Students at St. Charles Elementary Catholic School are already in the Christmas Spirit of Giving. Students collected a total of 3,694 cans and donated them to La Maison d'Amitie/ Friendship House Food Bank. Principal of the school, Sandra St. Denis stated, “I am very proud of all the students – this truly shows the true spirit of giving. I have to give credit to Mme Bouzane’s Gr. 5/6 French Immersion class who organized the event. The students made daily announcements, graphed and displayed the cans as they were brought into the school, boxed the cans and loaded the vehicles for distribution at the food bank”.
A Love of Animals Really “Pays Off” For St. Anne Kindergarten Students
The English Early Learning Students at St. Anne School in Hanmer are on a mission. They plan on helping out as much of Sudbury’s animal population as much as they can. Earlier in the fall, the young students from within the Sudbury Catholic School Board nicknamed themselves “The ABC’S”. (All Because of Caring Students). They brainstormed and came up with a fundraising idea to purchase items that could help out the communities injured or needy animals. Through the help of local businesses like Hanson Family Dentistry and Paula’s Canine Country Club, as well as contributions from family and friends, the students put their logo on small donation cans that ask for one penny. The cans were placed at the businesses by the student’s teacher, Cheryl MacRury. The students chose a penny because it was the only piece of money that most of them recognized. Although a penny doesn’t seem like much, the donations collected have really been “paying off”! Within the first two weeks and with the help of Mrs. Belanger’s English Grade 7 class, the older and younger students were able to count and roll out over 1300 pennies. If the fullness of the donation cans is any indication, the second round of collecting promises to be double that of the first. The students have chosen to make their first donation to the Wild At Heart Animal Refuge. Using counting charts, the penny values of items, and real life pictures of objects from the refuge’s list, the young Catholic students will choose which donations they can afford to purchase and present them to the Center as Christmas gifts for its injured wildlife. Who says little people can’t make a difference? Christmas for the English Kindergarten children at St. Anne School allows them to tell everyone that the “spirit of giving” feels great!
St. Anne Students “Author” Their Way Into Christmas
The English Early Learning Kindergarten students at St. Anne School in Hanmer welcomed parents and grandparents into their classroom to begin getting into the mood for the start of the Christmas season. The Kindergarten children had been working on creating and writing all kinds of “non-fiction” stories throughout the fall. They authored books on Garden Harvests, Baking Apple Pies, and Caring For a Classroom Pet. With a bare classroom Christmas tree sitting within the room, the children and their family members worked on creating, decorating, and hanging their ornaments. Junior Kindergarten student Celyna Anzil was overheard saying “I love working with sparkles.” What was the result for the students within the Sudbury Catholic System? One beautifully decorated tree and a step by step picture sequence for the class’ newest non-fiction story. When asked what title the story should have, their was only one choice of course. “A Christmas Tree Decorating Special Classroom Day!”
St. Anne Student Finds Contest Has “Sweet” Benefits
Patrick Corbin, a Gr. 4 French Immersion student at St. Anne School in Hanmer, started his school year off joined by hundreds of other students within the school in a chocolate bar fund raising contest. Little did he know that when the fund raiser was over, he and his classmates within Mme Pickard’s Grade 3/4 French Immersion room would be the top selling class within the school. The Sudbury Catholic School students won a pizza and movie afternoon for their efforts. In addition, one student was to be chosen to take over the job of Principal Mr. Guy Mathieu for the day. That student was Patrick. Besides helping his class to win, Patrick was the student who actually sold the most chocolate bars in the entire fundraising campaign and as such, was voted by his classmates to change roles from student to principal.
Dressed in a white shirt and tie, Patrick, or Mr. Corbin as he preferred to be addressed, performed many tasks throughout the day. He walked throughout the school meeting with many children from within the student body. He became very popular with the entire student population when he extended the afternoon recess by an extra five minutes and declared a “no homework day”. When asked if all of his hard work selling the chocolate bars was worth the outcome, Mr. Corbin was quoted as saying,” I had a lot of organizing to do with the new balls for the gym and preparing paper work to ready for the announcements.” St. Anne School vice-principal, Joanne Commisso, said “It was a pleasure working with the new principal for the day,” and thanked him for his efforts. A taste of being charge has Patrick geared up for next fall when the school fund raising contest comes around again. The staff and students at St. Anne School are very proud of your efforts Patrick. Way to go Angel!
The Spirit of Christmas Alive at St. Anne
By 6:30 a.m. on December 2, St. Anne Catholic Elementary was a-buzz with excitement. The arrival of Q92’s Terry and Mel and the TD Toy Caravan had staff and students prepping the school’s foyer and library with decorations, breakfast items, and most importantly, Christmas cheer.
Guy Mathieu, Principal of St. Anne said the school was approached to be a possible location for the Q92 Toy Caravan live on location spot and without hesitation, accepted immediately. “We started sending out flyers to the community and encouraging as many people as possible to come out and donate this morning,” Mathieu stated. “This event is one that really encourages people to dig deep inside themselves and truly give from the heart. So many of the children in the Greater Sudbury community are in need of our support – we are just glad to be a part of something that helps us see what’s right with the world.”
From 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. both Terry and Mel encouraged listeners to come in and donate either a new toy or a monetary donation and people came out in droves. Students, both present and past, as well as parents, grandparents, friends and community members came through the school’s main doors and brought with them hundreds of toys as well as over $600 in money donations. Mathieu was overwhelmed by the support. “What has happened here this morning has really set the stage for us all to get in to the holiday spirit. That’s what I love about this community – everybody comes together and shows us that the true spirit of Christmas is alive and well at St. Anne’s – I couldn’t be more proud. Kids helping kids. Children giving to other children. I don’t know that I can think of anything that is more powerful than that.”
As well as getting to meet Terry and Mel – the students and staff got to see how the show worked and teacher Alice Desormeaux and custodian Dan Sauve even got to take part in the “Battle of the Sexes” of which Sauve came out as champion. By 9:15, the foyer was stuffed with hundreds of toys and the students were amazed at the piles of donations in front of them. Some teachers even walked their classes down to see just how generous the community and their school had been. “I am just so proud of our school-students, staff and parents alike,” Mathieu stated. “The Christmas spirit is alive and well at St. Anne!”
St. Anne Students Turn A “Monster Mash” Into A Funny Memory
The students at St. Anne School in Hanmer integrate technology into their programs on a regular basis. Sometimes, primary students need to count on the help of the older students within the school to help them work with all the options that computers have to offer. Students from Madame Lafrance’s Grade 3 English class wanted to create a Hallowe’en video with themselves in it. Grade 8 students from the Sudbury Catholic school helped out by first taking pictures of each of the Gr. 3 children on the MacBooks, and then used the pictures to create a Monster Mash video with the younger classmates in it. The results far exceeded the student’s expectations but the outcome was unexpected. Instead of scaring those who watched the video (as a Hallowe’en video should), it made the Grade 3 children laugh as they watched themselves in all kinds of computer generated clips. Were the primary students worried that they would have to redo their video? Not at all. Their motto is that the best learning is fun learning! Way to go Angels!
St. Anne English Kindergarten Students Become Known As The “ABC’S”
How old do you have to be to make a difference in the world? According to Olivia Dunbabin, an English Early Learning student at St. Anne School in Hanmer, “you don’t have to be that old.” She and her three, four, and five year old classmates think they are just the right age to stand up and be noticed. They plan on making a big difference to the animal world and as such, they don’t want people to call them the Kindergarten class anymore. They now want to be recognized as the “ABC’S”, All Because of Caring Students!
These young students within the Sudbury Catholic School Board are on a mission. They want to raise money to help out Sudbury’s animal population. Their teacher and animal lover, Cheryl MacRury, had seen a commercial presented by the Wild At Heart Animal Refuge asking for help in taking care of Sudbury’s wildlife population. Since her class had been discussing the changes fall would bring to animals in the wild, the Sudbury Catholic Board’s virtue of respect for all things God had created, and recognizing that her class was filled with other animal lovers, there was only one thing to do. Invite staff from the wildlife center into the Hanmer school to talk to her students! To say thank you for the presentation, the young students presented the center with such necessary items as apples, carrots, and jars of baby food.
The experience in giving to the wild creatures who needed help was such an exciting and meaningful one that during a large group discussion, the young students decided they wanted to keep right on giving. When the talked turned to trying to get money for more supplies, and after first asking their teacher to ask her daddy for money, student Ethan Kydd suggested “asking people for pennies”. After designing their own logo, the English “ABC’S” turned to Mrs. Belanger’s Grade 7 class for help. The intermediate group was able to transfer the outlines of the design onto the computer along with a basic message, “Donate 1 cent to help feed and care for Sudbury’s Animal Population”.
Thanks to the caring staffs at Hanson Family Dentistry and Paula’s Canine Country Club, the “ABC’S” are on a mission. They have placed donation cans, their logos, and brief explanation placards at both businesses in the hope of having the general public donate one penny. Each time the cans are returned to school, the students will continue their work with Mrs. Belanger’s Intermediate class to count the donations. From here, the young English crusaders will decide what they can purchase and how to spread their help. The “ABC’S” plan to keep giving to The Wild At Heart Refuge Center, but who knows? If their campaign is a successful one, they would like to even be able to donate to the local S.P.C.A. When asked if they are too little to make a difference in the world, these little people have only one thing to say. “We believe we can do it!” The staff and students at St. Anne School believe in you too. Way to go Angels!
St. Anne Students “Hit The Big Screen”
Many people often dream of hitting the big stage. Students from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer are no exception. Recently, they were able to experience the feel of being in the spotlight with a visit to Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. This Catholic Secondary School is the only high school in Sudbury with a Specialist High Skills Major program in Information and Communications Technology. In this program, the students learn a large variety of media production skills such as: 2D Graphics Design and Digital Image Editing and Enhancement, 3D Graphics Modeling, Texturing, Rigging and Animation, Video and Sound Production, Integrating 2D and 3D Graphics into Film, Special Effects for Film, and Website Development. Students use Autodesk Maya to create 3D models and animations. This is the same software used by professionals to create most of the 3D movies out today. It’s also used to create most of the 3D special effects seen in most action movies.
St. Anne intermediate students, working with high school students currently enroled in the program, began to create their grade 8 graduation video with the use of some media software and a green screen that was built by Bishop’s own tech class. “It was a really good experience and exciting to learn about the about the effects that are used in most movies,” said Olivia Boudreau, a grade 8 student at St. Anne School. BAC also uses their green screen to digitally place student actors in any location, including those created in 3D. The actor/actress simply acts out the scene in front of the green screen and the green is then removed using editing software and replaced with the desired background or animation. BAC has a stationary green screen and two portable ones that can be used outside of the classroom. Who knows? With this taste of “the big screen” under their belts, we may someday actually be viewing some of the Catholic Board students on the larger than life screens around the city. The entertainment business may want to start a new slogan. “Lights, camera, Angels”!
St. Anne English Kindergarten Students Choose Not To “Leaf” Fall Outdoors
The smell of fresh fallen leaves is one of the joys of fall. But why “leaf” it outside? During the last month, the English Early Learning Kindergarten Students at St. Anne School in Hanmer decided to bring fall inside so they could enjoy it right up until the snow came. They used a freshly raked bag of leaves and placed it within their housekeeping center. Armed with rakes and a wading pool, the Sudbury Catholic Board students practiced all the activities that their parents were doing outside. Raking, jumping, and burying each other in leaves mimicked the activities that the students were experiencing within their own yards. How about fun? Well, just ask students Jenna Deveau Peddie and Olivia Dunbabin. Their smiling faces say it all. Fall is a great time of the year, especially when you can enjoy it with friends!
St. Anne Angel’s “NET” Some Faith
On November 1st, 2011,students in the grade 8 classes at St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer participated in a “NET” retreat at St. Kevin’s Church. They were joined by the NET Team (National Evangelization Team) where they shared Jesus’ gospel message in a team format. The NET team was comprised of a group of young people who challenge young Catholics to embrace Christ and the life of the church, through song, skits, small group discussions, and prayer. Students from the Sudbury Catholic School board embraced the day, participating in every facet of the retreat. Lunch from Perkin’s Restaurant and the Caruso Club was also provided/donated to the NET team and students to allow further intimate discussions about the gospel of Christ and practicing faith. Both staff and students at St. Anne School were overheard describing the day as an “awesome” and “inspiring” one! Your faith shines through Angels!