St. Anne Shines at 10th Annual Rainbow-Catholic Coed Basketball Tournament
This past weekend saw quite a haul of both team and individual awards for the St. Anne Grade 5/6 Co-ed Basketball team at the 10th annual Rainbow-Catholic Coed Basketball Tournament.
On Saturday morning, the team fought a closely-matched battle againstt Valleyview and prevailed, winning the Consolation Medal 26-20. Chris Marcotte led all scorers with an incredible 18 points!
St. Anne entered a boy and girl into the Xcalibur competition, which is a shooting accuracy contest that pitted our 2 entries againstt 15 other schools. Jennifer Chalut and Cole Thomson finished 3rd in the initial 16 team competition, making them eligible for the four-team semi-finals. In the semis, Chalut and Thomson scored an incredible 57 points, missing the all-time tournament mark by only 3 points and qualifying them for the finals againstt last years winner, St. James.
In the final, Chalut and Thomson continued to shoot the lights out (from distances as far away as 20 feet, 18 feet and 15 feet!!) and were proclaimed the Grade 5/6 first place champions for the Xcalibur Competition!! Success continued for Chalut and Thomson. Chalut was awarded one of 6 Lion Heart awards, given to the top defensive and hard-working players in the tournament. Thomson followed up with the St. Charles College “Best Foot Forward” award, bringing home a new pair of leather basketball shoes.
Overall, the hard work and determination of the team was rewarded and Mr. T would like to congratulate all the team for their success and also their great fans who supported them all along the way. Thanks to Mr. Thomson who devoted countless hours, and his vocal chords to this fantastic team. Way to go Angels!
St. Anne Catholic School’s Canadian Idol
Olympic Speed Skater, Kristina Groves visited St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer on Friday to chat with students and to put faces to the names that she has been corresponding with over the last several months. The two-time Silver Medalist (1500 metre and Team Pursuit) has been pen pals with the Grade One and Two classes at St. Anne since the fall of this year. Kristina has been corresponding with the students on a regular basis teaching them about her exciting sport, and her training.
From the onset of her arrival at the Sudbury Airport at 8:25 a.m. last Friday, Kristina spent the entire day with the St. Anne Catholic School students. Her itinerary included an introduction to the school community followed by skating at the Tom Davies arena in Lively and meeting with the entire student body in the late afternoon before returning to her hometown of Ottawa.
When asked by a Grade Two student why she decided to take up speed skating, Katrina replied that, “It was Gaeten Boucher, a Canadian Olympic speed skater in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary that first inspired me to become a speed skater. From the minute I saw him skate I knew that I wanted to do what he had done . . . I wanted to fly on ice . . . my dream was to compete in the Olympics for Canada some day and bring back a medal. So although I was only eleven years old, I went home and told my mom that I wanted to take up speed skating . . . eighteen years later at the age of 29, I was lucky enough to be presented with not one but two silver medals in Turin. Never give up on your dream,” stated Groves to a captivated audience. “With enough passion, dedication and commitment, dreams can come true.”
Groves’ presentation to the students included a slide show of her stay and competition at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, as well as an overview of the equipment, and training required in order to become a speed skater, followed by a question and answer period.
Olympic Speed Skater Kristina Groves to Visit St. Anne Catholic School Students
Olympic Speed Skater, Kristina Groves will be visiting St. Anne Catholic School on April 21. The two-time Silver Medalist (1500 metre and Team Pursuit) has been pen pals with the Grade One and Two classes at St. Anne since the fall of this year.
Kristina has been corresponding with the students on a regular basis teaching them about her exciting sport, and her training. “She even took time out from her busy schedule during the Olympics to write to them,” states grade 1/2 teacher Tania Lacroix.
“All eyes were glued to the television at school when she raced. The Grade One and Two classes were able to watch her live the day she captured the individual Silver Medal, other races were taped by their teacher, so they didn’t miss a single race. Every morning during the Olympics, students gave a special news bulletin over the P.A. system, to update the school on how our Olympic athletes were doing.”
Congratulations to Marymount Academy’s Music Program for Another Banner Year!
Marymount Academy’s music program has experienced another tremendously successful year at the Kiwanis Festival and the Northern Ontario Music Festivals with both the Junior and Senior Concert Bands and the String Ensemble receiving Gold Awards.
Gold Awards were also earned by Andrea Mikkila, Terri Scherzinger and Kristin Hamill for a flute trio; Karly Schofield, Katie Runions, Jennifer Innes and Samantha McIlveen for a flute quartet; Mary Jebreen, Rebecca James and Kaitlynd Burns for a Trombone Trio; Marla Parker, Allison Bruneau, Cassandra Chapman, Christy Pitt and Jessica Sigurdson for a Clarinet Quintet.
The String Ensemble and the Clarinet Quintet performed at the Kiwanis Festival Highlights Concert on March 25 at which time scholarships were awarded to members of the Senior Concert Band and the String Ensemble.
The Senior Concert Band has also been invited to compete in the Provincial Kiwanis Competition later this year.
Gold awards were also given to Marla Haring, Tilly Lanteigne and Marla Parker who competed in Solo Concerto classes
The Senior Concert Band performed at the Northern Ontario Music Festival In March 2006. This prestigious festival features more than seventy ensembles from all of Northern Ontario. The Marymount Senior Band was clearly working at a different level than everyone else.
A Gold Award, an invitation to compete at the National level and an overwhelming complimentary adjudication were issued to the Marymount band. In addition, Marymount placed 11 band members on the All Star band. All Stars include Colleen Keaney, Karly Scholfield, Marla Parker, Allison Bruneau, Marla Haring, Sofia Panchaud, Kelsey Gunn, Marissa Sikora, Samantha McIlveen and Megan Landry.
Congratulations to all the members of all the ensembles involved in the festivals.
Canadian Olympian Enjoys Pen Pal Friendship with St. Anne Students
Olympic athlete Kristina Groves has given the Grade One and Two class at St. Anne School a reason to cheer a little louder for Canada in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Kristina Groves is a Speed Skater with whom the children have been Pen Pals since the fall.
“Along with speed skating, she has been teaching us about the importance of always trying your best, eating properly and taking care of your body. It is so nice of her to take time away from such a busy schedule and make them feel a bit more special”.
To make sure that Kristina was not lonely on Valentine’s Day, the children made her cards and pictures. They also sent her a good luck bracelet and a banner that they made to cheer her on. The students were thrilled to hear that she had qualified for the 1000m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and the Team Pursuit.
They created posters to be posted around the school and flags to cheer with while watching her at school. During the Olympics the students will be giving a morning news report to update everyone on Canada’s medal standings.
St. Paul, St. Anne Catholic Schools To Host Family Literacy Days
St. Anne Food Drive, A Huge Success!
Congratulations to St. Anne Catholic School on their extremely successful food drive before the holidays. The drive was spearheaded by Grade 5 teacher, Mr. Michael Cayen, and saw over 7,000 food items collected. All items were donated to the Knights of Columbus in Hanmer
Mr. David Martin’s class not only met, but surpassed his challenge. As a result, Mr. Martin agreed to shave his head. Grade 7 and 8 students looked on eagerly and actively participated in the head shaving. Hanmer families will benefit from the generous spirit of students, their families and others who have donated time, food and money to the St. Anne Catholic School Food Drive.
St. Anne Students Run for World Harmony
Staff and students at St. Anne Catholic School had the opportunity to participate in the World Harmony Run at their school recently.
The World Harmony Run is a global torch relay that seeks to promote international friendship.
An international team of runners carry a flaming torch, (symbolizing the aspiration of human oneness), through more than 70 countries around the globe. Staff and students were told of the significance of the Run, listened to the World Harmony song, signed a banner, and were able to touch the torch as they each made a silent wish for World Harmony.
The St. Anne Catholic school community formed a gigantic circle in the school yard with Mr. Thomson’s Grade 6 class joining the World Harmony runners for a few laps around the circle, passing the torch among themselves. The World Harmony Run afforded the school a wonderful opportunity to participate in a global event which helped connect grassroots efforts to world harmony. For more information about The World Harmony Run, please visit
http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/canada
St. Anne Student Honoured in Ottawa
Wyatt Wilson, a Grade 2 student at St. Anne School, was recently honoured in Ottawa with the Provincial “Yes I Can” Award for Exceptional Students. Wyatt was nominated by the local Ontario Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children. This was the 48th annual Provincial CEC conference to be held. The “Yes I Can” award recognizes the achievements of Wyatt and other students from across Ontario who have overcome both physical and intellectual difficulties to strive for excellence with the classroom. Even though Wyatt has visual impairments he excels in all classroom activities. In addition, Wyatt was chosen as a Sophomore member of the St. Anne’s Victory Team. Team members, who are recognized for positive behaviour within the school setting, are presented with a team shirt and are invited to participate in Victory Team events. Congratulation, Wyatt! You are an inspiration to us all!!