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: Community
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School Hosts Award-winning Author
Award-winning author, Karen Bass, made a visit to St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School on Tuesday May 6 as part of her tour of Northern Ontario during TD Canadian Children’s Book Week. Since this tour coincided with Catholic Education Week, her visit was one of the special events held at St. Benedict during this week. In her presentations, Karen spoke to students about how various aspects of World War II and its aftermath were incorporated into three YA novels that she has published. Slides of her visits to Germany and photos from the war, along with some military artifacts, provided a visual reference for the backgrounds Karen described. Thr Catee of the four novels that Karen has written are set in post-war Germany where teenagers learn about or deal with the impact of WWII on themselves and their families.
Sudbury Catholic Students Serving in the Love of Christ
On Wednesday, May 7th, students and staff at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School joined with Catholic Schools across the province to celebrate the Eucharist. What made this celebration even more vibrant was that students from St. Charles College, Marymount Academy and Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School were also part of the celebration. The theme of Catholic Education Week this year is “Serving in the love of Christ” and in his homily, Fr. Jim Hutton, pastor of St. Patrick Parish, reminded the students and staff of the importance of serving as Jesus did, to not count the cost and to not look for notoriety as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. A special message from Pope Francis was also ready to the students as he had sent a letter to be read to all of the Catholic students in Ontario during Catholic Education Week.
First-time Author Visits St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School
On Monday April 28, St. Benedict students from Grade 7 and 8 as well the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) class were treated to a visit from Joanne Levy, the author of Small medium at large. This book is the author’s first published novel, and it was one of the titles included in this year’s list for the Red Maple Reading Program that was run at St. Benedict. Prior to her visit, several of the classes were able to read the novel in class in preparation for her visit.
In her presentation, Joanne Levy gave a brief introduction of herself and then outlined the journey from writing a book to having it published. The presentation included several interesting facts from her own experiences with writing. In the question period that followed, students eagerly posed a variety of questions about the writing process, the inspiration for this novel, and her previous unsuccessful novels. Following the presentation, Joanne visited each elementary class, and the ASD class, to distribute signed bookmarks to all the students and staff.
In the afternoon, Joanne visited Holy Cross and gave two presentations to the Grade 5 and 6 students. Although Small medium at large is written for an older audience, the Holy Cross students were interested to ask how the book came into being and what inspired her. However, the most popular topic for questions was her pets.
NATIONAL YOUTH ARTS WEEK: ROCK N ROBOTICS EVENT
The St. Benedicts Robotics team is hosting an event at Dynamic Earth this Saturday – May 3. We will be demonstrating the robot, in conjunction with Sudbury Youth Rocks Band, as part of National Youth Arts Week. This event will be streamed live across Canada, which is really exciting!
NATIONAL YOUTH ARTS WEEK: ROCK N’ ROBOTICS EVENT
National Youth Arts Week from May 1-7, 2014 provides an opportunity for young people across Canada to create a celebration of youth led events showcasing their talents, expressing and exchanging ideas, getting excited about the arts and celebrating their positive contribution to their communities and to Canada. From St. John’s, NFLD, to Vancouver, BC, and everywhere in between!
For the first time, Sudbury will be hosting their own events throughout the week. A highlight will be “Rock n’ Robotics”, an exciting event that will combine a rock band with mechanical robots and professional stilt walkers. It will be a great opportunity to witness the hard work of these youth led/engaged activities from the Sudbury Youth Rocks Band, RoBenedicts Robotics Team from First Robotics Canada, and the Myths and Mirrors’ Kazzzam Stilt Walking Performers.
Event Details:
May 3, 2014
10am – 12pm
Atlas Copco Theatre, Dynamic Earth
See attached poster and media document for more details.
Look forward to seeing you there!
“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!”
Volleyball for All at St. Ben’s
On Thursday, March 6th, the Staff and Senior Girl’s Volleyball at St. Benedict squared off to see who would have bragging rights going into the March Break. Both teams were cheered on by the students who gathered in the gym for this great spectacle. After a hard fought battle that went to a tie-breaking game, the Teachers prevailed with a 16-14 final set. Looks like the Girls will have to wait for next year to try and defeat the Teachers and claim the title themselves!
SCDSB Band Enjoying a Successful Season
The Sudbury Catholic Elementary Band, directed by Vice Principal JoAnne Comisso and teaher Leanne Urso, has just finished a very successful Festival season. On February 27 the students performed at the Northern Ontario Music Festival, held at Sudbury Secondary School, where the students received a Silver award. To follow up that achievement, they competed at the Kiwanis Music Festival on March 24 at St. Benedict School. The band was very excited to receive a Gold award! All their hard work is definitely paying off, and we wish them continued success as they head into their spring concert season. This band is comprised of students from St. Anne, St. Benedict, St. Raphael and Pius XII Catholic Elementary Schools.
Franco-Fun at St. Ben’s
Students at St Benedict Catholic Secondary School participated actively in an afternoon of Franco Fun Day activities on Friday March 21st 2014. The students were submerged in the French culture, music, language, and food in a series of challenges which involved some friendly competition againstt each other for a chance to participate in the grand finale. There were many laughs shared as the day was a huge success and enjoyed by all!
Jersey Day at St. Benedict
Students and staff at St. Benedict Catholic Elementary School recently donned their favorite sports jersey to attend their pep rally and celebrate jersey day. Saturday November 30th is “Sports Day in Canada”, and what better way than to wear favorite sport’s team jersey and have a raucous pep rally. The pep rally highlighted the fall sports season with all of its great successes as well as introducing the slate of winter sports.