A group of very fortunate students in grades 3, 4 and 5 at St. David Catholic Elementary School received a belated Christmas gift this January. The students were surprised with a special visit from members of the Sudbury Wolves, members of the Sudbury Regional Police and Gord Ewin. The members of the Sudbury Wolves included captain Danny Desrochers as well as defenceman Conor Cummins.
During the presentation, Danny and Connor provided students with valuable knowledge about: hard work and training, preventing bullying, as well as a personal perspective of the life of an OHL player. At the end of the presentation, St. David’s students were thrilled to have the opportunity to personally meet Danny Desrochers and Conor Cummins as well as get their autographs.
St. David School Spreads Christmas Cheer
The St. David Catholic Elementary School Christmas choir, led by community volunteer, Melody Henry recently visited Red Oak Villa, a seniors residence in the heart of Sudbury. The student choir sang Christmas carols and spread Christmas cheer throughout the complex. While sharing hot chocolate and Christmas cookies the students and seniors visited, told stories and enjoyed each others company. Natasha Folino, St. David School teacher said, ” it warms your heart to see the youth of our community be so gentle and caring with the residents at Red Oak Villa. This is what the season of Christmas is all about – giving of yourself and enjoying those people in your lives. This was the perfect pairing of the generations and a wonderful way to celebrate the season”.
The Christmas Spirit is Alive and Well at St. David Catholic School
Every year at St. David Catholic Elementary School, the staff and volunteers get together to plan an old fashion, traditional Christmas feast for the students. A Christmas meal including turkey with all the trimmings was served to all students at the school. Each classroom assumed a responsibility for the feast. The kindergarten students created the placemats, grade one students baked cupcakes for dessert, and the grade 4/5 class was responsible for serving the meal.
Special guests attended the event and actively participated in the seasonal celebration. Donations from community organizations made this special meal possible. Christmas carols were sung, gifts were received and the spirit of the season was evident everywhere in the school. According to the grade 1 student, Deacon Lucas, “our Christmas lunch was healthy food that tasted great. I liked all the Christmas music and really liked eating with my friends. Christmas is a fun and special time of year and I’m really happy we do special things to celebrate it”.
St. David Catholic School Celebrates the Season of Advent
St. David Catholic Elementary School celebrated the season of advent with a school wide teaching assembly that focused on hope, love, joy and peace. The grade 2/3 and 3 classes hosted the celebration and taught the school population about the importance of advent and the virtue of patience, especially during this busy time of year. The children and their teachers related “being patient for Jesus’ birth” to waiting for an important phone call, waiting for spring to come or waiting for babies to be born.
The assembly was focused on love and how we show love to one another in our everyday lives. The advent wreath was also explained by the students. It is a tradition that began hundreds of years ago in Germany. The wreath is in the shape of a circle covered in evergreen bows, representing eternal life with 4 candles representing hope, love, joy and peace and the four weeks of advent.
St. David Catholic School; Lest We Forget
St. David Catholic Elementary School staff and students remembered the brave men and women who have given their lives for freedom around the world. Deacon Roland Muzzatti led the school in a prayer service celebrating the precious gift of peace. Deacon Muzzatti spoke about everyone’s responsibility for ensuring peace exists in our everyday lives. He engaged in a school wide conversation about peace and real world, kid friendly ways students can promote peace in their everyday lives. The school prayed for those families personally affected by war and those who have family members currently serving in the military. The students learned that they all have the power to be peacemakers in their lives and that they can be role models and leaders in their community.
Louis Mailloux, St. David School Core French teacher stated that, “Today’s celebration was a powerful remembrance of how important it is for people to be reflective and take time to honour those who have died for our freedom. Students need direct instruction on our history as nation and the sacrifices that have been made by previous generations. Deacon Muzzatti spoke eloquently about the importance of peace in our world and the importance of prayer to our community”.
Cards Do It – Largest Single Donation to the Sudbury Food Bank for a Five Day Drive
The goal was to raise 60 thousand cans in five days. The result was astounding. Students and staff, along with the support of its feeder schools and the community raised 125, 452 cans to line the shelves of the food bank heading into the holiday season.
The breakdown is twenty thousand dollars in cash collected and 25, 000 cans. Students will spend the day assisting with the transport of the food to the food bank warehouse.
The St. Charles College food drive started thirty years ago and has been a yearly tradition with its feeder schools – St. David’s, Holy Trinity, Pius XII, St. John and St. Paul schools.
Principal Patty Mardero says “in thirty years this is the largest donation to date. The students really upped the ante for next year.”
Cards ‘can’ do it!
Members of the St. Charles College Student Council are selling tees in the main foyer of the school this week to support the Sudbury Food Bank. The t-shirts which are retailing for twenty dollars go to supporting the school’s annual food drive. That means the sale of one shirt equates to 100 cans to line the shelves at the food bank.
The blue shirts were designed by students in teacher Beverly Belanger’s leadership class. Student Jordan Sutton designed the image on the front of the shirt while Tyler Michaud came up with this year’s slogan: “Cards ‘can’ do it! 60, 000.”
The goal for this year’s food drive is to collect sixty thousand cans and they are doing it with the support of feeder schools – St. David’s, Holy Trinity, Pius XII, St. John and St. Paul schools.
The food drive is an annual tradition dating back to almost thirty years ago.
Celebrating and Giving Thanks at St. David
During the month of October, English Catholic schools in Sudbury celebrate the value of Faith. St. David Catholic Elementary School teaches that faith is an attitude that encourages people to involve and develop a relationship with God. The school staff and students marked this Thanksgiving season by gathering as a community and celebrating the Liturgy of the Word. Deacon Roland Muzzatti, from Christ the King Parish officiated the school wide service. Deacon Muzzatti stressed to the students the importance of giving thanks not only for our material possessions, but also for our freedoms, special gifts, talents and families.
Mrs. Melody Henry, a school volunteer and choir director lead the school in song during the service. “It was a beautiful celebration of our Faith. The students were extremely attentive and engaged in the conversation with Deacon Roland. It was especially meaningful when the students proudly shared what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.” Teachers, Nancy Costanzi and Natasha Folino, with the help of student volunteers, organized the celebration with the intention of deeply discussing our gratitude for all good things in life and sharing the notion that hard things can happen, but through our resilience and belief in God we can overcome these obstacles with dignity and perseverance.
"Thanks for Thanksgiving" at St. David School
St. David Catholic School, kindergarten students have been busy this week reading stories, poems, prayers and recipes all about the season of Thanksgiving. The class made homemade apple sauce and pumpkin pies while learning about measurement and procedural text. Angela Ross, early childhood educator states, “As a full day kindergarten team, we strive to cover the kindergarten curriculum in creative and meaningful ways for our students.” The week ended with the students enjoying a full Thanksgiving meal, including turkey, potatoes and of course the pumpkin pie they made as a class.
Harvesting Sweetgrass at St. David School
This fall, St. David Catholic Elementary School resumed it’s 2015 “Project Impact” community initiative entitled, “The Regreening of St. David School Yard with Sweetgrass”. As part of the project, funded through the Coalition for a Livable Sudbury, Local First Nation artist and parent of a student of the Donovan area school, Will Morin, continued his work with the students and staff. Mr. Morin supported the school in planting sweetgrass seeds in the spring of 2015 and is now teaching the schoolbody about harvesting sweetgrass. According to Mr. Morin, “This autumn harvest season rekindles the project’s plan of regreening the new school site for St. David School with native plants specifically sweetgrass, a traditional Anishnabe medicine. The growing of sweetgrass is an ongoing set a teachable moment from planting to harvesting”.
During the presentation, two young female students were asked to water the plants before the sweetgrass was cut. It was explained that water is the first medicine and vital for survival of all life.
Two young boys then gave offerings of tobacco in order to give back before the students take from nature. “We have to give back to the earth. This is done to maintain balance” stated grade 4/5 student Ethan Thompson.
According to kindergarten student, Kadence Legarde, “My Papa grows sweetgrass so I can have sweet dreams.” Mr. Morin’s message reached all students and staff regardless of age. Prior to braiding the sweetgrass Mr. Morin demonstrated the strength of many compared to the strength of one – which echoes the value of inclusion and the importance of coming together as a community to be our strongest selves.