Students in Mrs. Smrke’s grade seven class at St. Raphael School helped staff and students remember why we celebrate Easter this weekend.  The students acted out each station of the cross.
 
The twelfth station
Jesus died on the cross.
They left you nailed to the cross to die.
You died for us.
Jesus, thank you for giving us your life and your love.

There were three students sent to the board public speaking semi-finals at St. Anne School last week to represent St. Raphael School. Believe it or not, the three students are all moving onto the finals.

Ashlynn Philion took first place in the junior division for her speech on bubblegum – the history, the chemical make-up and the trend that never pops.

Hailey Moskal took first place in the intermediate division for her speech on the history of newly acquired camp, and how the recent purchase has bonded her family together.

Brittany Thornton took second place in the primary division for her speech on saving polar bears.

The SCDSB finals are scheduled for Wednesday, April 20th at St. Francis School at 6:30 p.m.

Students in teacher Todd Rayne’s Grade 5/6 class are working on a conservation project, but this one is pretty unique. These Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School students have decided to collect garbage. Rayne is the school’s Dearness Conservation Lead, and has had several conversations with the school’s staff about how the students could reduce their energy and water usage, as well as increase their recycling efforts. One of the things that Rayne noticed in his own classroom was how many school supplies were being swept up at the end of the day and thrown in the garbage. This is when the D.C. team decided to make some changes. Over the past fifty days, the grade 5/6 students have visited all the junior classrooms and collected all of the discarded and forgotten school supplies that would have otherwise been thrown in the garbage. The results after their collection were astounding. After the first weigh-in, he students recorded that they had collected over 10 pounds of school supplies. Instead of being thrown out, the collected supplies are now returned back to their classes to be reused. As well, the students have tracked all of their findings for each class on a spreadsheet so that each week and month they can take their data to help support their cause and show each class where they need improvement. The next step for the class is making the school aware of their findings. Through the use of student created podcasts played over morning announcements, the class teaches the student body about the importance of recycling and taking care of their belongings. “We started this because I was noticing a lot of discarded supplies in my own classroom,” Rayne said. “As the D.C. lead, I knew it was our responsibility to make others aware of the waste and by getting the students so involved, there is much more buy-in on their part. Now they have become the teachers for the rest of the school and it is a win-win situation as we have all become conservation champions!” The students will be continuing this project until the end of the school year along with several other conservation initiatives, and it is their hope that they can reduce the waste significantly, possibly even to a “zero pound” collection.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce Jody Cameron as the new Vice-Chair of the Board. At the March Board meeting, trustee Paula Peroni announced that she would be stepping down from her Vice-Chair position effective April 11. At the April 12 board meeting, trustee Cameron ran unchallenged for the position and as a result was elected to the position of Vice-Chair.
“It is once again a great privilege and honour to serve the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in the position of Vice-Chair,” Cameron stated. “I look forward to working with Chair Barry MacDonald, as well as the other trustees as we are committed to ensuring the very best in Catholic education for all of our students.”
Cameron has served two terms previous in the position of Vice-Chair as well as two terms for the Board in the position of Chair.

This year, two classes at St. Charles Elementary School have been working on building their math skills using Dreambox, an online math tool that they can access both at school and at home. This project, funded through the North Easter Ontario Education Network (NEOEN), has provided home and school access to students in these classes, as well as time for collaborative planning and learning for the teachers. On Friday, April 1st, Mrs. Bardswich’s Grade 1/ 2 and Mrs. Harris’ Grade 2/3 classes shared their Dreambox learning with their parents. Parents were invited to the classroom to visit and participate in math learning centres with their children, followed by a pizza lunch. The students shared their experiences, and talked about how they felt that Dreambox was improving their math ability. The enthusiasm and confidence displayed by all of the students was wonderful to see. This lunch was a perfect opportunity for teachers and parents to share their observations about student learning and confidence, and for students to share their perceptions of their math ability and the value of using this tool for math learning. Our thanks go out to all of the parents who participated in this event, and to the staff of St. Charles Elementary School, particularly Mrs. Bardswich and Mrs. Harris, for making this event possible.

On March 25, students in Mrs. Low’s grade one class were wishing for spring this morning by making beautiful kites in an array of colours.

On March 25, St. Raphael students in Mrs. Low’s grade one class were wishing for spring by making beautiful kites in an array of colours.