We are very pleased to present the Director of Education’s Annual Report for the 2021-2022 school year.
We thank our Board of Trustees, Senior Administration, staff, students, families, volunteers, community partners, and our parishes for their continued support and commitment to Sudbury Catholic. Together we are providing a caring, progressive, high quality Catholic school system that is nurturing our students – mind, body, and spirit.
Sudbury Catholic Schools was proud to host a professional administration day for education staff devoted to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) on October 24, 2022. The Board partnered with several local organizations to create engaging and innovative learning sessions.
Sessions included:
We would like to thank all partners who helped create hands-on sessions and provided our educational staff with learning opportunities that can be recreated in our classrooms!
On Friday, October 14th, 2022, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is inviting students and staff from all sites to increase their civic responsibility by participating in a fall fundraiser that gives back to the local green space!
SCDSB Leaves of Change will recognize climate change during the changing season, as well as provide a teaching opportunity for Indigenous Education and caring for Shkagamik Kwe (mother earth). On this day, students/staff are encouraged to wear fall colours (red, yellow, orange, green, purple, and/or brown) and donate a toonie, where possible, to support the continued efforts of the Junction Creek Stewardship Community in Sudbury. The Junction Creek Stewardship Committee is an integral part of the Greater Sudbury community, working to improve the health of the unique urban waterway that connects us all and to promote the livability and value of our natural environment.
The goal of the fundraiser is to help our community engage in civic and environmental responsibility by bringing attention to climate change and how we can protect the earth for future generations. Throughout the day and the month of October, students and staff are encouraged to make more sustainable efforts. This includes cleaning green spaces by picking up trash and litter, recycling, using a water bottle, etc.
October is also where we honour Binaakwe Giizis – Moon of Falling Leaves. As this event is taking place during Binaakwe Giizis – it also serves as an educational opportunity to understand, acknowledge and respect Indigenous perspectives on caring for Mother Earth (Shkagamik Kwe).
As a school board, it is our responsibility to create opportunities to teach the importance of protecting the earth for future generations. Environmental degradation affects the health and well-being of all peoples of North America and the world in many ways. For instance, industrial contamination and disruption of wildlife habitats combine to reduce the supply and purity of clean drinking water, traditional foods, and medicines. In addition, environmental degradation erodes the quality of life dependent on the purity of the land, water, flora and fauna. Further, this disruption greatly affects Indigenous peoples culture, languages, spiritual health, and well-being along with the life of all living things. By participating in this fundraiser, we help our community engage in volunteerism and create hope through environmental restoration.
This summer, Indigenous students from Sudbury Catholic Schools will participate in an exciting program as they participate in a new Earth-Based Learning course. This course is a unique summer program involving an exciting partnership with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Great Lakes Cultural Camps, Akinoomoshin Inc and Atikameksheng Anishnawbek.
The Board revealed the new program in the spring and were ecstatic to see the high level of interest. In only a matter of weeks, the program, which is the first of its kind for Sudbury Catholic District School Board, quickly filled up with eager participants.
Taking place in the community of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, the course was offered for Indigenous students moving from grade 8 to grade 9 and grade 9 moving to grade 10. Students will attend the sacred grounds every Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for an educational experience that provides special opportunities to explore and strengthen Anishinaabe identity through cultural place-based learning, allowing students to earn a high school credit while learning from the land.
To help celebrate and honour the program’s official start last Monday, we provide a glimpse into the instructive hands-on learning activities students have participated in during their first week!
On days 1 and 2 of the Earth-Based Learning Program, students helped to build the teaching lodge, harvest and clean sweet grass, and also enjoyed taking time to connect to the Earth. Students were also taught a brief account of the community’s story and the area they are learning. This fantastic lesson was presented by anishinaabemwid, Lorney Bob.
On day 3, Earth-Based Learning students took the water at Bell Park to complete their swim tests. All students completed their tests successfully and will be ready for the upcoming activities taking place over the next few weeks.
On day 4, students had fun learning about the sustainable harvesting of materials. Taking what they learned into practice, students then had the opportunity to make their own wiigwas basket. Wiigwaas is the anishinaabemowin word for birch bark, a textile traditionally used to make baskets, canoes, shelters, etc.
On day 5, students took advantage of the beautiful weather and set off on a hike to Pigeon Mountain. The group was accompanied by Lornie Bob and Papa Art Petahtegoose, who shared stories along the way, making for an even richer learning experience. On their trek, students visited the spring water, spent time reflecting, and enjoyed lunch as they admired the breathtaking natural scenery. It was a great trip and the perfect end to the program’s first week!
“Our goal is to help students build relationships with the land, the water and each other. We are ecstatic we can provide this meaningful opportunity as it supports earth-based learning and shares traditional knowledge and practices that each of these students will value and carry with them throughout their lives. We already see students’ developing connections and coming out of their shells. Chi miigwech to the community and all those supporting our young learners. We look forward to continuing to follow their journeys as they form meaningful bonds with their environment and discover and connect themselves to the Earth.” – Ginette Toivenen, Indigenous Education Lead for Sudbury Catholic District School Board
The course is designed to spark curiosity and create awareness of stewardship initiatives in the Great Lakes, Anishinaabe Food Systems, practices and kendaasowin (learning) on the land. Students will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the social, cultural, economic, and political developments of First Nations, Metis and Inuit individuals and communities. The learning will include history from precontact to the present day through a hands-on approach to learning. This will be a land-based opportunity that will encourage fun and laughter throughout the learning.
The Sudbury Catholic District School Board aspires that this program will help students form greater connections to the land while nurturing spirituality and values in an environment where they can share traditional knowledge. We look forward to seeing this program in action over the following weeks and wish our students the best of luck and fun in their learning!
To see what other activities are happening, check out our SCDSB Indigenous Education Facebook page!
Grade 7-8 French Immersion students at St. Charles College take French, social studies, science, inclusive education and art outdoors. Students collected parts of nature, brought them inside and co-constructed success criteria around how everything that was collected can come together to form one. They were only allowed to pick up items that were not attached to the ground, hence that had already fallen on their own. Students decided to make an animal with everything that they had collected and together determined what that would look like and feel like. Each student had the chance to place one object at a time on the giant paper. One at a time, without moving the piece that the previous student placed on the page, the animal began to take shape. Students quickly saw how a variety of objects from different parts of nature came together to form one, just like our world. Students were then asked to sketch what they saw on the giant page. Even though, everyone was looking at the same thing, each picture was different as beauty and perception are in the eyes of the beholder. This lesson was based on the play Spirit Horse and was conducted in the French Language led by teacher Sabrina Rocca at St. Charles College.
Pictured are Colby (grade 8) and Kennedy (grade 7) from the French Immersion class at St. Charles College.
The grade ten Science classes are taking their studies outside by trapping insects. Teacher George Fritz has partnered with the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph to sample the insect community in the St. Charles College school yard.
One of the classes set-up what is known as an “insect malaise trap” to collect specimens. The students will now spend the next two weeks monitoring what is caught in the trap. Fritz says “students will also have to note environmental conditions and the number of insects caught.”
After the sampling period, the specimens will be returned to the BIO facility in Guelph where the DNA of the insects will be barcoded for species recognition, and added to the Institute’s database.
Later on in the semester, the class will receive a report on the insect specimens. Fritz is hoping that the process leads to new information being added to the database.
This is the fourth year that the Winter Adventure Race has been held at the Killarney Shebanoning Outdoor Environment Education Centre (K.S.O.E.E.C).
St. Charles College competed againstt the other board high schools – St. Benedict’s, Bishop Alexander and Marymount to take the title.
The three part race consists of running, target shooting and an orienteering exercise.
The group won the race in 1 hour and 13 minutes. They were 6 minutes ahead of the next team to cross the finish line.
Last month 15 students from St. Charles College went on the vacation of a lifetime. From April 12 – 20, 2013, as part of the school’s Specialist High Skills Major (S.H.S.M.) in Health and Wellness, these students, accompanied by two teachers, had the opportunity to visit the country of Guatemala to work with a restoration group in local communities. Based on the belief that “if you can keep a community environmentally healthy, you can keep the community physically healthy” teacher Tim Kingshott led the students to support the Chico Mendez Project which is a non-profit organization based out of Guatemala which works towards reforestation of the forests, the provision of environmental education, and the generation of oxygen for the world. The students helped collect soil and loam to mix and prep for the next round of trees that were scheduled to be planted in the areas they visited.
As well as the community service, another aspect of their trip was a homestay with a family from Guatemala. Each student had the opportunity to live with a Guatemalan family and experience their traditional culture.
In order to prepare for this trip, the students were required to learn the basics of First Aid, as well as travel and health/safety. The group even learned a little Spanish in order to support their communication skills during their adventure.
Kingshott, who is also an outdoor education teacher, organized many hikes, and other outdoor activities including ziplining. “This is the fourth year I have brought St. Charles College students to another country for the S.H.S.M. in Health and Wellness,” Kingshott stated. “Four years ago I took students to Ecuador, then Costa Rica, then Belize and this year Guatemala. It is such a life changing opportunity for these grade 11 and 12 students as they take part in real hands on learning. At the end of these trips, they take away skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. These experiences are history and learning based, curriculum based, and most importantly adventure based – all the while pushing the students beyond their comfort zone – there is no better way to learn!”
Despite the rainy weather, it was a spectacular day for the third annual Sudbury Catholic Outdoor Adventure Race in Killarney on June 8, 2011. Students from all four of the Board’s secondary schools entered teams to take part in a four part outdoor race which included biking, canoeing, orienteering and a mystery challenge which involved a first aid rescue exercise. A total of fifteen teams with three students per team participated and, although rain-soaked for part of the race, managed to keep smiles on their faces throughout the entire challenge. The past two years has seen St. Charles College and then St. Benedict take home the coveted banner, and this year St. Charles managed to win back the first place spot. A team from St. Benedict won in terms of time, however, due to a small mistake in the orienteering section, they were given a 5 minute penalty which put the St. Charles team consisting of Adam McKibbon (Grade 12), Michael Wandziak (Grade 11) and Jonah Lynott (Grade 11) in first place. Awards were also given out for first place for a co-ed team as well as an all-girls team.
