Spotlight on the London District Catholic School Board

May 8th, 2009
Catholic Education Week ... Highlights the Many Good Things in Our System

The school communities of St. Bernadette, Holy Cross and St. Sebastian had an outdoor mass - in God's Cathedral - to celebrate Education Week on the grounds of St. Bernadette Catholic School. (Above and below) This was one of dozens of highlights of Catholic Education Week, celebrated at each of the schools across the LDCSB this week.
This year's theme for Catholic Education Week is "Catholic Education: Good News for All". The five sub-themes, one for each of the five days of Catholic Education Week 2009, help students to understand the rich meaning of this year's theme: Embracing Hope; Celebrating with Joy; Building Community; Growing in Integrity; and Living with Gratitude.

This year Stewards in Catholic Education Award – the system’s highest award - was presented on Monday evening to Joe Hattayer, a Catholic Central Graduate and a fixture at the annual Hans Janssen Memorial Track and Field Meet. He has served at the event for the past 28 years and counting. This is the sixth year for the award, an initiative to profile London District Catholic School Board Graduates who live the Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations. The award was present at the Spirit Awards at Catholic Central High School. The Spirit Award recognizes abilities and excellence of a student from each school of the London District Catholic School Board during Catholic Education Week. "Your selection as a Spirit Award recipient indicates that you listened and responded to the call of Catholic education. Your recognition is based on your demonstration of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations. The expectations for Catholic students and graduates not only involve knowledge and skills, but values, attitudes and actions. It is a challenge to meet these expectations, but you have done so and we are proud of your efforts." ...Wilma de Rond, Director of Education	"The track meet each year provides me with the coming together of community. To me, it is a celebration of the past teachers, educators, volunteers, family members who I have had the honour of meeting, combined with the future of our faith. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?" ... Joe Hattayer

This Year's Spirit Award Winners

EAST AFFILIATE John Paul II Catholic Secondary Gordie Johnson Blessed Sacrament Maranda Wilton Holy Family, London Joaquim de Sousa St. Anne Kristan Magsaysay St. Bernadette Tyler Oliveira St. Robert Meaghan Oakley St. Pius X Betty Menghesha	St. Mary’s Catholic High School Julie Hanley Holy Family Catholic French Immersion Alexis Ryan Monsignor J. H. O’Neil Nicholas Palermo St. Francis, Princeton Sarah DaSilva St. Joseph’s, Thamesford Ben Ellison St. Jude’s, Ingersoll Luke Schonberger St. Michael’s, Woodstock Sara Borbely St. Patrick’s, Woodstock Chantelle Stringle St. Rita’s Jordan Larocque

SOUTH AFFILIATE Regina Mundi Catholic College Laura Vanhie Sir Arthur Carty Ricardo Carranza St. David Brianna Schmalz St. Francis, London Caitlan Inman St. Sebastian Marina Neves Holy Rosary Brian Kress	St. Joseph’s High School Jeremy Gorman Assumption Ryan Claessens Monsignor Morrison Taylor Bedek St. Mary’s, West Lorne Meaghan Campigotto St. Raphael Kaitlyn Jenkins

WEST AFFILIATE St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary Klaire Gain Jean Vanier Theresa Handrigan Notre Dame Alexandria Neves St. George Samantha Arcese St. Theresa Julie Ladich St. Paul Paige Eansor	Holy Cross Catholic Secondary Viviana Schadenberg St. Charles Simon Kouwenberg Our Lady Immaculate Olivia Gomes Our Lady Of Lourdes Zak Dobinson Sacred Heart, Parkhill Laura Godts St. Vincent de Paul Amy Alleyne-Dickson

NORTH AFFILIATE Catholic Central High School Patricia Mockler Holy Cross Tiffany Olszewski St. Jude, London Nicolas Esmeral Gomez St. Martin Cameron Soltys St. Mary Choir Hannah Gregor St. Michael, London Kasia Suski	Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary Nicolas Umana Zapata Blessed Kateri Laura Vermeire St. Catherine of Siena Victoria Sarata St. John, French Immersion Quenna May Sunio St. Marguerite d’Youville Curtis Easter St. Mark Brittney Doak St. Patrick, Lucan Carl Estrada St. Thomas More Nik Orkic


Mediafest 2009 was broadcast broadcast live to the system on Monday, celebrating the work of the students of the London District Catholic School Board. Mediafest 2009 is a creative and spirited forum to showcase the talents of our students in the visual arts, media awareness and information technology. Above left, A-Channels' Nick Paparella was the MC at the Catholic Education Centre. Right, Cameron Patterson was honoured for designing this year's MediaFest poster.

Staff and students gathered for the annual "God bless" wave at St. Thomas More Catholic School!
(The song you are hearing, "GOOD NEWS FOR ALL" was written and Recorded by Nancy Bodsworth (DPCDSB) For Catholic Education Week 2009)

Our Mission To serve the Catholic student in a community that nurtures a living faith and provides a quality Catholic education that enables the individual to become a contributing member of the Church and Society.
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.