IT STARTS in the Schools

September 2015

UPCOMING EVENTS

September 5 TCDSB Board-wide International Day of Charity

September 8 TCDSB Board-wide Classes resume

September 8 TCDSB Board-wide International Literacy Day

September 9 TCDSB Open House for Elementary Gifted 80 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto Programs 416.222.8282 7:00 p.m.

September 19 TCDSB Various locations Registration for Saturday Elementary International Language Program

September 21 TCDSB Board-wide International Day of Peace

October 1 TCDSB Catholic School Parent Council 80 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto Workshop 416.222.8282 7:00 p.m.

October 5 TCDSB Board-wide World Teacher’s Day

October 7 TCDSB Board-wide TCDSB Rosary Day

October 7 TCDSB Board-wide ACCTS—A Catholic Call To Serve

October 8 TCDSB Board-wide Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day

October 10 Cardinal Carter Academy for the 25th Anniversary Arts 36 Greenfield Avenue, Willowdale 416.393.5556

October 13 – TCDSB Board-wide Secondary School Open Houses November 5 For locations, dates and times, visit the Board’s website: www.tcdsb.org

October 18 St. Marcellus Catholic School 50th Anniversary 15 Denfield Street, Weston Mass: 12 p.m. 416.393.5311 Open house: 1:30 p.m. Alumni Social: 7 p.m.

October 21 Station Creek Golf Club TDCAA Golf Championships 12657 Woodbine Ave, Gormley, ON (905) 888-1219

October 23 The Caesar’s Centre 35th Anniversary: Regina Pacis Alumni 8841 George Bolton Parkway, Bolton 6:30 p.m. 905.857.7779

October 24 TCDSB OAPCE and CPIC Parent Summit 80 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto 9:00 a.m. 416.222.8282

October 26 – TCDSB Board-wide TCDSB Catholic Parent Involvement October 30 Week

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

Year of Family 2015-2016 This is the first Year of TCDSB’s 3-Year Pastoral Plan: Together With One Voice, Harmonizing Our Faith Through Family, Parish and School 2015-2018. All students, staff, fa milies, parishes and members of the community are invited to join us in celebrating The Year of the Family. Click for more information and video

Annual General Meeting with Director of Education Principals, Vice-Principals, senior staff, trustees, employee association representatives and parent association leaders gathered to celebrate the start of a new school year on September 1st at the Catholic Education Centre. The annual general meeting celebrated the launch of the board’s new pastoral plan: Together with One Voice—Harmonizing our Faith Through Family, Parish and School. The Director’s remarks focused on servant leadership, while Cardinal Thomas Collins’ homily during the opening mass encouraged leaders to remember that they are children of the light and they need to spread that light to students and school communities. The event also provided an opportunity to introduce and congratulate the many new school administrators and business leaders. Students from Father John Redmond joined the staff choir and musicians under the direction of Susan Hookong-Taylor provided the music for the meeting and the Mass of celebration. The new song for the three years made its second debut—“One Lord, One Faith, One God of All.” Click here to view photos.

St. Basil Graduate Helps Club Capture CBHA Championship Kristen Richards, graduate of St. Basil the Great College School, demonstrated strong teamwork skills for her Ball Hockey Club, the Toronto Shamrocks, in the recent Canadian Ball Hockey Association National Competition in Ottawa, helping her team capture their second national title in four years. While at St. Basil the Great, Richards also competed in ice hockey, capturing the 2009 gold medal in women’s ice hockey.

Prestigious scholarships for McLuhan grads Aaron Benwic and Carolyne Barker have done their school proud. The 18-year-olds, who recently finished serving as student council president and vice-president, respectively, at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School on Avenue Road, received prestigious scholarships worth $100,000 and $250,000 before graduating in June. Click here to read the article in the Town Crier.

TCDSB Top Scholars 2014/2015 The 2014/2015 top scholar for the Toronto Catholic District School, Konrad von Eppinghoven, is already well on his way to a career in the financial sector, having been accepted to the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. No wonder, as he scored 100 percent in his Economics program at Michael Power/St. Joseph Catholic High School. An International Baccalaureate student, Konrad’s Etobicoke school has prepared him for success in an interconnected, globalized world, using critical-thinking skills and a sense of international-mindedness. Konrad achieved 100 percent in his six top courses: Economics, English, Literature, Calculus & Vectors, Finite Math and Biology. Konrad was a member of the school’s Reach for the Top Team and is a parishioner of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Parish. He is working this summer as a Financial Officer for the Government of Ontario.

Coming in right after Konrad with an average of 99.50 percent is the 2nd place scholar and top student in the former City of North York area, Justin Wiens of Senator O’Connor College School. Justin attended Scarborough’s St. Agatha Catholic (Elementary) School and has somehow managed to “do it all”, playing the Alto Sax in his school’s concert and jazz bands, writing for the school newspaper, earning his 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo and competing on the school swim team. He also won the distinguished Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and is an usher and reader at his parish, St. Theresa Shrine of the Little Flower Catholic Church. Justin will be studying Engineering Science at the University of Toronto in September.

Third place was shared by two students: Shannon Thom of Blessed Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Scarborough and Richard Ren of Bishop Allen Academy in Etobicoke. Both earned an average of 99.33 percent for their top six subjects and Shannon is the TCDSB Top Scholar in the former City of Scarborough area. She will be studying at the University of Guelph (Arts and Sciences) in September. Richard is a Visa student from Changchun, China and will be studying Life Sciences at the University of Toronto in September after which he hopes to pursue a career in genetics research.

The top student in the former City of Toronto area is St. Joseph’s College School graduate Charlene Gomes who earned an average of 98.50 percent. Charlene will be studying Life Sciences at the University of Toronto.

TCDSB Welcomes New Student Trustees Allison Gacad, a grade 12 student at St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School and Karina Dubrovskaya, a grade 11 student at Bishop Allen Academy, have taken over the reins from outgoing student trustees Christopher MacDonald and Hannah McGroarty. Both students have demonstrated leadership at the school level and through membership in the Board-wide Catholic Student Leadership Impact Team. The Board welcomes Allison and Karina and looks forward to their insights and opinions as the voice of our students. Allison and Karina will be officially sworn in as Student Trustees on September 10. Click here for more information on Allison and Karina.

Chaminade College School Grad Wins Gold at Parapan Am Games Congratulations to recent Chaminade College School grad (class of 2015) Jason Roberts! He won gold for Canada in men's shot put F32/33/34. at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto on Wednesday, August 12th, 2015. Jason has won many accolades on his journey to the Parapan Am Games 2015, including winning the discus and javelin competitions and placing second in the shot put at the 2014 Ontario Para-athletics Championships. He also won the Toronto Championships in the ambulatory 100m twice and represented Chaminade College at OFSAA. This season, Jason has set new Canadian records in his class: 22.04m in javelin, 28.95m in discus and 9.65m in shot put. His winning streak includes all three events at the Ontario Para Athletics Championships and Athletics Ontario Junior-Senior Championships as well as gold in shot put, silver in discus and placing fourth in javelin amongst all para throwers at his first Canadian National Championships in Edmonton this July. According to the International Paralympic Committee website, his personal bests place him amongst the top 10 F34 throwers in the world in all three events! He was recently recognized as CityNews Athlete of the Week: http://www.citynews.ca/2015/03/03/athlete-of-the-week-jason-roberts/ Congratulations, Jason!

Obeng Marfo finishes 4th at Pan American Jr. Games Father Henry Carr grad (2014), Obeng Marfo finished 4th in the Women's Discus event at the Pan American Jr. Games held in Edmonton, Alberta August 1, 2015. In September, Marfo will be a sophomore student at Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania where she is studying Human Kinetics! Obeng won 4 consecutive OFSAA Gold Medals & 3 Canadian Championship crowns while a student at FHC!

Young Canadian Track and Field Champion FHC's Khamal Stewart-Baynes, representing 'Team Ontario' in the Canadian Youth Track & Field Championships August 7-9, 2015 won 4 medals - 2 Gold - 1 Silver - 1 Bronze. Stewart-Baynes, a superb 15 year-old sprinter specializing in the 100m, 200m & 400m events will be entering Grade 11 at Henry Carr in September. Khamal was named the 'Most Outstanding Athlete' at the 2015 OFSAA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS held at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium June 4-6, 2015.

Henry Carr Hoop Stars at the Pan Am Games Henry Carr basketball players, 7'5" Sim Bhullar (Sacramento Kings) & 6'6" Dillon Brooks (University of Oregon) have been selected to Canada's Senior Men's National Team. The team will compete at the Pan Am Games in Toronto. Both have played for Canada's Cadet & Junior Men's teams in the past, but this will be their first stint with the Senior Men's squad.

Henry Carr Coach Paul Melnik was excited at the prospect of taking Henry Carr Basketball to the international stage, "As a community, we are very proud of Dillon & Sim: and we wish them all the best of luck in representing Canada at the Pan Am Games in Toronto!"

A third Crusader was expected to play for Canada; Tyler Ennis of the Milwaukee Bucks recently had minor surgery and was unable to commit. All of the men's basketball contests for the Pan Am Games will be streamed on CBCSports.ca starting July 21. Canada tips off against Dominican Republic at 6 pm. Photos courtesy of Canada Basketball.

TCDSB Hosts ESL Summer Camps TCDSB welcomed 204 students from Korea and China who participated in two and three-week summer ESL camps. The programs taught by TCDSB staff, introduced children ages 9 to 15 to the educational system in Canada. While they studied the English language, they also had an opportunity to learn about Canadian culture and history, and visited many tourist attractions in and around Toronto. See more photos here.

Jean Vanier's ME/DD Summer School Program Students at Jean Vanier's ME/DD Summer School Program this July had a fantastic time. Over the last few weeks, our caring and generous staff helped to create a vibrant community of learning where students developed life, literacy, and numeracy skills. They also enjoyed fun activities which included Play Day, bowling, Crazy Hat Day and cooperative activities. They prepared for our Open House/Talent Show which showcased masks that they created as well as dances that were enthusiastically performed. See more photos here.

ESL Summer Program in Taiwan During the summer, 18 TCDSB staff members travelled to Taipei, Taiwan, to teach ESL to approximately 400 elementary-aged students. Staff were divided into two groups, with each group spending two weeks at one of four local schools: St. Peter Catholic High School, Guangjen Catholic Elementary School, Lanya High School, and Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School. The curriculum, written by TCDSB staff, covered ESL, Drama, Art and Phys. Ed. Each day was designed to allow students to receive lessons in all four subject areas and at the end of the week, staff hosted a parent/teacher conference to discuss the performance of their child while in the program. Click here to read the full story.

TCDSB students across the city donate their time to a variety of organizations through the Summer Community Service Program. Now in its 4th year, the TCDSB is once again running its Summer Community Service Program. Nearly 60 students are participating during the month of July at four locations in Toronto. With the leadership and support of Alex Mazzucco in Continuing Education and Sheila Gilkinson from Student Success, four teachers organize and meet with students daily at the Furniture Bank and Canadian Food For Children in the West, Tony Stacey Centre for Veterans in the East, and the Good Shepherd in downtown Toronto. Many students register for multiple weeks at a time, and several have returned to the program for another year, despite previously achieving their hours for graduation. Already this summer, students have completed over 1000 hours of volunteer service to their communities, and have no plans of slowing down. At the Furniture Bank in south Etobicoke, Jessica Skeath- Makxam teacher at Bishop Allen Academy CSS, and future students of Chaminade CSS learned what donations of gently- used furniture and houseware items can do for those who are clients of the organization. These include single mothers and children of abuse, refugees and newcomers to Canada, and formerly homeless individuals. Student- volunteers learned that there are many generous individuals in the city willing to make donations, but also that many clients are humble, hard- working and just want to become independent; a proper home is one big step to making this happen. Also in the West with Jessica Skeath-Makxam, Canadian Food For Children saw future Bishop Allen and Michael Power/St. Joseph students packing and loading containers full of food, clothing and household items bound for the poor and disenfranchised in countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Peru. These students learned that not everyone has access to clean water and a fridge full of food, or a roof over their head; if they can help even just a little, it is worth it. In the East end of Toronto, Rachel Thomas of St. John Paul II CSS continues to coordinate students from JPII and Notre Dame High School at the Tony Stacey Centre for Veteran Care. Students assist the elderly on walks, play games like Bingo with their partners during happy hour, and even entertain the residents by playing the piano. They continue to learn that they can make a difference simply with a smile and a kind word. Finally, in downtown Toronto, Maria-Elena Figueroa and Bradley St. Amant, both teachers at Neil McNeil High School, continue to assist the Good Shepherd in their ministries supporting the homeless with students from Notre Dame, Neil McNeil, St. Joe’s Morrow Park and St. Patrick. Students learn the importance of a warm and safe place to eat and sleep by preparing meals for 1300 people and beds for 90 homeless people on a daily basis. For all students and staff alike, what began as work quickly became meaningful, humble and life-changing experiences. Many insist they will return to these organizations in the future to continue to assist with the clients and build on the momentum these facilities have created within Toronto and around the world. Click here for more photos.

““IT STARTS IN THE SCHOOLS” is published monthly throughout the school year. Events, locations and times are subject to change. For more information, call 416-222-8282 Ext. 5314. This publication can be found on the Internet at www.tcdsb.org, see “news”.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board educates more than 92,000 students from diverse cultures and language backgrounds in 201 Catholic elementary and secondary schools, serving close to half-a-million Catholic school supporters across the City of Toronto. As the world’s largest publicly funded Catholic school system, we educate students in an inclusive learning community rooted in the love of Christ, where they are challenged to grow in grace and knowledge and to lead lives of faith, hope and charity. At Toronto Catholic we transform the world through witness, faith, innovation and action.

Toronto Catholic Schools September 2015

Toronto Catholic District School Board, 80 Sheppard Ave. E., North York, ON M2N 6E8 phone: 416-222-8282 website: www.tcdsb.org email: [email protected]