Grade 2 students at St. John Catholic School recently made their math thinking visible during a Three Part Math Lesson. The lesson structure actively engaged students in their learning and allowed for the development of mathematics in their classroom community.
To get started students activated their prior knowledge by arranging various coins from least to greatest. Groups of students were then challenged to solve the following problem: Mrs. Roque has five coins in her pocket. Mrs. Smith has six coins in her pocket. Mrs. Roque has more money than Mrs. Smith but neither has more than 100 cents. How much money could each teacher have? Students were encouraged to use a variety of strategies to justify their solutions and communicate their thinking so that others would understand their answers. St. John Principal, Tricia Dowdall-Cerilli recognizes the importance of hands-on learning and sees value in having the students work with a variety of learning tools. “In order for students to really make that connection, we know that it is so important to have many learning options available for our students – as not every student learns in the same way,” Dowdall-Cerilli stated. “By providing these options, we are supporting the success of our learners.”

St. Benedict students’ attention was captured by Greater City of Sudbury’s Poet Laureate, Dr. Roger Nash, during his poetry workshop with senior English classes. He told them they can write about anything, and by doing so, keep a special memory alive. Dr. Nash demonstrated this fact by reading his poems about the family cat Genghis, and another about his childhood memory of his grandmother’s passion for playing piano; so vigorously it seemed to take flight. Roger Nash intrigued students with his explanations for the impetus behind his poems, which in turn inspired students to write their own poetry. His final advice was that through poetry one can, “take something ordinary, and make it extraordinary”.

The junior kindergarten class at St.Francis School prepared a traditional symbol to celebrate Easter and the season of spring. Students eagerly dyed their Easter eggs using primary and secondary colours. The students were in awe of the vibrant colours which appeared on the eggs.

Mrs.Visentin’s junior kindergarten class from St. Francis School had a “golden ticket” opportunity on April 20th. The students were invited to see Marymount Academy’s production of Willy Wonka. Students had front row seats and an opportunity to meet Willy Wonka, the owner of the largest chocolate factory in the world! The young students enjoyed meeting one of the characters from the play during the intermission. The students left wondering what they would do if they received a lifetime supply of chocolate.

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.