Little did Meagan Ierino, a Grade 6 student at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School know, that five months ago when she entered her poster into the Royal Canadian Legion, Lockerby Branch’s, Remembrance Day Poster Contest, that her poster would win, not once, but three times; locally, divisionally, and now regionally! Art Moore was on hand from the Royal Canadian Legion, Lockerby Branch to award Meagan her medal and prize.
The Royal Canadian Legion conducts their Remembrance Day Poster Contest and Public Speaking Contest annually, and invites students from all Sudbury schools to participate.
St. Francis is very proud of Meagan.
Sudbury Catholic Schools Celebrate Franco-Fun Day
On March 20, all Sudbury Catholic Schools took part in Franco-Fun Day activities. Franco-Fun day is a day dedicated to celebrating French language and culture. Whether it be French Immersion or core French students, each school set up a variety of activities to honour French language for all the classes. Staff put a great deal of time and effort into planning the events, and the students had an outstanding time learning new words and taking part in all of the activities, some of which included French concerts, cooking French foods, French-themed playdays, and sport activities instructed in French, etc. Lianne Perreault Raymond, a curriculum consultant for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board who was responsible for the coordination of the Franco-Fun Day activities, was thrilled with the efforts made by all the schools to embrace French culture and language on Franco-Fun day. “What an outstanding effort by our schools and staff,” Perreault-Raymond stated. “They have really outdone themselves, as they do every year, by making this year’s Franco-Fun day truly a day that honours and celebrates the Francophone culture in our community. From cooking crepes to singing French songs, I am very proud of everyone’s contribution to making this year’s Franco-fun day such a success!”
Catherine McCullough, Director of Education for the board echoed Perreault-Raymond’s comments. “Our staff has once again done an outstanding job for our students through their Franco-Fun day activities and celebrations. We recognize the importance of supporting French language skills, and know that our Board’s French Immersion programming is such a success because it is supported throughout our system.”
FULL DAY Kindergarten Information/Registration Night -TODAY – Tuesday, February 5, 2013
There will be an information/registration night TODAY – Tuesday, February 5, 2013 for all parents interested in registering their child(ren) at one of the Sudbury Catholic elementary schools for FULL DAY Kindergarten beginning September, 2013.
The information/registration night will start at 6:00 p.m. For more information about this event, please contact your local Catholic elementary school. For contact information about each school, go to http://www.scdsb.edu.on.ca/schools/schools.php, or contact the board office at (705)673-5620.
St. Francis Students Take First!
Two St. Francis Catholic Elementary School students have won first prize in the Remembrance Day contests held by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 564. Megan Ierino won first place in the poster contest, and Margan Taylor won in the literary contest. Congratulations to both girls!
Students Remember War Veterans
Students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School in grades 3 and 4 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 us. The grade 3 and 4 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.
Water Festival Enjoyed by St. Francis Students
On September 26, the grade 3 and 4 St. Francis Catholic Elementary students from teacher Graziella Visentin’s class attended the Sudbury Children’s Water Festival. Students ventured off to the festival held at the Anderson Farm in Lively. The annual event is an educational way of teaching students the importance of preserving and protecting the environment’s important resource, water. The Anderson Farm Museum was able to host the thirty-four activity stations in which the grade 3 and 4 students rotated throughout the day. Parent volunteers assisted with the supervision as students travelled throughout stations in small groups. Various stations included activities and information shared by the OPP Marine Unit, the Lake Water Quality Program and the Fire Department. Students took part in hands on activities such as putting together a wetland puzzle, washing laundry as an early settler, handling a fire hose, sorting and recycling garbage. The Water Festival was an interactive and enjoyable event for the grade 3 and 4 class and parent volunteers.
Fire Prevention Week Recognized by St.Francis Flames
St. Francis students from teachers Graziella Visentin and Sandra Narduzzi’s class have been learning about fire safety this month. The annual Fire Prevention Week was also recognized between October 7th and 13th with an elaborate display at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre court area. On Thursday, October 11, the grade 3 & 4 students from St.Francis School took part in a trivia game that many are familiar with from television entitled, Jeopardy. However, the theme revolved around fire safety and prevention as it was hosted by the Sudbury Fire Department at the New Sudbury Shopping Centre. The game show host was not Alex Trebek, but rather he was replaced by a local fire fighter hosting the game. The game was renamed, Fire Jeopardy. Participants of the game were the grade 3 and 4 St. Francis Flames competing againstt another local school. Students were quizzed on various questions about fire safety in a fun and entertaining way. The excitement could be heard throughout the mall as shoppers stopped to observe and store clerks came to check out the excitement. The event concluded with a class photo in front of an antique fire truck and questions for fire fighters to answer. Students left the event ready to plan fire emergency exits in their homes with family members. They were also well informed about preventing fire hazards from happening in their own homes.
St. Francis Students Winners with Fast Flowing Water Poster Contest
St. Francis students Makaylah Kruk in grade 5 (french immersion) and Jordon Pileggi in grade 6 (french immersion) took part in this year’s annual Fast Flowing Water Poster Contest. Both students submitted outstanding posters and walked away with fourth and fifth place finishes.
MaKaylah took fifth and wond a $100 Cineplex gift card and Jordan took fourth place and won a $150 iTunes gift card. Congratulations to both MaKaylah and Jordan!
Score! Sudbury Catholic Receives Significant Funding to Support Music Programming
The grade 8 students at St. Benedict donned their coats and waited by the door for the vehicle from St. John’s Music in Toronto to arrived jammed packed with goods. Getting ready to unload their order, their teacher, Leanne Urso, couldn’t stop herself from grinning – “Its like Christmas!” exclaimed Urso. Both Urso and St. Anne’s vice principal, Joanne Comisso applied for some funding back in June to support the board’s music programming. Successful in their grant application, both staff members received word that the Sudbury Catholic Board would be receiving $20,000 worth of musical instruments and other music paraphernalia from MusiCounts. MusiCounts is a music education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, working towards keeping music alive in schools across Canada. This specific grant, called the Band Aid grant, speaks to their mission of ensuring that children in Canada have access to comprehensive music programs through their schools, regardless of socio-economic circumstances. On Friday, September 30, MusiCounts held a press conference to announce this year’s recipients of these grants nationwide, with the help of Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, as well as Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. A total of $600,000 was distributed to over 80 school communities across the country. Sudbury Catholic was the only recipient in Northeastern Ontario successful in their grant application.
Both Urso and Comisso conduct the elementary Sudbury Catholic concert band, which is comprised of grade 7 and 8 students from St. Anne, St. Raphael, Pius XII and St. Benedict. This band, which practices separately in their individual schools, come together on several occasions throughout the school year to perform as one. With the arrival of new instruments and music programming material, both Urso and Comisso were overjoyed with the success of their application. “We are both so passionate about music,” Comisso stated. “This arrival of instruments and materials is a huge, huge addition to our programming, and we are so fortunate.”
Barry MacDonald, Chair of the Board for Sudbury Catholic echoed Comisso’s comments. “ What an outstanding accomplishment for our Board. This substantial delivery of musical instruments etc., is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our staff,” MacDonald stated. “The passion that drives our staff to offer our students more, directly impacts these students, and allows our staff to deliver above standard programming.”
Upcoming concert dates will be announced in the near future with the band performing in and around the city, with their brand new instruments.
Wild About Reading At St. Francis
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School took the time to highlight literacy within the building on January 27 to celebrate Family Literacy Day. Students had the opportunity to read to others during the day emphasizing that reading is an important skill and reading everyday helps to improve student achievement.
Mrs. Healy’s Full Day Kindergarten program read the book “Where the Wild Things Are?”. They worked on a illustration based on the story, watched the film about the movie and re-told the story to each other. St. Francis students are WILD about reading!