“A culture of respectful relationships.” That is what the Gr.5/6 English and French Immersion students at St. Anne school believe in. They showed this during the past week by being part of a Sudbury Catholic School Board presentation with Aboriginal Elder Vince Pawis, Mr. Pawis exposed the students to the rich history, culture and perspectives of First Nation people through his explanations of the Medicine Wheel and other symbols such as the drum. The students listened while developing an increased awareness and appreciation of traditional teachings. They learned about respecting the beauty and history found within the Aboriginal culture. Gr. 5 French Immersion student Valerie Gour was honoured to hold the drum passed around during the presentation. The Sudbury Catholic Board believes in the building of community through the implementation of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit education.

The grade 8 students at St. Anne School did their part on Monday, May 2nd when they participated in a school yard and community clean up. St. Anne Angels went out into the community to leave ditches and neighbouring properties litter free. Bailey Laforest, Ericka Blouin, and Nick Cranley were 3 of the 63 students in attendance that day. This day marked the beginning of the Sudbury Catholic Board’s Education week and highlighted Monday’s theme of hospitality. “I think it is important for us to help out in the community and to set an example for the younger students at our school,” said student Nick Cranley. The staff and students of St. Anne School in Hanmer were very appreciative of the efforts made by the grade 8 pupils. Way to go Angels!

Want a great way to start your day? How about a hot and nutritious breakfast? That’s what the Gr. 5/6 French Immersion students at St. Anne School recently provided for the entire student body of their school.
St. Anne School is already part of the Breakfast Clubs of Canada group, a group that provides nutritious foods to students at school. Usually, teachers and parent volunteers within the school arrange food baskets and breakfasts. Miss Shonwise’s junior class had to come up with a culminating task to their health unit that would encourage the eating of a healthy meal. They chose to prepare and cook a school breakfast. Under their teacher’s watchful eye, the students planned, prepared, and served fruit, cooked eggs, toasted bread, yogurt and milk.
Pupils from every division took the opportunity to come in and eat. From the lack of leftovers, we’d say that the meal was a huge success! The entire student body would like to thank their “chefs” of the day and say, “C’etait magnifique!”

“Is cancer contagious?” This was the simple question that Gr. 8 student Corey Demers asked Sudbury Catholic Board teacher, Dawn Restoule. Corey had been exposed to dealing with cancer with a younger cousin and was aware that one of St. Anne’s Intermediate teachers was presently undergoing cancer treatment. It was a question near and dear to his heart so both Corey and Ms. Restoule researched the topic of cancer to discover some of the facts and myths. Corey’s unit in religion encouraged him to give back to those in need. Corey came up with a proposal to raise funds for cancer research which he presented to his principal, Mr. Guy Mathieu. The proposal was passed and Corey and his teacher began their fundraiser. In association with the Canadian Cancer Society, Corey has dedicated his lunch hours to the selling of rubber wristbands engraved with the school’s name. Each bracelet sells for $3.00 and during the first week, Corey has raised approximately $400.00. The fundraiser will continue until all wristbands are sold. Congratulations Corey and Ms. Restoule on your efforts to fighting such a worthy cause!

On March 1, 2011, the grade seven students at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School participated in World Math Day. The event involved students from all over the world playing againstt each other in real-time battles of mental arithmetic using the newly updated Live Mathletics game engine, their laptop computers, and accessing the internet in the classroom. Students were also able to access the site at home to practice. Students learned more about world time zones and discovered that at a certain times during the day they are more likely to play students from particular countries. This was a truly unique world event and a fantastic way to promote numeracy within the school and the students learned that Math is fun!

Learning about the past can be amazing, especially when you can relate to the people and events. That’s what the St. Anne Grade 5 students did by participating in the 2011 Historica Fair. The primary focus of the Fair was to encourage students to research their past and present the results of their efforts to the community at large.

There were 4 winning entries that will move on to the city wide judging taking place at Laurentian University. This year’s local historica theme winners dealt with heroic grandparents who were veterans of the Korean and Second World Wars, an uncle and local hockey hero, Andrew Brunette, and the history of Sudbury Secondary Highschool. Winners were judged on their research and presentation skills, as well as their oral and written reports. Congratulations to all Gr.5 students for their great efforts and participation in such a worthwhile fair. You have truly uncovered your history!