Students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered together on May 8, 2019 to celebrate the work done in this year’s Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony.
Turning Points allows students to reflect on their unique individual journeys and write powerful essays about a significant event or turning point in their lives. Winning students this year were from Marymount Academy, St. Charles College and St. Anne School. Congratulations to all participating students!
We wish to congratulate all students who participated in the City-wide First LEGO League tournament at Science North on Saturday, December 1. The schools of Holy Cross, Holy Trinity, St. Anne and St. James represented Sudbury Catholic Schools well at the tournament! We thank the students, their dedicated coaches and community sponsors who have helped grow the program over the years. Congratulations on an amazing effort by all!
Students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered together on May 9, 2018 to celebrate the work done in this year’s Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony. The essay contest stems from the Learning Partnership, which champions education systems in delivering innovative programs, research, policy initiatives and public engagement programs across Canada.
Turning Points allows students to reflect on their unique individual journeys and write powerful essays about a significant event or turning point in their lives. Winning students this year were from Marymount Academy, St. Charles College and St. Anne School.
On March 27th, the band performed at the Kiwanis Music Festival and received a Gold standard! The band has grown over the years, and includes 5 schools (St. Benedict, St. Charles College, St. Anne, St. John and St. James) and over 100 band members!
The band also competed at the Northern Ontario Music Festival on March 1 where they received a Silver standard. Congratulations to all band members!
St. Anne Catholic Elementary School students Jordan and Sebastian Bisschops had the privilege of attending the Canada Wide Science Fair held in Fredericton, NB from May 10-16, 2015. “Only 464 students across Canada were selected to attend this National Competition. It is an incredible experience for students. They get to meet students from across the country, participate in many science activities and talk with great Canadian Scientists.” Loretta Cuda, Teacher and Canada WIde Science Fair Delegate.
Invited students, parents, teachers and invited guests gathered together on May 6, 2015 to take part in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s Sixth annual Turning Points Essay Contest Awards ceremony. This essay contest is an initiative that stems from the Learning Partnership, which is an organization that champions a strong public education system to deliver innovative programs, credible research, policy initiatives, executive leadership and public engagement across Canada. Turning Points is a character development and literacy program that allows students to reflect on their fundamental values and, through a process of self-reflection and dialogue, write a narrative essay about a significant event, or turning point in their lives. The Turning Points Essay Contest is a powerful character development and literacy program that all 4 of our secondary schools, as well as the intermediate students at St. Anne participated in this year. There are 3 divisions, Grade 7/8, Grade 9/10 and Grade 11/12. Cash prizes were awarded for secondary essays and all essays will also be published in an annual anthology that will be sent to students and participating schools next year. The students that took part in this contest and authored the winning essays were awarded plaques, a copy of the publication, as well as monetary awards at the celebration. Joanne Bénard, Director of Education for the Board was on hand for the celebration and awarded the students their prizes. After hearing the students read their essays, Bénard was visibly moved by their words and experiences. “I want to thank these students for sharing with us your strength and resiliency, and for being able to see the shining light in your experiences,” Bénard stated. “You have shown us that everyday is a blessing by sharing your emotional stories of strength and courage, accounts of laughter and tears, your deepest secrets, greatest fears, and biggest triumphs. What emerges as these essays take shape is just magic, and it reminds us all of the goodness and beauty in all of our students.”
Top Winners include:
Grade 11/12 Division
First Place – Mia Tullio
Second Place – Emily Brohart
Third Place – Taylor Emery
Grade 9/10 Division
First Place – Jenna Hoolans
Second Place – Julia Moore
Third Place – Alexis Gunther
Grade 7/8 Awards
First Place- Madison Penrose
Second Place – Amy Lucas
Third Place – Kaylee Kruk
As part of their school’s Catholic Education activities, St. John, St. Anne and St. Paul Catholic Elementary Schools held an in-school Relay for Life on Friday, May 8, 2015. For St. John, this year marks the school’s seventh year hosting the event. St. John teacher and event organizer Irene Raymond was talking to staff at the other two schools and decided that they too would start an in-school Relay for Life event. At each school, students, staff and invited guests started off their day in the gymnasium to listen to speakers from their own school communities talk about their own experiences, as well as local cancer organizations talk about the positive impact the schools’ relays have on the community.
All three schools surpassed their fundraising goals with St. John raising over $4500, St. Paul raising over $6400 and St. Anne raising over $13,500.
Organizer and St. John teacher was overwhelmed with the participation and fundraising efforts at all three schools. “What an amazing turnout for all three Sudbury Catholic schools! I am so very proud of our successes! It was truly an amazing and emotionally humbling experience – we are all so proud of the efforts of all the students, staff, families and community partners that supported this year’s Relay for Life events – it is so very touching and impactful!”
Recently, students in grade 8 at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School in Hanmer participated in their annual “Dragon’s Den” science fair and became inventors for the day. Grade 8 students displayed their inventions for the entire school community to view and ten groups were selected to present their inventions to the panel of Dragons in the afternoon. The dragons consisted of Mr. Mathieu, Principal of St. Anne Catholic School, Mrs. Connelly, Curriculum Coordinator at Sudbury Catholic Schools, Mr. McKee, teacher at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, and Ms. McNicoll, registered nurse and community member.
Students worked extremely hard over the past 3 weeks planning, constructing, interviewing, testing, and marketing their new inventions. Their final products demonstrated the development and evaluation of innovative devices, models, techniques and approaches in technology and engineering. With the help of their teachers Julie Caissie, Jody O’Daiskey, and Jules Guenette, students integrated several technologies, inventions, or designs and constructed technological systems that could have human and commercial benefits.
St. Anne Angels created highly original products that demonstrated resourcefulness and creativity in design. Some of the top products were the “Purf”, created by Robyn Gagne and Coral Brabant, which transforms a scarf to a purse, as well as the “Kibble Katcher”, created by Alexander Gardner, which helps keep pet food from being scattered across the floor. The Sudbury Catholic District School Board held a board wide science fair on March 6th, and seven projects from St. Anne Catholic School in Hanmer were among those featured.
For the past two years, junior students at St. Anne School in Hanmer have been participating in an event called “The Battle of the Books”. The competition is open to students from the different Sudbury Boards. The event helps encourage a love of reading by its participants. This year, the St. Anne Angels, under the direction of Sudbury Catholic Board teacher Denise Desmarais, took second place at “The Battle of the Books” competition that was held Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at the Radisson Hotel in Sudbury. The competition, which is an annual event organized by the Sudbury Public Library, requires students in grades four, five and six to read up to 30 books and then respond to questions about them. Throughout the school year, students read, meet, and discuss the selections that have been outlined to all students entered within the competition. This year, 15 schools from the Sudbury District entered the battle. The student team from St. Anne placed second in the event and were able to take home silver medals. Coach Denise Desmarais praised her team for their great effort and recognized that the final results between first and second place were very close. The staff and students at St. Anne are very proud of their “Battle of the Books” team and all of their hard work. Your enjoyment of reading has really opened up a world full of exciting stories and has sparked your interests for years to come. Way to go Angels!
Earlier this fall, Olivia Dunbabin, an English Early Learning student at St. Anne School in Hanmer, and her classmates decided “you don’t have to be that old” to be able to make a difference in the world. She along with her four and five year old classmates think they are just the right age to stand up and be noticed. They have been making a 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 have been on a mission. They have been raising money to help out Sudbury’s animal population. After discussing animals in the fall and enjoying a presentation from the Wild At Heart Animal Refuge, the young students told their teacher, Cheryl MacRury, that they wanted to do their part to help animals in the wild. With technological help from Mrs. Belanger’s Gr. 7 class in transferring the Kindergarten generated logo entitled the “ABC’S” onto the computer, the students have placed donation cans asking for one penny within Valley businesses. The donation cans, the Kindergarten logo, and brief explanation placards have been placed at Hanson’s Family Dentistry, Paula’s Canine Country Club, Evolve Active Therapy, and Nor-Ont Veterinary Hospital.
Thanks to the caring staffs at these businesses as well as family members from the students themselves, the “ABC’S” are on a mission that seems to be paying off. With the help of Mrs. Belanger’s Gr.7 class in counting out the donations, the young students have collected $40.00 and were able to present the Wild At Heart Refuge with some food and household items necessary for the animals from the Refuge’s wish list over the Christmas holidays. 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!
