April 1st, 2011

  Inspiring Stories ...
How Our Students are Helping to Make the World a Better place
One Person can Make a Difference

When Jenna - a Grade three student at Jean Vanier Catholic Elementary School - had a birthday party last week, she asked for something different - not the usual birthday presents.  She wanted something she could share; something that would  live on.

She asked her guests to donate money to Educate the Children, a charity that is raising funds to build a school in rural Nigeria. 
Here is what happened:  Jenna raised $200.00 and presented the Chairperson of Educate the Children,  Liz Akano, with a cheque at the Spring Concert on Sunday evening. The concert was held in St. Justin's church. 

Educate The Children is based in London and is a Charitable organization dedicated to bridging the gap in rural education in Nigeria.

How A Class Responded to disaster

The Grade 8 students at St. Jude's Ingersoll were quick to respond after the disaster in Japan.They organized a PENNY DRIVE throughout the school to help efforts for the Disaster Relief project .  Their teacher,  Mr. Henry, organized a field trip to the Toyota Plant in Cambridge.  The $475 raised by the students was matched by Toyota for a grand total of $950.  "This field trip beautifully connected both Ministry curriculum expectations of Intermediate Social Studies with our Catholic Social Justice teachings and our Catholic Graduate Expectations," said Principal Greg Janozeski.

Celebrating Those Who Have Made a Difference! 

This will be the eighth year of an initiative to profile London District Catholic School Board Graduates who live the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations. Those selected must be secondary school graduates of the London District Catholic School Board or its predecessor Boards. THEY DO NOT NEED TO BE BOARD EMPLOYEES, PAST OR PRESENT.
\
They must demonstrate impact in professional and/or personal life in the following areas: spiritual, academic, aesthetic, social, or physical; demonstrate fulfillment of the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations; and demonstrate stewardship in Catholic Education. Nominators must complete a nomination form, signed by the nominee and submitted to John Boles at the Catholic Education Centre by April 7th, 2010. (Printable nominations forms are available HERE).

There is a limit of one nomination per nominator. A Selection Committee will review all nominations and make a final decision based on the criteria. The graduate (s) will be profiled in Spotlight, on the Board Website and during Education Week. This is your opportunity to publicly honour someone you know who has made a difference in the world around them!

               Consider nominating a colleague or a friend or someone you admire 
- someone who HAS made a positive difference.

Previous Honourees  - the LDCSB Stewards in Catholic Education Award

2004  John Callaghan  2005 Robert Thibert
2006 Mike Circelli  2007 Sr. Margaret Ferris
2008 Peter Cassidy  2009 Joe Hattayer
2010 Brittnei Berrisford

For feedback, submissions, suggestions and input, please contact:

j.boles@office.ldcsb.on.ca

or contact: John Boles, 
Manager of Communications,
519-663-2088, ext 40015

Spotlight is produced weekly by the 
Communications Department of the LDCSB.

    Spotlight is a BRAVO Award winner for demonstrated excellence, recognized by the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education and a winner of the Glorya Nanne Award from the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education for making a substantial contribution to fostering better understanding of Catholic Education.