On Wednesday, October 2nd, the Holy Cross School community gathered to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in a liturgy with Father Jim Hutton. Students were asked to bring along a favourite stuffed animal, as a symbol of the animals of the world. St. Francis loved animals, calling them his brothers and sisters. During the liturgy, students held their animals up for a special blessing and prayer for all of the animals of the world.
Egg-citing Learning Happening at Holy Cross
Grade 2/3 Holy Cross Catholic Elementary students in teacher Shanna Whalen’s class were given an “egg-citing” experiment. As the class has been discussing gravity and how it affects solids, liquids and gases, the students were given the challenge of protecting eggs from the strong force of gravity. On Wednesday, September 18th, as part of their study on Forces and Movement and Properties of Liquids and Solids, the students were given a variety of materials, as well as bringing in some from home, and their mission was to protect their eggs from breaking when dropped from a high level. According to Whalen, the students were quite creative with their projects as some used grocery bags as parachutes and covered their eggs with sponge. Nine out of the eleven launched eggs survived their fall, but the best part is that none of the class ended up with “egg on their face” and all had a great time learning about gravity!
Holy Cross Students Take Music Monday Global!
Students from Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School teacher Ginette Toivonen’s grade 4/5 FI class have taken Music Monday global! The Holy Cross class has been blogging with students from Buenos Aires, Argentina over the last few months and on Monday, May 8th they sang along with them via Skype. The song “Is Somebody Singing” collaboratively written by Ed Robertson and Chris Hadfield is being shared with the world in hopes of uniting everyone through their love of music. Students in both countries feel very strongly about the importance of music education in their schools. Music Monday is an annual event that brings together thousands of students, musicians, parents and community members across the country to celebrate the gift of music in our lives, on the same day at the same time.
Sudbury Catholic Students Participate in Metis Heritage Days
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board recently held Metis Heritage Days at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School. Nine elementary schools participated in the cultural presentations. The facilitator, Scott Carpenter, a Community Development Officer with the Metis Nation of Ontario, led the hands-on presentations.
Highlights for many student and staff participants included Carpenter’s beautiful display of Metis artifacts. The Metis people are one of the three recognized aboriginal peoples in Canada. They trace their descent to mixed First Nations and European heritage. Almost 400,000 people self-identify as Metis in Canada. Joel Agowissa, the Aboriginal Youth Worker for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board said, “The students were engaged, interested and had a many questions for Mr. Carpenter. It was an honour to have Mr. Carpenter who is a member of the Metis nation speak to our young students and help us build inclusive learning environments for our students.”
Holy Cross Free the Children Club We Are Silent Campaign
Members of the Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School Free the Children Club joined thousands of students around the world in the ‘We Are Silent” Campaign on April 18th. Students took a “vow of silence” in order to experience what it is like for poverty stricken children to not have the right to speak out about their basic needs, including an education. The “Day of Silence” brought awareness to Free the Children Club members and the Holy Cross School Community.
Holy Cross Takes Gold at First Annual Regal Invitational Junior Co-ed Basketball Tournament
On April 5th and 6th, Marymount Academy held its first Regal’s Invitational Junior Co-ed Basketball tournament. Eleven teams in total took part in this tournament and it was a round robin format with elimination matches for the finals. A huge thank you to Marymount Academy teacher Colin Lapalme who organized and coordinated this new tournament.
The Holy Cross A team captured the gold medal winning the final againstt Felix Ricard in a very exciting game. Felix Ricard captured the silver medal. Congratulations to all the teams for a job well done!
Bringing in Small Change to Make BIG Change
Since October, the Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School grade 3 students from teacher Eva Scola’s class, and the grade 3/4 students from teacher Shanna Whalen’s class have been learning about the water crisis in Ghana, Africa. The students were involved in the 2012/2013 School Challenge through the Ryan’s Well Foundation, that involved raising awareness, and money, to build a well and laterines in Ghana. The students came together to engage in discussions, and to create a plan that would make others in the school aware of Ryan’s Well, and the lack of clean water in Africa. These students had a goal to raise $750. Through pledges from families, the collection of coins in our class piggy banks, and a truly amazing participation in our Wacky Hair for Water Day- Bringing in small change to make BIG Change in Africa-, the students of Holy Cross were able to more than double their goal. They raised $1689! “We are extremely proud of our students,” said Shanna. Whalen. “They demonstrated a genuine concern for people they don’t even know. They were able to get their message across to their peers, through their great Christian leadership. They wanted to make a difference, and they definitely did.”
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.
Inaugural Cubs and Bears Junior Co-ed Volleyball Tournament
On December 9th, Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School held its first Junior Coed Volleyball Tournament. This tournament was run in collaboration with St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.
Newly dubbed the “Cubs and Bears Junior Co-ed Volleyball Tournament”, there was a total of 15 teams entered with a round robin in three pools with the top 2 teams in each pool advancing to the finals (also included the top two 3rd place teams advancing as well to the quarter finals).
The results are as follows: Gold medal winners Holy Cross 2 coach Mr. Gallien.
Silver medallist St. James A team coach Mr. Lariviere
Bronze medallist St. Anne B team coaches: Mrs. Mazerolle and
Mr. Merigioli
Fourth place finalist St. Paul coaches: Mrs. Valiquette and Stacey Vendramin
This was history in the making as it is the first year of existence for Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School and were able to have four teams entered in this tournament. This is the first of many types of tournaments that will run as a joint effort.
Holy Cross Students’ Transit Ride to Public Library
The Gr. 2 students in the Regular English program at Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School recently participated in a program arranged between the Sudbury Public Library and the Greater Sudbury Transit. A class bus pass granted them the opportunity to ride the Sudbury Transit in order to spend the morning at the South End Public Library. For many of the students, this was their first time using the public transit and it proved to be an exciting adventure. The school program consisted of a tour of the new South End Library, a demonstration of how to locate and access books on the computer, story time and a craft. By the end of the session, students were able to leave with their personal library card, a good book to read and a reason to return with their family or classmates.