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.
Christine McCracken, a teacher with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board does not teach out of your typical classroom. With the board since October, 2015, McCracken works with adult learners in two different locations. One of her locations is on the Atkikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation Reserve. The second is at the Sudbury jail. It is this second location that inspired a call-out to her fellow SCDSB staff. After meeting with the learners in jail, she realized that many were desperate for something to read. McCracken brought the newspaper in with her during her visits and they couldn’t get enough. After some inquiry, she realized that there weren’t very many books available to the inmates. Inspired by the enthusiasm of these learners, McCracken discussed some strategies with her principal at St. Albert, Aaron Barry. The two decided to do a call-out to all SCDSB staff to see if anyone wanted to donate any new or gently used books to the Sudbury jail. After only a two-week collection period, the staff had donated close to 500 books. “We currently have at least 50 inmates taking part in this programming at the Sudbury jail,” explain McCracken. “We even already have a few really close to getting their high school diplomas. Reaching out to them in this environment has inspired them to want to continue their education after as well, which is wonderful. These books will really help in their learning!”
The St. Albert principal explained that through the St. Albert Learning Centre, some of these individuals were able to gets some credits through PLAR which is the Prior Learning Assessment Recognition program. This assigns credits to individuals towards the secondary school diploma (OSSD) for knowledge and skills that they have acquired outside of secondary school. “McCracken has been a real inspiration with these particular learners as she really motivates learning and encourages them to continue working towards their OSSD,” Barry stated. “Through the support of the SCDSB, we are able to bring continuing education to a group that may otherwise not consider continuing on with their education. It is a great program, and we are thankful to all of our coworkers and SCDSB staff for their generous book donations –they will make a positive difference!”
For more information about continuing education, PLAR, or getting your OSSD, contact St. Albert Learning Centre at (705) 673-3031.
This year, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is running a three week summer camp for students in grades 1-5 until July 24th. As well as offering programming for literacy and numeracy, there is also an Aboriginal Art and Literacy camp, which is designed to include literacy games and activities with culturally relevant curriculum including the Seven Grandfather teachers, Métis history, culture and the Pow Wow experience. All three programs are infused with technology and are geared to meet the students’ individual needs. What gives this summer camp its unique spin is that the board was able to hire some of its own students as youth counsellors. These counsellors are given the opportunity to learn as well, while getting on the job experience working with the younger students. Some of these students are currently enroled in the SCDSB Peace program. The PEACE program, which stands for Personalized, Experiential, Alternative, Catholic Education, is an alternative program for secondary students who are disengaged, on a long term suspension or expulsion, or are behind in credit accumulation. The students learn techniques to overcome obstacles all while earning credits towards their secondary school diploma and are supported with their social and emotional needs, and learn how to give back to the community through community partnerships. “We are so fortunate that the Ministry of Education was able to fund this program allowing for our students to gain on the job experience,” Christina Raso, Special Education consultant for the SCDSB stated. “These elementary students enroled in our programming are having so much fun with all of their hands-on learning, and our students who have been hired as counsellors are really gaining great work experience that they will be able to take with them to their next job opportunity.”
The camp currently has 95 students enroled with 6 teachers, 6 student tutors, 8 youth counsellors. The students also get 45 minutes of physical activity a day with 6 taekwondo instructors teaching the students.
Assistant Deputy Minister Janine Griffore and Nicole McAllister, Education Officer visited St. Albert Learning Centre on April 22, 2015 to look at a unique program happening with students enroled in the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s PEACE program.
The PEACE program, which stands for Personalized, Experiential, Alternative, Catholic Education, is an alternative program for for secondary students who are disengaged, on a long term suspension or expulsion, behind in credit accumulation and have social/emotional issues. The students learn techniques to overcome obstacles all while earning credits towards their secondary school diploma and are supported with their social and emotional needs, and learn how to give back to the community through community partnerships.
At the end of last year, a proposal was submitted by staff, to bring in a project that would allow these students some hands on learning, and gain business experience. The Peace Pen program was born. The purpose of the Peace Pen program is to help the students to thrive in a non-traditional classroom setting. Through this project, the students earn credits by participating in different aspects of a school run business venture.
The “business” offers promotion materials to our board. The Peace Pen project involves the fabrication of customized, hand-made, one-of-a-kind wooden pens presented in engraved boxes. After purchasing a wood lathe and laser engraver, the class purchased special pen kits. Each pen, when complete, includes a written description of the program, signed by the student who created it. As well, it includes a description of the wood used for that particular pen.
This project has already blossomed into an engraving business as well, with requests coming in from the school board for specific engraving pieces used throughout the schools and buildings. Students are involved in different aspects of the Peace Pen project such as marketing, accounting, promotion and communication, inventory and production. According to Michel Grandmont, the board’s secondary consultant who supports the class, “This contextualized approach to meeting curriculum expectations makes it real for students. They are actually operating a small enterprise, all the while meeting the different curriculum expectations,” explained Grandmont. “Depending on the tasks and activities the student is involved in, he or she will earn credits by meeting overall expectations in several secondary courses such as mathematics, business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and English.”
The students divide up the tasks such as production and the development of promotional materials such as brochures, website and the creation of an instructional video. One of the students involved in the program, Jessica Blais, was given the task of explaining to their Ministry of Education guests, the Peace program, the Peace Pen project, and how much both have changed her life. “Working with Peace Pens has forced me to leave my comfort zone and face my fear of talking to people,” Blais explains. “Once I overcame my fear, I felt like I could do anything I set my mind to. This small classroom business is teaching us valuable life lessons while we work toward achieving our diploma, which I now see in the near future. I am very grateful for this second chance.”
Staff and students at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre did their part to keep their community clean. They participated in a spring clean up of area streets around the school. They received supplies and support from the city and in the end, picked up over 20 bags of garbage from around the neighbourhood.
