More than 1,700 students from across the City of Greater Sudbury jammed themselves into the Cambrian College gymnasium this past Friday to hear one of the most dynamic speakers in recent memory. George Chuvalo, former heavy weight boxing champion and the “greatest Canadian fighter of all time” spoke to a captivated audience of Grade 9 students on the perils of substance abuse and the “Fight Against Drugs.” Mr. Chuvalo is well versed on the subject, having lost three sons and his first wife
to drug abuse and suicide. He now tours the country sharing stories of his sons’ struggles with drugs in the determined hope that what happened to his family won’t happen to anybody else’s family. “The Champ” also spoke quite passionately about peer pressure, the entertainment industry and the importance of family and education. “My sons dropped out of high school and couldn’t see a future, couldn’t see how they could make a respectable living for themselves or their families. I think this loss of hope made them more vulnerable to drugs,” stated a deeply saddened Chuvalo.

Sergeant Rob Thirkill, Youth Liaison Officer for the City of Greater Sudbury Police Service, noted that having Mr. Chuvalo speak to the young people of Sudbury so close to the end of the school year was very timely. “Soon the students will have to make choices about what they will do on their summer vacation. We want them to see first hand the tragic outcomes that can come from choices that involve drugs, alcohol and crime,” stated Thirkill.

The “Fight Against Drugs” presentation was sponsored by the Ontario Crime Control Commission in association with the Greater Sudbury Police Service’s in-school Empowered Students Partnership program (ESP). Co-hosting the event were the Honourable Rick Bartolucci, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and MPP for Sudbury, Mayor David Courtemanche and Chief of Police Ian Davison.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board in conjunction with the Ottawa Bluesfest organization will be presenting “Blues in the Schools”, May 25 to 28 at a number of locations. The “Blues in the Schools” program offers a unique and inspirational opportunity for students of all ages to draw on the energy and experience of award-winning blues artists through workshops and hands on instructional techniques. The “Blues in the Schools” program also teaches blues history, and through this history students learn about the injustice of racial intolerance. One of the goals of the program is to promote the use of blues music in other areas of education including art, history and creative writing.

Musician T. J. Wheeler will be performing in some of the SCDSB schools next week. He believes that you can wipe out racism and bullying through education and activism. He sees blues as a music of hope and as a means of developing positive social change.
Please note that one of the classes at Corpus Christ Catholic school will have the opportunity to be a core class. They will develop a performance that will be showcased in their school at the end of the week.

The following is the itinerary for the schools participating in Blues in the School, May 25 to 28, 2004:

St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School will be hosting the nationally acclaimed student success presentation, “Making Post Secondary Education Count” for Grade 12 students at the school on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 from 8:55 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. The 50-minute presentation will be delivered free to students and parents at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.

The presentation is designed to help students begin to think about their next steps upon graduation and what they need to accomplish throughout the upcoming years in order to maximize their opportunities for success. The program also addresses important issues such as time management, choosing career paths, gaining experience through internships and meaningful work experiences.

The “Making Post Secondary Education Count,” presentation program has reached more than 35,000 students in Canada over the past two years and over 1.2 million students in the United States with the same message.

Educators on average, have rated the value of the ideas presented 9.2 on a 10-point scale.

Over 100 principals, vice principals, teachers, staff and board personnel celebrated their 5,10,15, and 20 year anniversary with the Sudbury Catholic Board during a special “Mass of Recognition” at Holy Redeemer Church. Zandra Zubac, Director of Education for the SCDSB praised board employees for their dedication and commitment to Catholic Education. Special Masses were held at all schools and home Parishes of the Sudbury Catholic Board to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie to help promote Catholic Education Week.

St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School will be holding a “Spring Thaw
Dinner and Auction Night, Wednesday, May 12, 2004 in the upper hall of
the Caruso Club as a fundraiser for the school.

The items that will be up for auction can be previewed at 5:30 p.m. with the sit down dinner starting at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $40.00 each and everyone is welcome.

For more information or to order tickets please call St. Benedict
Catholic Secondary School at ph: 523-9235.

During the week of May 2 to 7, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be celebrating Catholic Education Week 2004. The theme for the week is “Fully Alive In Christ.” This theme emphasizes the foundational belief of Catholic Education that spiritual and moral formation are critical to the values, actions and attitudes of our students and to the realization of the fullness of life. Catholic Education aims at forming students in the life-affirming Christian virtues that give life its true freedom, meaning and joy. In this way, Catholic Education makes a distinctive difference not only to the lives of our students but also to our communities, our province and our country.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board together with its family of schools will be celebrating Catholic Education Week by undertaking activities at all grade levels, including a special mass celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Diocese of Sault Ste. on Wednesday, May 5th. Contact your school for more information on the week’s activities, or refer to our master schedule of events.

Big Brothers of Sudbury recently honoured Nic Battigelli, a teacher at St. Benedict C.S.S. and Don Blackwell, a retired St. Charles College teacher for their outstanding contribution to youth in our community. The teachers received the Big Brothers’ prestigious ‘Northern Moose‘ award for their work in their youth mentoring company, “School Ties.” Battigelli and Blackwell have trained over 40 teachers and 300 peer mediators using Native traditional teachings of the Grandfathers and the Medicine Wheel believing that youth working with youth is the key to future communication among individuals.

On May 12, St. Charles College will be hosting the Clean and Clear Best Friend’s Challenge. The Best Friend’s Challenge is a fun competition for girls from grade 6 to grade 10. Two best friends will challenge other girls to basketball skills competitions. There will be 4 stations set up in the gymnasium where the girls can play 21, H-O-R-S-E, Bump, and 2 on 2.

The entry fee is $5 per team of two. The teams of “best friends” register at a registration desk and pay the entry fee to participate. There will be prizes given out to each participant as well as two grand prize draws. There will also be t-shirts given away to spectators and participants.

The challenge starts at 3:00pm on May 12. If you have any questions, please contact St. Charles College at 566-9605.

St. Charles College students were recently treated to a performance by Absolute, the high energy rock group with a message. This special presentation was part of the Empowered Student Partnership (ESP) program, a pilot project between the SCDSB, St. Charles College and the police that empowers students to be the driving force for safe schools.

The groups performance consists of 14 young members using a large sound system and light show in a concert atmosphere. Crowd participation is key to the success of this group who share personal stories with the students to bring home hard hitting messages focusing on alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, bullying, sexual abuse, impaired driving and pre-marital sex. Absolutes key message to its audience throughout the two hour performance centred on the untapped potential in this generation of young people…the belief that the value of life and purpose of life can make a difference in this world for today and for tomorrow. The group also maintains that when society only sees the problems, it is difficult to find the solutions. Absolute is attempting to fill that need in this generation; helping them through the problems by focusing on their future.