Staff at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School were treated to the culinary talents of Master Chef Mirida Mohammed recently. After school on Tuesday, May 13th, staff gathered in the school’s food’s room to meet Mirida and watch as she prepared a tasty dish using Adoro cooking oils. The event was organized with the help of Jodie Gibson, owner of Adoro Oils and Vinegars. Staff were encouraged to ask questions and learned what her experiences were like as she competed in the recent TV series “Master Chef Canada”. They also learned how simple it is to prepare tasty, quick and nutritious food which can be enjoyed by the whole family. The visit with the staff was followed by two more sessions with invited guests from the community. It can be said that the staff at St. Benedict is now on their way to culinary greatness, thanks to this visit from an inspiring Master Chef!
Category: Character Development
“Spreading the Net” at St. Benedict
“Every minute a child dies from malaria – a preventable disease transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. Malaria kills more children than any other disease in Africa.”
As a Catholic community at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students and staff wanted to work together to help find a solution to this problem. The students’ administrative council at St. Benedict CSS implemented a school-wide initiative and the school took on the challenge of “Spread the Net.” they joined Canadian icon Rick Mercer and thousands of other students across Canada to raise money for mosquito nets to fight malaria in Africa. Their goal was to raise $7500 to purchase 750 nets; enough to save as many as 1500 individuals (as each bed net may be used to protect 2 people for up to 3 years). This year, funds raised through the student challenge will help provide bed nets to families in Zimbabwe. The fundraiser was organized through the charity Plan Canada.
Students were involved in various activities, such as asking for pledges at home, canvassing neighbourhoods for community involvement, and holding in-school events to raise money. They were excited to get involved and work together to raise money to help others in need. Students especially enjoyed the in-school activities such as the dress down days and a teacher versus student volley ball game. By the end of the campaign, the school raised $8,844.75 and were ranked highly in the contest nationwide. The 63 participating schools across Canada raised over $170 000.
The students and staff wanted to say a special thanks to the team of students who volunteered countless hours into planning and organizing the campaign: Brendan Sullivan, Sara Lehman, Carlee Christie, Kathryn Kettle, Allie Stankiewicz, Elisa Bacik, and Matt Ierino. Finally, to teacher Meghan MacMillan who organized the students and encouraged them to do their best the students send a very special thank you for her time and effort in helping make this more successful than anyone had imagined. They all look forward to surpassing theirr goal next year!”
A Beary Scary Halloween
On October 31’st 2013, students from St Benedict Catholic Secondary School visited Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. Student Council president Brendan Sullivan, vice president and student trustee Mackenzie Connelly, and beloved mascot, Benny the Bear represented St Benedict as they read to grade 1 and 2 students in both English and french. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to bond with the students who share our campus and spread some Halloween cheer,” said Connelly.
After reading the books, Benny and the students donated them to Holy Cross and gave out Halloween stickers and high fives from Benny. “This experience has been very rewarding for us. We were able to practice our bilingualism and meet the students who will become future Bears,” stated Sullivan. “I look forward to continuing to connect our two school communities.”
On Your Mark, Get Set… Let the Winter Outdoor Adventure Race Begin!
The scene was set for a perfect Winter Outdoor Adventure Race on Tuesday, February 26, 2013. The sky was clear, the temperature was above zero – and most importantly, there was a lot of snow in Killarney. Compared to past years, this year’s event had more than enough snow for organizer and outdoor education teacher for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Brad Blackwell, to really focus the adventure race activities on true Northern Ontario winter activities.
“This was our third year running the Winter Outdoor adventure race – and, as compared to year’s past, the abundance of snow allowed us to set up some true northern outdoor programming as part of the race,” Blackwell said. “We wanted to ensure that all of the students taking part got a real feel for adventures in the snow, and how to not only survive it, but excel and have fun in it!”
This year’s race participants included secondary students from St. Charles College, St. Benedict and Marymount Academy. There were fifteen teams of three and each team had to take part in every leg of the race. Upon arrival in Killarney, the students were given race packets and instructions, and were quickly directed to the outdoor start location. Once the rules were established and all safety aspects reviewed, the students lined up to begin the first part of a seven-part challenge. The entire race included a strategic stick toss, a snow-pile build (a scaled-down version of a quinzee), a 1.13 km sprint, a 750 run in snowshoes, a Frisbee target toss, a strategic orienteering challenge and a fire-lighting trial.
The snowshoe run, the orienteering challenge and the fire-lighting components proved to be the most difficult part of the race for the participants. The orienteering section was tricky as any wrong answers on their check sheet resulted in penalties of an additional five minutes added on to their final time at the finish line. Once the snowshoes were on, they had to stay on throughout the orienteering section of the race and the students were only able to remove them once they began their fire challenge. With the fire challenge, the students were given minimal materials to start their fire, and the ultimate goal was to get a metal can of water to come to a complete boil before sprinting to the finish line. In order to get additional materials for the fire, the students had to do a different number of laps around a section of the forest depending on what materials were needed – whether it be more kindling, extra matches, etc.
In the end, one of the teams from St. Benedict was the first to cross the finish line and, despite some errors during the orienteering challenge, they beat the next team by a mere 25 seconds. This team consisted of Kyle Herbert (grade 10), Doug Pitfield (grade 12) and Kayla Huchenski (grade 12). Not only did the first place team take home the banner for their school, but were also each awarded a brand new set of Tubbs snowshoes that were generously donated to the race by the Tubbs Snowshoe Company. What happened after the team was presented with their prize, speaks volumes about the outstanding character of the Sudbury Catholic students. Both Kyle Herbert and Doug Pitfield thanked the organizers for their prize, but as their families are fortunate to already own several pairs, decided to donate the snowshoes back to their school to support the outdoor education program at St. Benedict. “This most generous gesture by these two students really capped off what was already a truly exceptional day,” Blackwell stated. “These students poured their heart and soul into this competition, and in the end they proudly represented their school both during and after the race! All of the students that competed today truly represent the positive Sudbury Catholic spirit and I congratulate each and every one of them for an outstanding job! As well, I thank all of the teachers and volunteers who helped made today such a success!”
After a hearty lunch provided by the organizers, students began to get ready for departure, but were overheard by the teachers and volunteers already strategizing for the next outdoor adventure race in the spring.
St. Benedict Hosts Sudbury Rolling Thunder
Students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School had the opportunity to buy out of last period on Tuesday, March 7, 2012 to support a great cause. The Sudbury Rolling Thunder basketball team visited the school to take part in an exhibition game involving both a student and teacher team. Proceeds from the buy out went to support local wheelchair athletes. Despite their best efforts, the St. Benedict staff and students who participated in the game weren’t able to sink many baskets againstt the Sudbury Rolling Thunder team, however the school community thoroughly enjoyed watching. One member of the Rolling Thunder, Sarah Lashbrook – a local author and writer, also stayed after the game to sign her latest book “Where the Stream and Creek Collide”.
This book is a fictional story whose main character is a paraplegic as she wanted to “give a relatable character to a minority group that seems to lack just that in the literary world.”
Stephanie Van Druenen, vice principal of St. Benedict was thrilled with the day’s event.
“This was a great opportunity for our school community on so many levels,” Van Druenen stated. “Not only did our students enjoy a lively basketball game, it was also an opportunity for everyone to learn about inclusion and awareness, overcoming obstacles, as well as enhanced understanding of equality in sports. On top of that, we raised almost a thousand dollars to support our community’s athletes.”
Write for Rights at St. Benedict
This past month, on International Human Rights Day, St. Benedict hosted the Amnesty International Write for Rights letter writing campaign. Students from the school wrote letters in support of cases where individual’s Human Rights have been violated. The Peace Posse organized the event because they felt that it was important for students to think about the well being of others, not just in the school but around the world. Over three hundred students took part in the event and three hundred and fifty letters were written in support of four cases. It was a great day for Social Justice.