We are very pleased to present the Director of Education’s Annual Report for the 2021-2022 school year.
We thank our Board of Trustees, Senior Administration, staff, students, families, volunteers, community partners, and our parishes for their continued support and commitment to Sudbury Catholic. Together we are providing a caring, progressive, high quality Catholic school system that is nurturing our students – mind, body, and spirit.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board was invited, along with other partners in education across the province, to take a stand on Thursday, March 10, 2022, as “#StandWithUkraine Blue and Yellow Day”. On this day, students and staff were encouraged to wear blue and yellow clothing and, where possible, donate a toonie to the “Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.”
We were grateful we could join together as a Board and take a united stance with our colleagues and students across the province by sharing our thoughts and prayers to all those affected by this ongoing tragedy. We began our day by coming together in a system-wide prayer for peace. Together, we prayed for those impacted by this invasion and for a quick resolution to the conflicts, destruction, and deaths being experienced by the people of Ukraine. We prayed for peace, and we prayed for God’s love to shine through and touch the hearts of everyone on this earth. We invite you to continue to pray with us by using our system-wide prayer.
In addition to participating in the province-wide blue and yellow day, Sudbury Catholic students, staff, and families have actively created ways to support and stand with Ukraine. Schools have hopped right in to provide support by developing fundraisers, participating in various awareness activities, inciting prayer, etc. We are proud to take this time to highlight a sample of some of the different types of actions completed by members of our community.
Students in the learning support program at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, created Ukrainian themed keychains. After completing their keychains, these gifts were hand-delivered to members of their community.
In addition to creating Ukrainian themed keychains, St. Benedict chose to #StandWithUkraine by hosting a blue and yellow dress-down day on March 9, 2022. On this day, they managed to raise $2600 to support Ukrainian Humanitarian Efforts. We want to provide a special shout-out to the student council who originally came up with the idea of this day and members of faculty, including Joanne Burke, James MacNeil and Megan McMillan, who helped organize this effort. Fantastic job, Bears!
MMA regals wore blue and yellow in solidarity with other Catholic schools across the province, and thanks to the donations, the school raised $500 as a school community. Classes also created blue and yellow cranes to show their support.
In addition to having a dress-down day for students and staff at Bishop Alexander Carter, their school community raised donations by offering pizza concessions to help further their actions and raise even more proceeds to stand with Ukraine. All proceeds from these fundraising efforts will be donated to #HELPUKRAINENOW.
Cardinals swapped their red uniform to participate in Thursday’s blue and yellow day. In addition to showing support through their clothing, students in Ms. Dzuirban’s class created a beautiful poster supporting the people of Ukraine!
Students and staff at St. Francis School had a Canada Day-themed spirit day. They thought it was imperative to highlight that they stand with Ukraine as Canadians and as St. Francis Flames. Together as a school community, they jointly raised $408.00 for the families of Ukraine.
In addition to wearing blue and yellow in solidarity with other Catholic schools across the province, St. John School ran a “Popcorn for Peace” campaign from March 7 – March 10. With a goal in mind to raise $1000.00, their school community quickly jumped up, or should we say “popped up,” to meet the challenge. Offering popcorn sacks for a minimum donation of $2.00 per bag, their school community amazingly raised $1250.00 in just four days. The only thing that makes this news better is seeing so many smiling faces. Knowing this money is being donated to St. Mary’s Catholic Ukraine Church to help Ukrainian people makes us smile as well. Go, Jaguars, go!!
Students in St. John’s English FDK class created blue and yellow flags in honour of the people in Ukraine. They learned that different flags represent different places in the world and that right now, the Ukrainian flag is a symbol of people who need our prayers.
Students at Holy Trinity showed their support for friends in Ukraine during Winter Fun Day on March 10. Ms. Skelly’s class made a fantastic sign in the colours of the Ukrainian flag. A donation jar was also created in blue and yellow, resulting in a $331 donation generously brought forward by various students, staff and parents at Holy Trinty. Good job Redbirds!
Holy Cross has been very busy. Grade 6 students Abigail and Sara approached the school with what they could do to help and support Ukraine, and together they put their heads together and decided that they would be able to help by constructing and selling blue and yellow hand-made bracelets and pins for their school community. This not only provided a way to raise money for donations to the cause, but it was also a visible way for Holy Cross School to stand in support of the people of Ukraine.
“I really wanted to help the people of Ukraine, and making pins and bracelets is one of the ways I knew I could help”. – Abigail Debruyn, Grade 6 student at Holy Cross
After countless hours of hard work, Abby and Sara’s beautiful bracelets and pins were up for grabs, and their fellow students were quick to swipe them. Both staff and students eagerly lined up in the front-hall entrance to make their donations. The girls also passed around the school at lunchtime to ensure everyone had an opportunity to donate and recieve a pin or bracelet. Thanks to the efforts of these extraordinary young leaders, Abby and Sarah were able to raise $2252.05 that will be donated to St. Mary’s parish, who will, in turn, donate the money to humanitarian efforts.
“I want to help in any way I can because it is the right thing to do”. – Sara Wolski, Grade 6 student at Holy Cross
In addition to Sara and Abby, students at the school continued to support the Ukraine campaign by baking and decorating cookies. The cookies were sold door to door and allowed the school to raise an additional $450 to support Ukraine. Holy Cross would like to thank everyone who took the time to generously donate.
At Sudbury Catholic District School Board, we follow and promote the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations. The Ontario Catholic School Graduate is a responsible citizen who gives witness to Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life. This involves acting morally and legally as a person formed in Catholic traditions, witnessing Catholic social teaching by promoting equality, democracy, and solidarity for a just, peaceful and compassionate society, and respecting and affirming the diversity and interdependence of the world’s peoples and cultures.
There have been countless examples of how different communities exhibit this expectation and stand with the people of Ukraine during this time of need. It is our sincere hope that by highlighting some examples of how our schools have supported Ukraine, we can continue to work together as responsible citizens on this earth and inspire others to stand in solidarity to end the violence and suffering of the people of Ukraine.
STRESS! We all experience it.
That’s why Sudbury Catholic Schools is pleased to invite you to register for our upcoming wellness webinar in January. At this webinar, two outstanding guest presenters will tackle this topic and provide coping strategies for dealing with stress.
WHEN: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19 AT 5:30 PM
Alina Rukkila MSW, RSW and Jessie Jones CYW will lead us through an engaging session on dealing with the different types of stress and provide helpful strategies and tips we can incorporate to help us manage it when it happens.
We all know that not all types of stress are bad. Good types of stress can help you focus, ensure you meet your daily challenges, and encourage you to reach specific goals you have for yourself. However, it’s essential to understand the difference between good and harmful types of stress. Over time, a continued strain on the body put on from stress can get the best of you. It’s paramount to identify the causes of daily stress and manage the intensity of these feelings. By knowing healthy coping strategies, we can enjoy life and learn happily.
The International Day of the Girl was established by the United Nations in 2012 and is recognized as a day to acknowledge girls and their rights, education, and opportunities.
Skills Ontario offered a series of online events and challenges to celebrate this special occasion from October 4th-11th.
Students at Marymount Academy seized the opportunity to learn about women in the trades and participated in the following challenges put on by Skills Ontario:
The week ended with a virtual conference, For Girls, By Girls! dedicated to empowering girls through relatable and engaging content. For Girls, By Girls provided viewers with the opportunity to hear from girls in elementary and senior elementary to discuss their perspectives of how they perceive the skilled trades and technologies. Keynote speaker Kyara Cabrera Fong, Auto Body Technician Apprentice and Panel Leader Courtney Chard, Pipe Welder led the conference.
SCDSB regional science fair winners spent 8 days in Windsor competing at the Canada Wide Science Fair, accompanied by teachers Loretta Cuda and Melissa Talevi recently. They competed againstt 463 students from across Canada.
Marymount students Hailey Mackenzie and Dayna Rachkowski won the Resource Award for developing a better way to use natural resources that provide sustainable sources of food, products or prosperity for their project titled “Aquaponics”
Marymount students Alex Millar and Marika Moskalyk won an Excellence Award – Silver Medal for their project titled “Green Gold: Phytoremediation of the Long Lake Gold Mine”.
St. James student Marina Leblanc won an Excellence Award – Bronze Medal for her project titled “Cold Feet”.
Picture: l-r
Marika Moskalyk, Alex Millar, Marina Leblanc, (teacher)Loretta Cuda, (teacher) Melissa Talevi, Dayna Rachkowski, Hailey Mackenzie
