Students at St. James Catholic Elementary School took part in Shrove Tuesday Celebrations to kick off the start of the Lenten Season. Students had the opportunity to eat delicious pancakes and talk about the meaning of Lent.
St. James Students Help Grinch’s Heart Grow
St. James students are helping to make the Grinch’s heart grow when they are “Caught Doing Something Good”. The following is a poem that was created by teacher Sabrina Rocca and her students. Not only are students having fun watching the Grinch’s heart grow bigger through acts of kindness, but also having fun with Literacy!
At St. James School Christmas Spirit is understood,
as Students are Caught Being Good!
At St. James Catholic School,
Students are all very cool.
To enhance Christmas Spirit,
We need the entire school to feel it.
We are helping the Grinch’s heart grow,
because it used to be as cold as snow.
When students are caught being good
The Christmas spirit is well understood
St. James Students Demonstrate the True Meaning of Christmas
The Fantastic Fours and Terrific 4/5’s at St. James Catholic Elementary School got into the Christmas spirit early by packing gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Families went out and purchased items such as: hygiene products, clothing, toys, and school supplies. When all was said and done, the two classes filled 47 boxes. Inside each box was a letter of hope to the child that will be receiving the gifts. The St. James staff is very thankful for the generosity and support of the students and their families. Together they showed the true meaning of Christmas – how it is better to give than to receive!
St. James Bears Who Care!
Dressed in their best jammies, brothers Jackson and Carter Drigo proudly show off their coin donation in a specially decorated can. St. James held a PJ Day and coin drive on Friday, October 5th. Students brought in loose change in support of a local family whose young son has been diagnosed with cancer. Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, students were reminded that even though the young boy attends a different school, we are all part of a larger community and we are thankful for the chance to show our support . The single day event raised more than $1700 for the family of 5 yr-old Carson Widdifield.
St. James School Fun Family Faith Night
St. James Catholic School and St. Pius X Parish of Lively partnered to create an event that brought the school and the faith community together. The School Council led by Chairperson Jane Saal planned a “Fun Family Faith Night”.
The evening offered an opportunity to share in many faith-based activities and games geared to both students and their families and provided a forum to celebrate the virtues and values of our Catholic School. The school community was welcomed at the door by parish priest Father Terry Fournier and Deacon Pat Raymond. School Council chairperson Jane Saal stated that, “One priority for the St. James School Council is to augment the school’s spiritual atmosphere by facilitating family faith development and a family faith evening was a perfect occasion to implement our goal. This event provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen the home, school and parish connections at St. James School. The evening was extremely well received and well attended and judging from the feedback we will continue the tradition of a faith night again next year”.
Giving St. James School a BIG Bear Hug
Students, teachers, parents, school staff, clergy and educational partners held hands together to literally form a “human circle” and gave St. James School a BIG Bear Hug on October 26, 2011. Forming a circle by holding hands recognized that everyone makes a difference and plays an important role in the education of the St James students.
Prior to going outside to form a circle, Bishop Noel Simard addressed the students and explained how hugs are a sign of welcoming and acceptance of everyone.
This simple hug created such a positive synergy and was a visible sign of the fondness for St. James School. Giving St. James a BIG Bear hug was a special and memorable moment and as one Grade 8 student summed it up “This is the coolest thing we ever did at school”.
St. James Recycles for Haiti
Along with all of the money raising efforts going on at our Sudbury Catholic Schools, Grade 5 Eco-Squad leaders at St. James Catholic School in Lively are collecting milk bags which are used to make sleeping mats. The bags are then crocheted by a neighbour Cindy Kavanaugh into comfortable, waterproof mats which will be forwarded to Haiti. The mats can be used for eating or sleeping and also due to their bright colours these mats do not attract bugs. It takes 250 milk bags to make one large mat and 150 bags to make a smaller mat. To date the students have collected over one thousand milk bags. The St. James students will continue their campaign until the end of March.