Catholic Education Week 2016

Catholic Education Week 2016: Opening Doors of Mercy

Catholic Education Week 2016, May 1-6, was a busy but incredibly energizing week for me.  My week began, on Monday, May 2, with a visit to St. Daniel School to be one of several guest readers, along with Mayor Jim Watson.  I was able to share my life-long commitment to reading with both a grade 6 and a grade 4 class.  In the grade 6 class, I chose an excerpt from Ottawa Catholic teacher Caroline Pignat's award-winning book Greener Grass.  The students in this class seemed very engaged and asked plenty of questions about the Irish potato famine.

I selected a great book, Greener Grass by All Saints teacher Caroline Pignant, for my oral reading at St. Daniel.

I was welcomed to the school along with the other guest readers. 

The next day, I stopped by 2 of my schools, St. Andrew and Monsignor Paul Baxter, in the morning. There was a huge turnout of parents early in the morning at St. Andrew for its annual Catholic Education Week Muffin Breakfast.  The student ambassadors on hand were encouraging parents and guests to tweet their pictures of the student work on display and their comments to the school's Twitter handle @St.Andrew_Barrhaven.  I was impressed to see at Monsignor Paul Baxter that the school had exceeded its Canned Food Drive goal in support of the Barrhaven Food Cupboard.

Impressive Canned Food Drive Results at Monsignor Paul Baxter

St. Andrew Muffin Breakfast Banner

That same day, I attended the student conference entitled Making Goals Happen at St. Nicholas Adult High School.  The program included an interesting keynote address by Tim Pychyl on Procrastination.  It also featured workshops on topics such as budgeting, healthy eating, and "Staying Safe on The Internet".

'Making Goals Happen' student-led conference agenda

That night, I had the honour once again to emcee the presentation of the Director of Education Commendation Awards, which immediately followed the annual Catholic Education Week mass at Notre Dame Basilica.  Archbishop Prendergast celebrated the mass and posed for pictures with the 30 Ottawa Catholic School Board employees who received awards.

Proud recipients of Director of Education Commendation Awards

As MC for Director of Education Commendation Awards

Wednesday, May 4 was a somewhat quieter day with just 2 school visits in the morning to Open Houses at St. Anthony and St. Luke Nepean.  The student displays I observed at both schools were most impressive.  At. St. Anthony, I was struck by the students' commitment to the environment, while at St. Luke, I was inspired by the Entrepreneurial Adventure project selected by the grade 2/3 class - marketing jewelry, with proceeds going to CHEO.

St. Anthony Cares for God's Creation

'Joyful Jewellery' Entrepreneurial Adventure (for CHEO) at St. Luke

Thursday, May 5 was my busiest day in terms of school visits.  The day began with early morning visits to Open Houses at Our Lady of Fatima and St. George.  There was a great display at Our Lady of Fatima of the grade 3 students' First Communion and First Reconciliation journeys.  At St. George, an entire half of the gym was transformed into a student Math Museum.

Late morning then took me to St. Elizabeth School for its annual Artr4geous.  This is a unique and most impressive art show featuring works by every student attending the school.  Parents and other guests were invited to buy the student works of art as a fundraiser for the school.

On Thursday evening, I attended the Open House at Mother Teresa High School, which featured displays of student projects, including some incredible ones on Black History Month and the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death.  There was also a barbeque.  My day concluded at Notre Dame High School, where I participated in the community potluck dinner and enjoyed an excellent student talent show.

At Mother Teresa Catholic Education Week Open Hous

I made one last school visit on Friday morning, May 6 - to Dr. F. J. McDonald School for its Innovation Station period.  The hi-light during this visit was watching primary students programming the Dash & Dot robots and Lego WeDo soccer kickers.  

L. Dash & Dot       robots

2. Lego WeDo soccer kickers

 My Catholic Education Week concluded back at Notre Dame High School on Friday afternoon as I watched the annual Choral Celebration, which featured many Ottawa Catholic elementary schools' choirs.