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.
Staff and students at the Sudbury Catholic District School Board raised $1,923.10 to support the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee. Leaves of Change: Binaakwe Giizis is a fundraiser which took place on October 14, 2022, to promote environmental stewardship.
The goal of the fundraiser is to engage in civic and environmental responsibility by bringing attention to climate change and better understand how we can protect the earth for future generations. Throughout the day and the month of October, students and staff are encouraged to make more sustainable efforts. This includes cleaning green spaces by picking up trash and litter, recycling, using a reusable water bottle and reducing day to day waste, where possible.
In addition, October is known as Binaakwe Giizis – Moon of Falling Leaves. The fundraiser also served as an educational opportunity to understand, acknowledge, and respect Indigenous perspectives on caring for Mother Earth (Shkagamik Kwe).
“As a school board, it is our responsibility to create opportunities that teach the importance of protecting the earth for future generations.Environmental degradation affects the health and well-being of all peoples of North America and the world in many ways. By participating in this fundraiser, and the many planned activities, we help our community engage in volunteerism and create hope through environmental restoration,” said Joanne Bénard, Director of Education for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board.
On Friday, October 14th, 2022, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is inviting students and staff from all sites to increase their civic responsibility by participating in a fall fundraiser that gives back to the local green space!
SCDSB Leaves of Change will recognize climate change during the changing season, as well as provide a teaching opportunity for Indigenous Education and caring for Shkagamik Kwe (mother earth). On this day, students/staff are encouraged to wear fall colours (red, yellow, orange, green, purple, and/or brown) and donate a toonie, where possible, to support the continued efforts of the Junction Creek Stewardship Community in Sudbury. The Junction Creek Stewardship Committee is an integral part of the Greater Sudbury community, working to improve the health of the unique urban waterway that connects us all and to promote the livability and value of our natural environment.
The goal of the fundraiser is to help our community engage in civic and environmental responsibility by bringing attention to climate change and how we can protect the earth for future generations. Throughout the day and the month of October, students and staff are encouraged to make more sustainable efforts. This includes cleaning green spaces by picking up trash and litter, recycling, using a water bottle, etc.
October is also where we honour Binaakwe Giizis – Moon of Falling Leaves. As this event is taking place during Binaakwe Giizis – it also serves as an educational opportunity to understand, acknowledge and respect Indigenous perspectives on caring for Mother Earth (Shkagamik Kwe).
As a school board, it is our responsibility to create opportunities to teach the importance of protecting the earth for future generations. Environmental degradation affects the health and well-being of all peoples of North America and the world in many ways. For instance, industrial contamination and disruption of wildlife habitats combine to reduce the supply and purity of clean drinking water, traditional foods, and medicines. In addition, environmental degradation erodes the quality of life dependent on the purity of the land, water, flora and fauna. Further, this disruption greatly affects Indigenous peoples culture, languages, spiritual health, and well-being along with the life of all living things. By participating in this fundraiser, we help our community engage in volunteerism and create hope through environmental restoration.
Grade 4 students at St. David Catholic Elementary School were thrilled to discover their September video submission was honoured as a national winner in the 2021 Take Me Outside Student Video Contest.
The Take Me Outside Student Video Contest is a national competition aiming to get students outside by encouraging them to submit their best, self-made video, featuring how they like to spend their time exploring the outdoors in Canada.
With a tight deadline of Sept. 17th and less than two weeks back at school, Mrs. Toffoli’s class were up for the challenge and placed second nationwide in the class category. In reward for their tremendous work, the class received gift cards from MEC to help get them outside even more!
“I am so proud of my classmates and my teacher because we won second place in Canada.” Edrea, Gr. 4 Student
“I am so happy that we got second place. Our hard work paid off.” Diymtrius, Gr. 4 Student
Mrs. Toffoli and her teaching assistant Brandon Antonioni ensured students had the support and resources to inspire the creativity needed to create the video and follow the rules.
“When I first heard about the contest, I knew right away St. David School had the perfect backyard. We have such amazing trails and a great outdoor classroom that showcases Canada’s beauty. The students worked hard on this contest and came up with some brilliant reasons why learning from and on the land is important to them.” Stephanie Toffoli, Gr. 4 Teacher
“At St. David School, we continue to work to enhance our teaching pedagogy to ensure that we include not only Indigenous theory and knowledge in our lessons but also ways of being. An important part of Truth and Reconciliation is learning on the land and acknowledging the teachings around us in nature. We thank our Indigenous community partners and Elders that continue to support our learning on the land, as well as thank wonderful organizations such as “Take Me Outside” for the encouragement they offer to all schools to take that step outside and enhance our learning.” Dawn-Marie Wemigwans, Principal
The winning video can be found at: St. David Catholic Elementary School’s Take Us Outside Video.
For more information about St. David Catholic Elementary School, please visit, www.st-david.sudburycatholicschools.ca
Note: REGISTRATION FOR THE TAKE ME OUTSIDE FOR LEARNING CHALLENGE 2021/22 IS NOW OPEN
The Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge is a commitment to ongoing outdoor learning throughout the school year, which involves taking your class outside once a week. For teachers who sign up for the Learning Challenge, they are provided monthly professional development opportunities, resources and outdoor learning activity ideas
Last year, over 3033 educators participated in the Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge and with your help, we are hoping to surpass this number and empower even more schools to take part.
The deadline for registration is October 20th! Join our very own St. David School who has already registered 8 classes!
Did we mention there are lots of amazing prizes up for grabs for teachers who participate in the Learning Challenge?
To register, please visit: Take Me Outside for Learning Challenge
Contact christina.raso@sudburycatholicschools.ca if you would like more details about participating in this activity.
Pictured are St. David Students being keepers of the trails!
Students at St. David School celebrated National Tree Day on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. National Tree Day serves as a celebration for all Canadians to appreciate the great benefits that trees provide us – clean air, wildlife habitat, reducing energy demand and connecting with nature.
Mrs. Toffoli’s Grade 4 & 5 students honoured the day by creating a short video that can be viewed at:
Check out their beautiful and colourful artwork!
The staff and students of St. David Catholic School would like to publicly acknowledge Mr. Louis Belanger and the staff from Yallowega Belanger Salach Architecture for the donation of 50 evergreen trees for the new school site.
The staff at Yallowega Belanger Salach Architecture spent a morning preparing the soil for new trees and assisting the students in re-greening the new St. David School surroundings. The school would also like to thank school board trustees, Ray Desjardins and Nancy Deni for assisting the students in the tree planting activity.
Planting day started with heavy clouds and light rain. Once all trees were planted, a huge rainstorm ensued. The trees were naturally watered, the students, staff and community members were still dry and everyone felt wonderful about their contribution to the new school environment! The school’s next environmental project will be the creation of “Woodworking Club”, who will be building raised garden beds for the upcoming spring’s planting season — thank you Mr. Mailloux!
The students and staff at St. David Catholic School recognized this year’s Earth Day by “wild flower bombing” the new school site. St. David Catholic School will be moving to a brand new school in September 2016. The new school is located at 549 Frood Road, just a block away from their current school.
Teachers, students and staff members created wild flower bombs to prepare for the Earth Day celebration. Recycled paper, water and flowers seeds were mixed together to create “flower bombs”, then students and staff walked to the new school site to throw their “wild flower bombs” around exterior of the school site.
“We are excited to move to the new school and want to have a hand in creating a beautiful, welcoming school culture. This was a simple, fun way to contribute to the development of a natural setting around the school. We had fun creating the “wild flower bombs” and we had fun walking to the new site and throwing our creations. Now we patiently wait until September to move in.” stated Nancy Costanzi, St. David School Resource teacher.
Together with St. David students and staff, Local Ojibwe artist and educator, Will Morin conducted a planting ceremony at the school to support the students transition to the new school site. Fifty two planters were filled with sweetgrass seeds. The newly planted seedlings will be cared for over the summer by Mr. Morin and his family and in the fall will be transplanted at the new St. David School site.
As part of the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury, Mr. Morin was selected as a Project Impact recipient. This project included involving students in the regreening of a native species plant, sweetgrass. Sweetgrass is also a First Nation traditional medicine.
As part of the ceremony, the outgoing students in grade 6, 7 and 8 were honoured by the school community. Mr. Morin stated, “We all plant seeds to prepare for the future. It is only together that we can nurture their growth and ensure their success”.
On April 22, 2013 the students in Mrs. Cimino’s grade 1 class participated in hands on educational Earth Day activities. During the activity centres, the students made Earth Day necklaces as a reminder to keep our earth clean and healthy. They read the book “The Lorax” and discussed what can happen if we do not take responsibility for the care of our planet.
St. David Catholic Elementary School students participate in a school wide recycling program, composting program and vermi composting program.
Next Friday, the grade one students and their fellow St. David classmates will be participating in the community clean up along Jean Street, Frood Road and Dupont Street. “The students had a wonderful day learning about the importance of maintaining a healthy environment while having fun and participating in activities that engaged their minds and kept them physically active. As a class, we have really focused on healthy living and environmentally friendly actions. The students continue to be committed to caring for their environment and making choices that improve and support the positive development of their community”, states Maria Cimino, grade 1 teacher at St. David School.
