St. Anne Catholic Elementary School

St. Charles College Supports Community With Most Successful Canned Food Drive Ever

The students at St. Charles College greatly surpassed their goal on October 28, 2011 of collecting 60 thousand cans for the Sudbury Food Bank.  More than 121 thousand cans were collected for the food bank and many of the cans will be housed at the Sudbury Food Bank’s new can stock location on Webbwood Drive. The school presented Chief Elsner, President of The Sudbury Food Bank with all of the food as well as a cheque for $21 000. St. Charles College is proud to be the first organization to stock the new Food Bank on Webbwood Drive.

Jim Szilva of Freedom 55 and graduate of the high school continued the yearly tradition of remaining on a Greater Sudbury transit bus for a whole week until the students’ achieved the goal set by school administration to commemorate the 60 year anniversary of the school.

The bus also made stops to St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, Pius XII, St. Raphael, St. John, St. Paul and St. David schools.  Students there traditionally join the cause and collect in their respective neighbourhoods.

Principal Patty Mardero said:  “Seeing our students succeeding and doing well academically inspires me, but there is nothing more uplifting than watching the students at St. Charles College pull an entire community together by collecting one can at a time.”

In partnership with Rogers Radio Q92 and EZRock 105.3, the students worked tirelessly to collect as many food items as possible, and also worked at many of the local grocery store chains by bagging groceries in exchange for cans or monetary donations. Buses were also sent out every night of the week for students to reach out to every part of the large community and canvass the area.

The secondary school has been taking part in a community food drive since the mid eighties.

Marymount Academy Annual Canned Food Drive

This past month, Marymount Academy kicked off its Annual Canned Food Drive for the Sudbury Food Bank. Every year Marymount has great success with this fundraiser, usually raising approximately 10,000 cans. The organizers of this event, the MC3 (Marymount Catholic Charities Council) set a goal of 5,000 cans for the school to collect. This year, the Marymount girls went above and beyond what was expected. They spent countless hours going door-to-door can food collecting, and all of their hard work paid off. One grade 7 student, Brittany Critch, single handedly collected 697 cans on her own! By the final day of the canned food drive on October 21st, the Marymount Regals not only exceeded their goals of 5,000 cans, but beat the school record collecting over 13,300 cans! All of the collected food has been donated to the Sudbury Food Bank. This was a very successful fundraiser for a wonderful cause, and was a great way to kick off a year full of fundraising and charitable events.

By: Shannon Reed, MC3 President

Fabulous Fall Follies at St. Anne School

The French Immersion Early Learning Kindergarten class at St.Anne School was thrilled to pursue their inquiry about the wonders of Fall at J& J Ranch. They took a wonderful hayride in the woods to observe Fall’s fabulous colours. The red, yellow and orange leaves along with the summer like weather made the day a beautiful one! Afterwards the children made wonderful turkeys as replicas of the ones they had seen in nature.

The students would like to thank the owners of the ranch, Mr. & Mrs. O’Daiskey for allowing them to try a new method of transportation. The students are hopeful that they can visit their new animal friends sometime in the near future!

St. Anne Early Learning Students “Dig” Fall

Students within the English Early Learning Program at St. Anne School in Hanmer recognize the many changes that fall brings for animals and plants. After brainstorming about their own activities, the children were able to understand that people are also making changes as Mother Nature prepares to rest. Their classroom teacher, Cheryl MacRury, invited the English Catholic students to her father’s home in order to allow the children to participate in a fall “garden harvest”. Dressed in boots and gloves and armed with their own shovels and smiles, the students moved through the garden pulling carrots and celery, picking pumpkins, and digging for potatoes. Before the harvest, some of the students were sure that carrots originated from stores. Since the visit, these young children not only recognize where vegetables come from, but they are also aware that harvesting in the fall will help to keep them fed now that days grow colder!

St. Anne Kindergarten Student Authors Her Way Into Prize Winning Story

How young can you be to write your own story? Just ask St. Anne School student Ashlyn Carrierre. She is the newest recipient of the Ontario Catholic Elementary Teacher’s Young Author Award for 2011. Ashlyn is a student within the English Senior Kindergarten class at the Sudbury Catholic School in Hanmer. In January of this year, she wrote her own fairy tale entitled, “Princess Shalla and Prince Aucoinia Get Kidnapped.” Her story was then submitted to the Young Author’s contest in the fiction category for the Junior and Senior Kindergarten division. In April, the school received notification that Ashlyn’s story had won!

“I am so excited,” said Ashlyn. “I am so happy that I got a plaque. It feels really good to be an author.” In an awards ceremony that took place on June 17th, Ashlyn was presented with a plaque for her wall. The plaque shows not only Ashlyn’s name, but also the title of her fairy tale. The Ontario English Catholic Teacher’s Sudbury Unit President, Mr. Kent MacNeill, presented the award to Ashlyn in front on the entire school body as well as her family who were also attending. Her classroom teacher, Cheryl MacRury, told the assembled group that Ashlyn had a wonderful imagination for a little girl of her age and that she was very deserving of this award. Ashlyn knew that fairy tales started with “Once upon a time” and that they ended with everyone “living happily ever after”. She had picked her own characters and setting. She had come up with a problem for the characters and then the solution. And finally, all on her own, Ashlyn had used words like ferocious, sparkly, huge and dungeon, as well as names like Queen Shata, Princess Shalla, and Prince Aucoinia.

Ashlyn may or may not be Ontario’s newest author, but there is a good chance that she may be Ontario’s youngest author. Both staff and students from St. Anne School hope to one day be able to walk into Chapters and read books that Ashlyn has authored. She is certainly a little girl with a wonderful ability to write entertaining stories. Good luck with your talent in the future Ashlyn! St. Anne School is very proud of you!

“Heart Heroes” Make A Difference At St. Anne Catholic Elementary School

Primary and Junior students at St. Anne School in Hanmer questioned teacher, Mrs. Desmarais. “What is a Heart Hero?” Mrs. Desmarais’ response was that a Heart Hero was anyone that wanted to help keep all kid’s hearts strong and healthy. She outlined to students how they could work together to make a difference not only to their own health, but to the future of healthy hearts everywhere. Those words were all that the Catholic Board students needed to hear. In association with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the elementary students participated in the “Jump Rope for Heart” fundraiser.

The students prepared for the event by raising pledges. Next, they began a campaign of improving their skipping skills and stamina during gym classes and recesses. A skipping “phenomena” took over the school. The school administration and teachers helped with the excitement by offering incentives for students with the most pledges. Goals of $1000.00 to $5000.00 or more would result in students being able to throw pies at staff members in front of the entire student body. Mr. Guy Mathieu, the school principal, stated, “The amount of enthusiasm that has been generated with this fundraiser is incredible! I am always amazed at the school spirit demonstrated by the students, not only with their efforts in bringing in pledges, but also at their enthusiasm within the gym at the actual pie throwing contest.” All money amounts raised are put to good use by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. A pledge of as little as $5.00 can be used to purchase test tubes for lifesaving research, while funds of up to $150.00 can be used to buy a blood pressure monitor to keep patients healthy.

The fundraising activity was a huge success! More than $5000.00 was raised. A school assembly will be held in June where staff members will keep their promises to the St. Anne “Heart Heroes.” Even though the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is over, school skipping ropes are still in demand by students in all grade levels. The Sudbury Catholic Board students have learned, “They can make a difference in the lives of others!” Way to go Angels!

Beaded Bracelets for Shannen

The story of Shannen Koostachin who stood up for what she believed made a strong impression on Native Studies students of St. Charles College, who decided to give her a helping hand. Shannen, a member of Attawapiskat First Nation, believed that all children in Canada deserve the best start in education, regardless of where they live or where they come from. Tragically, Shannen died in a car accident in 2010 and Shannen’s Dream was created- a charity to support the children of Attawapiskat in their quest for a proper school. The Native Studies students beaded bracelets and baked cupcakes to sell at St. Charles College, to support Shannen’s Dream on April 27th, the National Day of Action. “Shannen showed great courage in speaking up for the children on Parliament Hill. It felt good to support her dream,”said Native Studies student, Leeann Peltier.

Kiwanis Festival Awards Gold to St. Anne Music Student

It has been a year filled with long hours of practice, but the efforts have paid off for Haley Blinn, a Gr.8 French Immersion student at St. Anne School. Haley recently competed in the Kiwanis Music Festival where she took home the Gold Award for her baritone sax solo.
Haley actually participated in 2 festival competitions during the day. One was with her Sudbury Catholic School Band comprised of members from 4 Catholic elementary schools under the direction of Ms. Joanne Comisso, vice-principal of St. Anne School, and Mrs. Leann Urso, instrumental band teacher at St Francis, St. Raphael and Pius XII Elementary schools. Haley won silver with the band, which was a great honour, but when asked about her gold Award win, Haley was ecstatic. She said, “I was very nervous but like everything else, practice helps. I think it is the practicing that helped me win the gold.” Ms. Comisso congratulated Haley on all of her hard work and outstanding contribution to the band. All the staff and students at St. Anne School are very proud of you Haley and we wish you continued success with music in your future! Way to go Angel!

St. Anne Staff “Pied” for School Challenge

Students at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School were issued a challenge. The school takes part every year in the Jump Rope for Heart Event but Vice Principal Laura Stirrett felt that this year, they could do more. Stirrett set a few fundraising goals for the students and asked them to try to outdo what they had done in the past. If they met these challenges, then certain staff members would have to take part in some interesting challenges of their own.

The goals set for the students were as follows:
Bronze challenge – if the students raised $1000, then Vice Principal Laura Stirrett and Custodian Daniel Sauve would have their hair spraypainted different colours for the day.
Silver challenge – if the students raised $1500, Vice Principal Laura Stirrett and Custodian Daniel Sauve would have pies thrown in their face as well as have their hair spraypainted.
Gold challenge – if the students raised $2000, then the the Vice Principal and Custodian would have their hair spraypainted, pies thrown in their face… and would be subjected to a silly string attack.
Platinum challenge – after these challenges went out, Vice Principal Laura Stirrett threw down the final gauntlet and said that if these challenges were not only met but surpassed and the school raised $3500, then the students could subject not only herself and the custodian, but St. Anne Principal Guy Mathieu as well!

Well, the students surpassed all fundraising challenges and managed to raise an amazing $6300 in just one week. To the delight of students and staff, top fundraising students took the opportunity to spraypaint hair, throw pies and spray silly string at the Principal, Vice Principal and Custodian without consequences. In the gym the students screamed with excitement as the three staff members could do nothing but sit and take the abuse. Congratulations to all of the students and staff at St. Anne for taking on such a great challenge with fantastic school spirit!

St. Anne Supports the Relief Efforts in Haiti

Recently, the students at St. Anne Catholic School held a Bake Sale in support of Haiti. It was a huge success! The funds were presented to Sister Therese Lamoureux, a missionary in Haiti and a survivor of the earthquake. Some students, like Emily in Grade 1, collected money on their own and presented it to Sister. Sister Therese was very moved and pleased with all the support from the parents and students at St. Anne. She was very thankful for all of their efforts and will present the money to her mission where it will be put to good use. Sister Therese had a wonderful time visiting the children at the Bake Sale and she extends her thanks to all the students and families for their generosity!

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