On January 9 students at St. Francis school participated in their very own Hawaiian day celebration. Students showed great spirit as they dressed up in Hawaiian shirts, straw hats and hula skirts. The sound of Hawaiian music welcomed students out of the cold weather as they arrived to school. The students were awarded the Hawaiian day as a result of reaching their canned food drive goal last December. St. Francis Flames donated over 3 000 cans for the Edgar Burton Food Drive which will help many families in the Sudbury community.
Sisters helping sisters
Staff at St. Francis elementary school displayed their Christmas spirit by filling more than 15 shoe boxes for a charity organization called Sisters Helping Sisters. This organization helps women across our community by providing many of the essentials needed for daily living. Items will be donated to women’s shelters within Sudbury. Way to go Flames!
Learning to Drum
St. Francis student, Preston Patterson, was very excited to have the opportunity to drum on a traditional Aboriginal drum. Joel Agowissa, the board Aboriginal support worker, finished off the ABC program by bringing in items such as snapping turtle shells, animal skulls, furs, and traditional wooden games, just to name a few. When leaving the school, Preston was able to thank Joel by saying ‘miigwetch’ (thank you) in Ojibwe.
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School Goes Gold!
On September 9th, St. Francis Catholic Elementary school students and staff were unable to attend Tom Davies Square where Mayor Matichuk proclaimed September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in The City of Greater Sudbury and raised the Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer (NOFCC) flag. However, in support of this day, the students and staff wore yellow/gold on this special day and also in honour of Karissa Kruk who is a cancer survivor and a student at the school. This was a great opportunity for students to be aware of childhood cancer and to show school spirit at the same time.
Hands on Learning for St. Francis Students
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School teacher Rhonda Martel wanted to do something different for her students. As a teacher of the Junior Communications class, she knew that many of her students would be more engaged with hands on learning and looked for a way to bring this experience to her classroom. Made up of students ages 7-10 who have been identified with Autism or a communication learning disability, Martel knew that this class would really benefit with a unique hands on activity that would blend learning with a physical activity that the students would enjoy. Martel decided to apply for a grant she saw online through Learning for a Sustainable Future and Environmental Education. Successful in her application, Martel received money for her class to plant and grow a butterfly garden on the property of the school. Fortunately, there was an already existing empty planter that they chose for their project. Bringing the learning into focus, the class researched the lifecycle of the butterfly, migration patterns, and what kind of plants were good for and also attracted butterflies in our community. The students then started their garden from the dirt-up. They set up, planted, weeded and watered their selected plants that included perennial sage, milkweek, Shasta daisies, and Miss Ruby butterfly bush. The students take turns watering and weeding their garden and are quite excited each day to check out its progress. For the summer months, they have even set up a partnership with the daycare in the school – Jubilee Heritage Daycare, which will have some of its students take over the watering and weeding duties during the summer months to sustain the garden for the class into the fall. Martel was thrilled with the end result and knew that her class was quite proud of their butterfly garden. “It is so nice for my students to have this type of hands on experience and see the garden take shape from just soil, to flourishing, healthy plants,” Martel explained. “ It is these types of experience that really engage our students and give them the opportunity to have positive hands on learning, success and fun at the same time.”
St. Francis Students – Stewards of the Earth
Grade 2 & 3 students in teacher Graziella Visentin’s class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School learned about their carbon footprint as part of their Earth Day activities. Understanding the effects of our carbon footprint helped the students deepen their sensitivity and connection to a special virtue celebrated this month-Stewardship. Students read a variety of information books and researched ways to be good stewards of the earth by reducing, reusing and recycling resources. The students designed buttons to wear and promote their friendly Earth Day message to others. The class also created a book with student tips on how to reduce our carbon footprint on the earth. Ideas included walking to a nearby destination, riding their bicycles more often, donating used clothing, planting trees and composting.
Franco-Fun at St. Francis
As part of St. Francis Catholic Elementary School’s Franco-Fun celebrations, students in teacher Angele Lachance’s French Immersion full-day kindergarten class proudly donned their green and white crowns. Pictured are Kenadie Bayard and Sophia Legendre.
St. Francis Stands Up to Bullying
The St. Francis School community kicked off Bullying Awareness Week with a prayer service and school-wide pledge to “Stand Up to Bullying”.
On November 18th, students, staff, and parents wore blue as a sign of peace and safety. Sunglasses and logos stating “Bullying Gives Us the BLUES” were worn with pride.
Recognizing World Diabetes Day at St. Francis
On Thursday, November 14, students and staff of St. Francis Catholic Elementary School showed their support for World Diabetes Day. As there are three students at the school who have diabetes, the students and staff came together and wore the colour blue to acknowledge the day and show their friends/students their support. They are all hopeful that one day a cure will be found!
St. Francis Students REMEMBER War Veterans
Students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School in grade 2 and 3 eagerly wrote postcards to war veterans for Remembrance Day. The postcards were provided by Veteran Affairs Canada. The class put their friendly letter writing skills to use in order to compose a thoughtful message. Students in teacher Graziella Visentin’s class annually write postcards to thank veterans for being brave and courageous in order to protect others. The grade 2 and 3 students acknowledged the veterans’ efforts and their gratitude for the freedom we so much enjoy today. This year the postcards were sent to war veterans residing in Ottawa, Ontario.
Grade 2 and 3 students pictured above, participated in a Remembrance Day Service with their classmates and members of the Royal Canadian Legion. Students read an acrostic poem entitled, REMEMBER, after the laying of wreaths during the service.