Spotlight on the London District Catholic School Board November 5th


June 6th, 2008


St. Anne School is pleased to announce that it was selected to be part of the ReForest London Community Tree Planting programme. This project was for an outdoor classroom with five trees and shrubs with log benches placed in front of each tree. May 30 was planting day with all students participating. The city of London has also agreed to plant trees along Huron Street in front of the school as part of the project. Parents in the school community have signed up to water the trees over the summer holidays. A wonderful partnership between school and community!

The JPII Co-op Employer Appreciation Breakfast involved a breakfast for employers, Co-op staff and students. The employers were presented with a gift and plaque showing their support for Co-op at John Paul II Catholic Secondary School. Two Co-op students spoke of the positive experience it had on thier growth in confidence and how helpful it was in clarifying future post secondary options. Two employers expressed their appreciation for the presence of the students and the positive contributions they make to the workplace. Co-op Works at JPII and in the London District Catholic School Board!

On Friday, May 16th approximately 170 students participated in the Heart and Stroke Jump Rope for Heart and helped raise $2362.36! What an awesome total! Jump Rope for Heart activates our students to embrace a lifetime of healthy living. Our school also earned points for valuable resources that will go towards our physical education equipment. The day was a great success.

Above, pictures of the Holy Cross Chaplaincy Team "The Anchors". They went on retreat to Niagara Falls, had mass at St. Ann Parish, and also spent some time at Marineland.

Peter and Trent, students in Mrs. Elliott's Grade 5 class at St. Anne School, are working on a project about the Chinese Clay Soldiers. The purpose for this project is to learn about ancient civilizations. The clay soldiers were made one by one and each soldier had a different face which represented real soldiers who died. Peter and Trent tried to make each of their clay soldiers look different. They have put a lot of hard work into this project.	Students at Monsignor O'Neil School celebrated Poetry Month in April by entering a poetry contest held at the Library. The students submitted their choice of poem and were able to win a Canadian Poetry book and a blank journal to continue their writings

Mr. Barrett, a parent and fireman brought his fire truck to St. Thomas More. He spoke about fire safety and provided an opportunity for a "cool off" and have some fun at recess.	St Thomas More students were involved in healthy eating initiatives. Here they all took a bite of a apple at the same time, creating "The Big Crunch". A delicious apple was enjoyed by all.

This week at Saint Thomas Aquinas saw the unveiling of two jerseys to honour of two students. The first one was to Amanda Mazzotta STA student in grade 12, who was a member of the Canadian Women's Hockey Silver Medalist at the World Hockey Championship, ( under 18) last December/January. The second picture is a sweater from Edmonton Oiler, first round selection Sam Gagne He donated the sweater to the school. These sweaters will be displayed in the foyer at STA.

The recent Jaohn Paul ll Arts Trip to New York City will leave some lifelong memories for those lucky enough to be on it. (Above)

Investing in Children's Community Service Clubs at Holy Family Catholic School , Northbrae Public School and Princess Elizabeth Public School and recently created and sold a healthy recipes cook book, filled with recipes created by the students. The Holy Family Community Service Club welcomed Jill and Victoria from the Children's Health Foundation to receive the proceeds from the sale and to share more information about the Children's Hospital and its services with the students. Congratulations to the Community Service Club and to volunteer supervisor Susan McLean for their hard work and community spirit.	Roots of Empathy Celebratory Gala at Public Library Roots of Empathy program participants and facilitators gathered on Monday to celebrate the year's efforts. Roots of Empathy is a national program, run within both TVDSB and LDCSB, to develop empathy within school age children by sharing time and monthly visits with babies. In the picture are program facilitators,Tina Neeb (Sir Arthur Carty), Sheryl Ragobar (Holy Family) and Susan McKane, ROE Mentor (St. Robert's). The Sparks family is deeply involved with Roots of Empathy as this is their second child participating. They are the proud parents of four children, two pictured here, Emily and Abby. Also present are Mom, and teacher, Amanda Payne and Mikayla. Finally, last but never least are mom, Rhonda Sarson, and her baby,Kate . Thank you to all of the families and the facilitators who are volunteers from local agencies as well as classroom teachers for bringing this program to fruition within our board.

Above, shots from a special art show recently held for a week at the London Art Gallery - a showing of more than 160 works of art from our secondary schools, approximately 20 from each one. The student art show was called "COLLABORATE!" and opened to rave reviews.

The Woodstock Art Gallery is pleased to feature the exhibition by Rebecca Bowen, a St. Mary's High School. The exhibition titled, Beneath the Mask, will run from May 30th to June 27th. Rebecca completed all work for the show during her co-op placement and in her media studies classes. The opening night was full and people were fascinated by her work.	Back in December Our Lady Immaculate students had a Christmas door decorating contest. The winning door belonged to Mrs. Wong's Grade 4 class. They created this beautiful "Stained Glass" window, along with the creative assistance of librarian Laura Wade. The incredible piece of art was recently framed and mounted by Doug Robbins wood working class at HCC. The result is extraordinary. The framed art work now hangs in the school foyer.
	Students in Gr. 6, 7, and 8 at Holy Family French Immersion School in Woodstock recently went on a virtual field trip. Their teacher, Nick Polasek, and principal, Stephan Pelland, arranged for the students to meet with a UWO professor and heart specialist through VROC (Virtual Researcher On Call). Mr. Polasek set up a live satelite feed trom St. Mary's Highschool in Woodstok to U.W.O. The professor and reseacher, Dr. Jones, spoke to the students about how robotics are used in heart surgery, about 3-d imaging technology, and the importance of problem solving skills and teamwork. Their next VROC session will be June 2nd where students will be exploring water pollution with a professor at the University of Toronto.

Above, a field trip to the African Lion Safari on Friday, May 30th. The trip was for the SK/JK class of Mrs. Raake and grade 1/2 class of Ms. Baker at St. Rita's Catholic School, Woodstock. They were rained on a little but the kids still had a blast. They were especially excited when the Baboons climbed all over the safari bus.

Above are more photos from Brick by Brick, the benefit concert held on May 21st at Alumni Hall. Over 700 elementary and secondary school students from both Boards performed as did Denise Pelley and the Sudanese Women's Choir. The concert opened and closed with the inspired music of Jim Papoulis who wrote the closing piece, aptly entitled, "Brick by Brick." Jim graciously attended to conduct several pieces at the event. Marc Kielburger, the Chief Executive Director gave an impassioned presentation about the message of "Me to We", based on the New York Times bestseller co-written with his younger brother Craig. Glen Pearson and Jane Roy both spoke about their work in the Aweil East region of Southern Sudan and the importance of rebuilding a high school in that area that was destroyed during the war. Over $25,000 was raised for Canadian Aid for Southern Sudan as a result of the event.