge the historical truth about residential schools in Canada and their lasting impact on Indigenous people and communities.
We provide this resource people can use to prepare, bring awareness and educate themselves regarding the importance of Sept. 30th.
