The Sudbury Catholic District School Board helped celebrate the 9th Annual Sudbury Regional Heritage Fair at a media conference held at the Anderson Farm in Lively recently. Immersed in an antique hunter’s dreamlike setting, officials from the Sudbury Regional Histor!ca Heritage Fair, the Rainbow and Sudbury Catholic District School Boards together with students, kicked off the countdown to this year’s fair. Every year, thousands of students in Sudbury, Espanola and Manitoulin take part in the HISTOR!CA Heritage Fair, a celebration of our community’s and our country’s rich heritage. To date, more than 2,400 students have registered for the 2005 Fair that will take place at Laurentian University on May 5 and 6. Students whose history projects are selected at the regional level will participate in the Provincial Fair in Hamilton this spring.

“Since the first local Heritage Fair nine years ago, area School Boards have consistently maintained the greatest number of student and school participants in the province,” said Heritage Fair Chair Shirley O’Neil. “In fact, our regional fair has become the largest in Canada, proof that this important event has made its mark in history.”

Gerry Lougheed, Honorary Chair of the Sudbury Regional Histor!ca Heritage Fair, kick’s off the media conference at Anderson’s Farm in Lively. The HISTOR!CA Heritage Fairs program is designed to create an innovative and captivating learning environment for students, strengthening young people’s knowledge of the diversity and uniqueness of Canadian heritage and giving them an opportunity to develop strong roots in their community and culture. In addition, the fair allows students to develop research and communication skills through interaction with different community sources such as politicians, local historians, multicultural organizations and representatives from the business community. Once students research their chosen topics, they decide which format to use to present their findings. Each year, projects feature dramatic and musical presentations, videos, posters, maps, essays and three-dimensional displays, often including props and costumes.

Students whose projects are selected at the regional level will participate in the provincial fair in Hamilton.The Sudbury Regional HISTOR!CA Heritage Fair is an event that is about the community, for the community. The Organizing Committee is made up of representatives from participating school boards, area businesses, service clubs and organizations. Sponsors include the City of Greater Sudbury, Laurentian University, Rainbow District School Board, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, The Sudbury Star, and The Sudbury Multicultural Folk Arts Association.

St. Benedict CSS is hosting their 2nd Annual Spring Thaw Dinner and Silent Auction Thursday April 21st at the Caruso Club Upper Hall. There will be a preview at 5:30 pm followed by dinner at 6:00 pm and silent auction at 7:00 pm.

Tickets are $40 each, with a $20 charitable donation receipt provided with each ticket. Tickets can be purchased at the school or by calling 523-9235. Auction items include Group of Seven limited edition prints, autographed hockey memorabilia, professional Italian cookware set, BBQ, wine making kit, golf equipment, jewellery, guitar, theatre tickets, a dog sled trip and much more. Come out for a great evening and a great cause!

Future Building is a four-day event which will take place at the Sudbury Arena from April 26 to 29, 2005. The exhibition is designed to help students, teachers, educators and the general public develop an optimistic view of occupations available in Ontario’s construction industry. In addition, the exhibition will showcase the partnerships of labour and management working together to build Ontario’s future.

Future Building is designed to stimulate youth to think about their future in a realistic way, provide answers to questions about career choices, requirements and availability and develop an appreciation for the wide variety of career options available in Ontario‘s construction industry.

Future Building will provide a new understanding of the construction industry and its many opportunities for a rewarding and satisfying future. It will highlight that Ontario’s construction industry is an industry with a future…and that there is a place for our students as Ontario’s future builders.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board has made a commitment to support this event by encouraging all our schools to participate by enabling all students in grades 7 to 10 an opportunity to attend
We also encourage parents/guardians to attend this event and familiarize themselves with the numerous career opportunities the construction trades have to offer.

For further information on Future Building please visit http://www.futurebuilding.ca.

Motivational speaker, Matt John Evans captivated over 400 St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School students with his dynamic and highly interactive, “I-Drive Road Safety “ video presentation at the school recently. A boy from “small town Parry Sound, Ontario” as Matt likes to refer to himself, gave the students 70 minutes of straight talk about the consequences of drinking and driving and risky driving behaviour. “Impaired driving is the number one killer of teenagers,” stated Evans in his opening remarks to the students. “In 2002, 193 people aged 16-24 died on Ontario’s roads, 47% were driving 34% were passengers,” remarked Evans.

The one-hour presentation which included an “I-Drive” road safety video, talked students through the comical, creative and confusing world of meeting challenges. “To deal with the issues of impaired driving we have to look at the whole issue,” stated Evans. “Drinking, Driving, Decision Making, and Solutions are all part of the package that I include in my presentation to students,” concluded Evans.

The Ministry of Transportation Road Safety Office in conjunction with
Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID), have targeted ten
communities across Ontario to launch this new road safety video. Only
two local schools in the City of Greater Sudbury have been scheduled to receive this presentation.

St. Charles Catholic School in Chelmsford is undergoing a major
renovation thanks to the dedication and commitment of the school’s
parents and student volunteers. Countless hours have been spent
painting and decorating the school’s library, including captions on the wall to help give it a bright new look. The new and improved library has become an inviting place to come and read or share a book with a peer.

In addition, repair work continues on the older section of the school with new windows and a classroom face lift. Students, parents, and staff are anxious to see the new look of the school which will be completed by this September.

Alyssa Jylha, a Grade 6 student from St. James Catholic School had a very special hair cut recently at Marymount Academy’s annual Kick Off For Cancer Campaign. Alyssa has been growing her hair for the past two years so that she could donate her locks to be made into a wig for a child with cancer. Her locks will be given to Angel Hair for Kids Organization,(a Canadian Cancer Society Organization). The community of Lively along with the staff and students at St. James Catholic School and the “INCO linemen” department showed their support for Alyssa by pledging $616.86 to the Canadian Cancer Society on Alyssa’s behalf.

Throughout the month of April, Marymount students will be canvassing door-to-door to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Proceeds from the residential canvass will go towards cancer research and to provide services such as reliable information, emotional support, transportation, and support at treatment centres and lodges.

Special guests, Peter Williams, Ron Dupuis, Lyn Lebeau, Valerie Zuliani and three of the Sudbury Wolves more well known hockey players had an opportunity to address the student body. Each hockey player shared a personal life story of an individual in their family who has been affected by cancer. They also stressed how important it is for young people in the community to volunteer their time with the Canadian Cancer Society. The Marymount students have set a school target of $1,000 as their goal in this year’s campaign.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is proud to be a partner in the mysudbury.ca initiative and the City of Greater Sudbury’s Web portal. The official launch of the community based portal took place at Science North on Tuesday evening. A glass window into Greater Sudbury, this extensive Web portal aggregates local information and provides a way for individuals, organizations and corporations such as the Sudbury Catholic District School Board to become more involved in the community. Although this e-learning portal is widely used in Australia, a project of this magnitude has never been attempted in Canada. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board will play an integral role in the e-learning pilot project by utilizing portal technology to leverage advanced e-learning capability. The Education Portal allows all participants in the educational process to come together in an environment that fosters collaboration, communication and a community-wide interest in quality education.

Additional partners in the mysudbury.ca initiative include, Microsoft, Navantis, iPLAN Corp, and Municipal Software Corporation. The six key segments of the portal-the home page, SudburyTourism.ca, CRNet.ca, the Seniors’ Portal, The Kid’s Zone and the Youth Zone, will combine to form the complete community portal. “mysudbury.ca is a great step forward for this city,” stated Mayor David Courtemanche, who was also on hand for the official launch. “The SmartSudbury program encompasses technology related projects such Geographic Information Systems, virtual museums and e-learning pilot projects. This portal will encourage the use of technology and make Greater Sudbury a better place to live, work and raise a family by making community-based information and services more readily available,” concluded Mayor Courtemanche.

To learn more about the SmartSudbury Web portal please visit www.mysudbury.ca.

Music students from the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s secondary schools placed high in the recent Kiwanis Music Festival and the Northern Ontario Music Festival held in Sudbury recently. Congratulations to all honourees.

St. Charles College

Once again the St. Charles College Arts Department did exceptionally well at the 60th Annual Kiwanis Music Festival of Sudbury. The festival took place from February 21 – March 5 and this year St. Charles College was proud to be site coordinator for some of the various events. Both the Percussion and Instrumental Competitions were held at SCC where students from Cambrian College, Laurentian University and other surrounding high schools competed. The school was also fortunate to host the Speech Arts Competitions for local elementary students.

Over 190 students from St. Charles College participated in one of more of the Kiwanis Festival Competitions. We are pleased to announce that the Music Department captured 29 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals. Of those medals various students have also won 2005 Festival Scholarships. They are Kenneth Blacklock, Tavis Lesvesconte, Brennan Chislett, Jake Soucie, and Justin Desrochers. Congratulations goes out to Brennan Chislett who was selected to perform at the Hi-Lites Concert, where he displayed his superior talent on percussion. The 60th Annual Kiwanis Music Festival of Sudbury Hi-Lites Concert featured outstanding performers from the 2005 Music Festival and special alumnae guest performers. The concert was held on March 19th at the Fraser Auditorium, Laurentian University.

The Speech Arts category proved to be successful for our Drama students as they too captured 13 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals. The students who competed deserve much credit as they dedicated numerous hours outside the classroom to prepare for these events and achieve success! Many thanks goes out to Michelle McQuire, Retired Major Gino Falconi, Dr. Alvin Tung, Evelyne Reid, and Sandra Cannon-Walker who adjudicated our many entries and were encouraging throughout the whole process.

The Improv Club wowed the adjudicator with their interpretation of a famous quotation from Julius Caesar. Congratulations to Nathan Boivin, Pam Chenard, Devon Cox, Ryan Gervais, Pat Manning, Amy Rienguette and Jordan Thomas for a Gold medal.

As well a talented group of grade 9 actors earned Gold for their re-creation of Mindless Conformity – an excellent play by SCC’s prolific playwright Josh Labelle. Congratulations to Justin Debreuil, Becky Fabiilli, Alex Kennedy, Trista Lamothe, Kevin Reynen, Andrew Roach, Darcy Ross, Casey Martin, Cassy Pellerin, and Jordan Thomson.

Marymount Academy

Marymount Academy displayed an impressive five Gold Medal performance in total, in both competitions; four at the Kiwanis Festival, (the Senior Concert Band claimed two gold medals while the Jazz Band, and String Orchestra each one a Gold Medal; the Senior Concert Band also had a gold medal performance at the Northern Ontario Band Festival. In addition, the Jazz and Senior Concert Bands also received an invitation to compete at the Provincial Kiwanis Festival and the National Band Festival in British Columbia later this year.

In the scholarship category, the Marymount Concert Band, Jazz Band and String Orchestra were each awarded scholarships from the Kiwanis Festival. The Jazz Band was also invited to play at the “Hi-Lights” evening held at Laurentian University’s Fraser Auditorium on March 18.

The Marymount All-Star Band consists of 11 members chosen from Marymount Academy as follows; Kyla Corelli (trumpet), Chelsey Protulipac (alto sax), Alyson Spina (trombone), Rebecca James, (trombone), Sarah Clement (flute), Collen Keaney (flute), Amanda Murray (timpani), Marla Parker (clarinet), Allison Bruneau (clarinet), Amanda Richard (bass clarinet) and Brittany Goldsborough, (double base).

Grade seven students taking part in the Enrichment Program offered by the Sudbury Catholic District School Board put their creative and critical thinking skills to work when challenged to design and build a scale model of a bobsled recently.

The knowledge and understanding of friction, drag, mass, gravity, acceleration and velocity were a must in this exercise. Bobsleds were tested on a snow-packed track designed and built by the students. The challenge provided the students with hands-on experience with the process of design including the stages of investigation, creation, and reflection.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to trade pencils and books for hats and mitts to enjoy a great outdoor experience.