Several weeks ago, Lindsey Jones, former St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School student, now employed by the Canadian Cancer Society (Sudbury) contacted her alma mater to see if they were up to a challenge. She asked the school if they would accept the challenge to “pinkify” their school and support a breast cancer fundraiser for the month of October. Never ones to back away from a challenge, the students and staff set a goal to raise $ 2500 by the end of the month. For every $500 raised, the students got to select one staff member to “pinkify”. The school raised money through daily donations, a pink cupcake bake sale and a football buy out game in which the Junior boys football team played the girls flag football team. Both teams also paid 5 dollars per member to take part in the game. In the end, the students surpassed the challenge goal and presented the Canadian Cancer Society (Sudbury) with a cheque for over $4000. On October 30th, as part of the presentation assembly, student council members each “pinkified” 6 of the St. Ben’s staff with lots of pink hair dye and pink feather boas. In addition, St. Ben’s grade 9 student, Willow Nadeau had her head shaved in front of the entire school and donated her locks for the third time. Nadeau volunteers every day afterschool at the Canadian Cancer Society and wanted to show her support alongside her classmates.
“We are completely overwhelmed with the response from our student council, student body and staff with this October Breast Cancer Challenge,” explained James MacNeil, St. Ben’s teacher. “The students wholeheartedly accepted this challenge. We are so proud of our St. Ben’s Bears and are grateful to be part of such a supportive school community!”
Category: Community
“Game-On” SCDSB Students Learn Equity and 5-Sided Soccer
On Wednesday October 21st representatives from The Ontario Soccer Association and The Ontario Blind Sports Association visited both St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School and St. James Catholic Elementary School to deliver a clinic on 5-sided football. 5-sided football is actually 5-sided soccer. It is the game of soccer adapted for the blind and partially sighted. Sudbury Catholic Specialist Teacher of the blind & partially sighted Adriano Simonato made the arrangements for this interactive presentation as he want to provide an opportunity for the visually impaired students as well as the sighted students to learn this sport. “It is another opportunity to narrow that gap between the sighted and visually impaired, increase empathy, and again, focus attention on what a visually impaired person can do,” explained Simonato. “It also simply reinforces the fact that virtually all sports can be inclusive and an opportunity for the visually impaired and the sighted to play the same sport at the same time…together!” The event took place at two venues where there are visually impaired students – St. Benedict high school (morning session) and St. James elementary school (afternoon session).
St. James principal Cara Soehner was thrilled that this opportunity was provided to her students. “At Sudbury Catholic Schools, we have a real focus on equity and inclusivity for students and staff,” Soehner explained. “Having our students, as well as some of our secondary students learn about 5-sided soccer is a great example of this focus. Learning about adaptation of this sport enables our students to recognize the importance of equity in our communities.”
SCDSB Cheers on LU
Sudbury Catholic District School Board elementary students were invited to cheer on their local Laurentian University Voyageurs hockey team during one of their season games. Students from St. Francis, Holy Cross, St. David, Holy Trinity, and St. Benedict packed the arena as they cheered on the Voyageurs as they won a victory over Nipissing 3-2 in a shootout.
Bears in Action
Mr. Geoffrey Lougheed spoke to the Gr.9 Religion classes at St. Benedict during Catholic Education Week. After his visit the grade 9 Religion students became inspired to do one more thing before the end of the school year; and that was to raise some money for the Sudbury Food Bank. One thing that stood out to us during his presentation was that the Food Bank does not get a lot of donations during the summer months because school is out and families are on vacation. So after 7 weeks of bringing in money along with a pizza day fundraiser, the students in Ms. Skelly, Mrs. Adler and Ms. Dowdall’s classes were extremely proud to present a cheque to Mr. Lougheed on Friday, June 19th for $654.05. We hope that this will bring some comfort to the families in need this summer.
Two SCDSB Students Named to Minister’s Student Advisory Council
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce that two SCDSB secondary students have been selected to be a part of the Minister’s Student Advisory Council- TiCarra Paquet from Marymount Academy and Laura Rinaldi from St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.
According to the Ministry of Education’s press release, “Students who serve on the Minister’s Advisory Council have many responsibilities. The council meets with (Minister of Education Liz Sandals) twice during the terms and each member is required to participate in at least one regional student forum.
The council also provides:
– ongoing student perspectives, advice, recommendations, and consultations on the Ministry of Education’s policies, programs and practices;
– advice and feedback on the activities more specifically related to the ministry’s student engagement activities; and
– feedback on student-focused communication strategies and products, such as websites, brochures, pamphlets and video clips.
Council members also have many opportunities for leadership and skills development. During their term they learn about strategic planning and the formation of government policy, programs and practices. They also use on-line surveys and other communication strategies to engage their peers and raise awareness about programs and services available for Ontario students.”
Jody Cameron, Chair of the Board states, “On behalf of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, we would like to congratulate both TiCarra and Laura for showing initiative and leadership, and we know that they will make us proud representing the voice of our students and our board provincially.”
June 2015 OAPCE Newsletter
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our Sudbury Catholic parents, the SCDSB would like to provide a link to the latest newsletter from The Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education (OAPCE).
This month’s newsletter comes in three parts:
St. Ben’s Soccer Focus Students in Montreal for FC Action
As part of the soccer focus class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students had the opportunity to travel to Montreal May 6-7 to watch a Montreal FC versus Toronto FC professional soccer game. Students at St. Benedict can register for this phys-ed soccer-focused course to learn and experience the various aspects of soccer – from playing, to training, to coaching, to refereeing, to nutrition, to strategy, etc. St. Ben’s teacher and coach Giuseppe Politi explained, “Having the students get the opportunity to watch this level of soccer allows them to see first hand the strategies and level of play that they aspire to. It is an exciting and impactful way for them to learn even more.”
St. Ben’s Soccer Students in Montreal for FC Action
As part of the soccer focus class at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, the students had the opportunity to travel to Montreal May 6-7 to watch a Montreal FC versus Toronto FC professional soccer game. Students at St. Benedict can register for this phys-ed soccer-focused course to learn and experience the various aspects of soccer – from playing, to training, to coaching, to refereeing, to nutrition, to strategy, etc. St. Ben’s teacher and coach explained, “Having the students get the opportunity to watch this level of soccer allows them to see first hand the strategies and level of play that they aspire to. It is an exciting and impactful way for them to learn even more.”
St. Ben’s Business Students in Beantown
Students in enroled in the St. Benedict Business Studies program travelled to Boston, Massachusetts from May 13-17. The group plans a major field trip each year to bring to life concepts including marketing, leadership, budgeting, international business, accounting, entrepreneurship and concept development. During their visit, the students toured MIT- Sloan School of Management, Harvard Business School, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and even the Boston Marathon Finish line among other stops. “This was a great city for the business students to visit,” explained teacher Giuseppe Politi. “Boston is really a wonderful area that highlights successful schools of business and entrepreneurship. The students were excited to see such historic and important institutions that demonstrate a true understanding of how successful businesses respond to needs, wants, supply and demand.” The previous two years have had the students visiting New York and Chicago.
Walking with Everyday Heroes
On Monday, May 25 the students and staff of Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School and St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School went for a walk – a walk to honour and support those fighting Cystic Fibrosis. As May is Cystic Fibrosis Month, and there are currently three students enroled at St. Benedict with the disease, the school campus decided show their support with the theme of the day being superheroes. The students and staff were encouraged to dress up as their favourite superhero while participating in the walk – the only two schools in Canada to be hosting their own. Member of the local Cystic Fibrosis organization were on hand to take part in the event with the group as well as families of some of the students. The two schools raised $1000 through a buy-out to