November 27 marks the first Sunday of Advent for 2022. Together, we all await the birth of a baby boy, the light of the world, coming to transform us, so that we can transform the world. The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8th. The first 24 days of December fall during the liturgical season of Advent and are represented by the colour purple. During Advent it is fitting that we celebrate the virtue of patience, for we recognize that we are patiently awaiting Jesus’ coming.
Advent Prayer
Dear Lord,
Send down Your Spirit to guide me during Advent this year. May the Holy Spirit help me journey closer to You and lift me up when I feel down and led me when I feel lost. I may stumble at times, but I know my ultimate journey is to draw closer to You and build Your kingdom here on earth–a kingdom that Jesus’s birth, life and death helped secure.
Amen.
Candle The first Sunday of Advent represents the Candle of Prophecy and symbolizes Hope.
Starting Nov. 1st, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board will be looking for submissions for our annual Christmas card artwork contest.
Year after year, we have the pleasure of seeing the creativity and imagination of our students flourish through this annual tradition and we are excited to see what beautiful artwork 2022 will bring forward.
Submissions will be accepted until November 18, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
The Student Senate was able to collect 127 winter clothing items for their annual winter clothing drive! The campaign ran from October 7 – 21 and all four secondary schools and the Catholic Education Centre participated.
“It was a very successful campaign. Every school was able to contribute something, and we crushed our goal of 86 items by 41, with a final total of 127. It is always great to see what our school board community can accomplish. I would like to say thanks to our Student Senate members and Tracey Adams for helping promote this campaign. Also, a big thanks to those who were able to contribute,” said Jack Gouchie, Student Trustee.
“This coat drive is such an important campaign and is an amazing way for us to give back to our community. I am so proud that the Student Senate was able to donate 127 winter clothing items this year,” said Catena Hayden, Student Trustee.
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.
Secondary Highlights
St. Benedict
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 faculty wear blue and yellow in support of Ukraine!
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.
Bishop Alexander Carter
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.
St. Charles College
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!
Elementary Highlights
St. Paul
St. Paul Students take time to snap a shot during #StandWithUkraine Blue and Yellow Day!
St. Charles
St. Francis
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.
St. John
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.
Holy Trinity
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
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.
We all have a responsibility for peace!
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.
Upon its completion, St. Charles College students proudly showed off their Stand With Ukraine poster.
Our Lenten journey began on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022, with Ash Wednesday! Sudbury Catholic District School Board honoured the start of this season with a morning prayer service. Our church tradition shares that on Ash Wednesday, we are invited to be marked with the sign of the cross on our foreheads. This symbolizes our understanding that we make mistakes and that we will take this time of Lent to grow in holiness, so we are prepared to celebrate Easter with great joy. Bishop Thomas Dowd also joined us and reinforced this message, reminding us that Lent is a time to make our hearts a worthy place for the Holy Spirit to live.
The day was also one where we joined in prayer for the situation in Ukraine. Pope Francis sent out an invitation for the world to join together for a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace. He asked that we especially pray for those suffering, be aware that we are all brothers and sisters, and implore God for an end to the war.
For those members of our community who were unable to attend our service yesterday, you can still participate by watching a virtual recording of our Ash Wednesday service. We’ll also continue joining together for prayer on Monday mornings. We invite you to view the following poster to see a schedule of our future virtual prayer services taking place throughout Lent.
Our Lenten journey begins with Ash Wednesday! We gathered as a system virtually and explored the theme of Nurturing Hope. Throughout the webinar, students participated by completing various readings and prayers and a reflection on Lent was provided by Father Larry Rymes.
We look forward to coming together through virtual services during each week of Lent.
The virtual Ash Wednesday service was held as an online webinar to the entire system and included participation from various students and Father Larry Rymes.
Students and teachers at Marymount Academy all came together to truly share what Christmas is about; spreading joy and love to everyone.
While this holiday season will be different with COVID-19, our Canadian Forces are always putting themselves in harm’s way to ensure we can spend the holidays with our families. Creating Christmas cards for the Canadian Armed Forces is something we did as a school to share the holiday spirit with them. We are forever grateful for their sacrifices and service.
Christmas is a time when you want to be surrounded by love and family. For the Canadian troops overseas, this must be a very difficult time and although we can’t all understand, we can empathize and help support in any way possible. This year we have decided to create Christmas cards for the Canadian Troops and send joy to them during the holidays. Students have been busy making cards this week and last in hopes of spreading love and cheer this holiday season. The cards will be mailed out this Friday, December 4 to the military headquarters in Belleville, where they will be then deployed to different locations around the world where our troops are stationed. We have come together as a community of students to share in the Christmas spirit as we will be sending 3500 Christmas cards out to the troops.
Ms. Gattoni, the teacher who spearheaded this thoughtful gesture at Marymount shared that “we were truly overwhelmed by the amount of cards students were making. The beautiful and thoughtful messages and warm wishes they included for the Canadian Forces truly demonstrates what wonderful and caring students we have at Marymount.”
Each year, YMCAs across Canada celebrate acts of peace by recognizing individuals and groups who, without any special resources, status, wealth or position, have demonstrated a commitment to building peace within their community or communities elsewhere in the world. During YMCA Peace Week, held during November, local peacemaker(s) receive special recognition and a medal at Peace Medal ceremonies across Canada.
This year, our very own, Milena Raso, a Grade 12 student at Marymount Academy, was awarded the YMCA PEACE Medal Recipient in the Youth Category.
Milena has been volunteering for 9 years and has been actively involved in raising funds for the Northern Cancer Foundation, Sudbury Hospice Care, Children’s Wish Foundation, Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer, Black Youth Helpline and Sudbury Alzheimer’s Society. Milena also founded the Stomach Cancer Fund, alongside her family and in memory of her father.
In March, when her Co-op placement was cancelled due to Covid-19 she came up with a creative idea to earn her credit. During the school closure period, Milena spent hundreds of hours making masks for the Sudbury community donating $5000 to NOFCC (Northern Ontario Families of Children with Cancer). In addition, with her fundraising efforts, she fully funded two nurse chairs for the Northeast Cancer Centre. To date, she has raised more than $20 000 for local charities.
“Milena exemplifies the traits and characteristics that makes her the perfect recipient for this award. She is actively involved within the Sudbury community and consistently demonstrates and lives out our Catholic values. The Marymount community is extremely proud of Milena and all Regals, past and present, want to congratulate her on her accomplishment,” said Cassandra Trenbergen, Principal at Marymount Academy.
“We are all very proud of Milena’s accomplishment, she is most deserving of this recognition not only for her years of dedication but most importantly for her genuine spirit of generosity and care towards others,” said Peter Prochilo, Superintendent of School Effectiveness.
As the weather gets cooler we turn our attention to the Advent season. We are looking for submissions for our annual Christmas card artwork contest. All students Kindergarten to Grade 12 are eligible to participate! Artwork should encompass our Catholic faith and help us to share in the joy of Christmas.
Artwork can be landscape or portrait and can be created in any medium (such as a drawing, painting etc). Submissions can be addressed and sent to the Board office at:
All submissions (whether in hard copy or e-mailed) should have the following information included in addition to the artwork:
Student first and last name
Grade
School
Artwork must be submitted by November 20, 2020 at 4 p.m. to be considered for the contest. The Board will choose one elementary design and one secondary design to be featured on our annual Christmas cards which are mailed to our Board Trustees, school administration and community partners. The winning entries will also receive a package of Christmas cards featuring their artwork!
Students at Sudbury Catholic Schools participated in a
challenge that was posted by Goshenite Seniors Services to create 500 Mother’s
Day cards for seniors in the Sudbury area.
Not being in a physical classroom didn’t stop Mrs. Cimino
and her Grade 1 students at St. David School from coming together to help Goshenite
Seniors Services.
“It is especially important during these difficult times to
provide students with authentic opportunities for them to act as caring and
responsible citizens,” said Mrs. Cimino.
Milena Raso, a grade 11 student at Marymount Academy is
currently enrolled in the Specialized High Skills Major for Non-Profit
Industry. She too jumped at the opportunity to bring positivity to members of
our community.
“I am very blessed to have my grandmother living with me and
listening to her stories about not having technology and other modern-day
conveniences. It shows me how life has changed. Hearing it first-hand, rather
than from reading it in a textbook makes it much more real to me. I think it’s
important for youth to be more active in caring for our elders and realize that
we have a lot to learn from them,” she explained.
Cards will be sent directly to Goshenite Seniors Services who will distribute
them over the weekend.
Pictured top to bottom are Keagan, Elizabeth, Gavin and Danilynn, Grade 1 students at St. David School.
