A school-wide celebration of books was held at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School during Reading Week April 11th -15th. To further develop the love of reading, students were encouraged to use integrated technology to share with a friend their favourite story on Facebook, Twitter or You Tube. Students were given time to Drop Everything And Read, using their e-readers such as Kindle or just old- fashioned books. The activities continued all week with Book Club meetings,book swaps, and a graffiti wall to journal about their love of a good book.
Category: Student
St. Benedict Holds Upcoming Open House
St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School invites prospective grade 8 students and their families to attend an Information Evening Tuesday, Feb. 15th beginning at 7:00 pm.
Students exemplify many of the programs offered at St. Benedict. The school is promoting their “Getting Connected” program encouraging academic use of wireless technology, Specialist High Skills Major in Environmental Science, competitive extra-curricular sports, French immersion, and Native Studies, as well as students participating in numerous Dual Credits programs at Cambrian College and Laurentian University. For additional
information visit [ http://www.benedict.c ]www.benedict.ca or contact (705) 523-9235.
Bears Lessard makes GTA All-Star Roster
St. Benedict football player Erick Lessard will be playing in the GTA all-star football game on Sat April 17th at McMaster University. Lessard, who attended an evaluation camp during the Bears bye week, made the Greater Toronto Area top 100 list. Although he had an early injury in another mini-camp, he was selected as one of the top 45 players.
Locally, Erick was an unanimous selection for SDSSAA all-star, at Offensive Tackle and was one of 4 Bear offensive linemen selected as an all star. Emilio Frometa, Spencer Dailey, and Lineman of the Year, Carter Long, were also selected. Erick helped the Bears return to the playoffs with a 5-3 record, ousting defending champs Notre-Dame, before losing to the eventual city champions, Lasalle.
Known as “Lizard” to his teammates, Erick is blessed with pro size (6’7″, 300 lbs) and has a great work ethic. He impressed coaches at the McMaster “Up Front” Offensive Linemen Camp, and scouts at the All-Pro football camp. Head coach Frank Rocca praises his big lineman, “A physical specimen, and an honour roll student, you don’t find that combo too often. The transformation since his Gr. 9 year has been truly remarkable, just scratching the surface of what he can really do.”
Rocca explains that Lessard has benefited from seeing other Bears going off to play university football both in the CIS, and NCAA. “The path has been set by others over the years, so he knows what he has to do to get there. He has written SAT’s, has a personal trainer and travels to compete againstt the best. For us at St. Benedict, he really stepped up as a leader this year.”
Erick agrees, “It’s nice to be recognized for all the hard work that I am putting in. I owe it to my coaches. I’m pretty lucky to have a head coach who has gone off to play DIV 1 in the NCAA, and also play pro in the CFL. Coaches are surprised to find out that I know zone blocking techniques, and all the calls to go with it. It makes me that more marketable.”
Erick has taken the year off from basketball to focus his off season training at T2 Training Systems at The Gym. “Training all summer gave him such a huge advantage with power and strength, coming into this season. This year he lined up on the ball with great confidence. Combine that with solid fundamentals and great technique, and that makes for a very overwhelming figure for the opposition” said Rocca.
Erick will look to add a few more camps over the summer to further increase his stock. Some coaches have commented that Erick could be one of the top recruits coming out of highschool, period. When asked about the amount of schools contacting the well natured Lizard, Rocca replied with a grin, “This is just the beginning for this kid.”
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.
Casting their Ballots at St. Benedict
As part of Government Week, Students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School took part in a parallel election and held a student vote on Friday October 22, 2010. On hand was M.P.P. Rick Bartolucci who congratulated the students for getting involved and explained to them the significance of their participation. “Local government includes school board trustees, and that has a direct impact on you and your education,” Bartolucci said. “By learning about your local government, you are learning that voting is something you should take very seriously, and this will be the foundation piece for your future activity as responsible citizens in your community.”
Also addressing the students was St. Benedict Principal Karl Dreger who reinforced Bartolucci’s message regarding the importance of their participation in the vote.
Marli Kicz, St. Benedict student and Sudbury Catholic Student Trustee also spoke to the students about the significance of students getting involved and the power of the student voice. “By getting involved,” Kicz said, “students can have a positive impact – it is very empowering.”
The program run by Student Vote, in partnership with the Ontario government, encourages youth under the voting age to participate in the democratic process through parallel elections, and develop voting habits they can apply as adults.
Over 640 students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School participated in Friday’s parallel election and Student Vote will share their results after the official polls close on October 25.
St. Benedict Students Take to the Lake
Students from St. Benedict’s A.S.D. class had the opportunity recently to try the sport of rowing. They started off by training indoors all second semester at the ILRC downtown with the help of Carla John, who works at the ILRC, and their coach was Thomas Merritt, from the Sudbury Rowing Club. When the weather got warmer and the students felt more confident with their rowing skills, they got to row on the lake. The coach got other members from the rowing club to volunteer so that the students had experienced rowers along with them the first time. The indoor training was very physically demanding as the students worked up a quite a sweat but when they got to go out on the lake, it made it all worth it. The class hopes to continue the rowing next year.
St. Charles College Student Receives Significant French Immersion Scholarship
Alison Hunt, a grade 12 student from St. Charles College found out recently that she was the successful grant applicant for a $20,000 French Immersion scholarship from the University of Ottawa. After applying to the University for their International Development and Globalization program, Hunt received news that she was going to be receiving $5,000 a year for the next four years as long as she takes 60% of her courses in French. A French Immersion student for all of her schooling, Hunt didn’t really think about applying for any sort of French Immersion related scholarships. Her teacher, Rick Emond suggested to her that she might want to consider this option. Thankfully Hunt took his advice and her parents couldn’t be happier. “They are really excited for me,” Hunt said. “They know this is a fantastic opportunity for me and are really proud of me, especially since neither of them even speak French.” Hunt attributes a lot of her scholastic succes to Mr. Emond. “ He (Emond) has been there for me right from day one in Grade 9 and has encouraged me to stay in French Immersion right into Grade 12”. Emond says that he has always been very proud of Alison’s accomplishments as she has always been a very mature student who always went beyond what was required and always took extreme pride in her work. “Allison has always seen the importance of the Immersion program and never complained about the work that was involved,” Emond said. “She deserves this and part of me is envious of the opportunities that lie ahead of her as there is no doubt in my mind that she will make a difference in the world – when people talk about our students being our future, Alison will be one of the ones leading the way.” Hunt hopes to eventually work for a global charitable organization such as “Right to Play” and feels that continuing in her French will allow her more successful career opportunities.
St. Benedict Guest Speaker Drives Home the Message of the Dangers of Drinking and Distracted Driving
Students at St. Benedict welcomed guest speaker Norbert Georget to their school on May 12th, 2010. Mr. Georget is a former Saskatoon area paramedic, who now travels throughout Canada and the United States to bring home the reality of the consequences of drinking and driving, distracted driving and using drugs before getting behind the wheel. Drawing on his personal experiences while he was a paramedic, Mr. Georget shared story after story of senseless tragedies to a silent audience. The students and staff were speechless when Mr. Georget’s message hit home as he displayed a body bag and begged the students to make choices that would ensure they not end up in one. At the end of the presentation, the students and staff responded with thunderous applause to thank Mr. Georget for sharing his experiences. Thanks to the sponsorship of the local Community Credit Unions, St. Benedict was pleased to host the afternoon presentation to the students, and later in the evening the school opened its doors to parents and other community members to listen to Mr. Georget’s important message.
St. Benedict Band Goes on Tour
The St. Benedict Band’s went on tour recently and some of their excursions included performances at Southridge Mall, St. Christopher School, St. James School and Corpus Christi. Joanne Comisso, teacher at St. Benedict and Band Director felt that the students were ready to showcase their talents so was thrilled at the many opportunities they have had to perform. “The students have been working very hard so it is great that they have had several invitations in and around the community.” said Comisso.
Sudbury Star Male Athlete of the Week – Garrett Duff – St. Ben’s
Name – Garrett Duff
Grade – 11
Age – 16
Sports – Cross Country Skiing, Track & Field, Soccer, Badminton
Garrett has been a very active St. Benedict Bear since arriving from Timmins. He has competed in cross country skiing, advancing to OFSAA and even the Ontario Winter Games. He still trains regularly with the Walden Ski club.
In Track and Field, Garrett was a sprinter but has now focused more on jumping events. He has qualified for NOSSA in the long, and triple jumps. He hopes to qualify for OFSSA this year.
In soccer, Garrett was a part of the Jr. Boys NOSSA team in 2009.
In Badminton, Garrett won the SDSSAA and NOSSA championships in singles as a Gr. 9 student. In Gr.10 he competed in the Sr. Division in doubles with partner, freshman Hans Agnihotri, and came in 2nd in the district and in regionals. Both Hans and Garret placed 3rd in “C” at OFSSA. Garrett also competed in the Northern Ontario Badminton Association (NOBA) and completed the triple crown in the U16 division. He won in the singles, doubles, and mixed events. Garrett competes regularly all over the province and just finished the Sudbury Invitational where he placed 1st in both singles and doubles. Both Garrett and Hans (playing U19 at age 15) are hoping to advance to OFSAA again. The finals will be held this Saturday.
Garrett is also an avid kayaker and can be found on Ramsey most days of the summer. He says that it keeps your arms in shape for badminton! He is looking forward to the day when he will kayaking in Killarney.
Congratulations Garrett!