Prayer, celebration and remembrance was the theme of the day on September 25th at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. The school held their Memorial Walk in memory of Mackenzie Rooney, a student who died tragically in a ATV accident and Dennis Dechaine, a former teacher who lost his battle with cancer last year. The day started off with a live broadcast from KICX radio, a prayer service and zumba warm up by Zumbavibe. The 8 km memorial walk was an opportunity for students to celebrate the “togetherness” of the Bishop Carter community. The family members of both Mackenzie and Dennis participated in the event. The afternoon students enjoyed karaoke and a flag football team with the girls team competing againstt the teachers. It was an amazing day! Thank you to all the sponsor who helped in this event including the Sudbury Police, Tim Hortons (Val Caron and Hanmer), Neil Independent Grocer and Kings Sportswear. Proceeds from the walk go towards scholarships in Mackenzie and Dennis’ honour, KICX for kids campaign and other activities that support the interests of Mackenie and Dennis.
Category: Faith
Link Crew is Back at BAC!
Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School is the only school in the Sudbury area that participates in the North American Link Crew Program, a program whose purpose is to help grade nines feel more comfortable as well as help them achieve success in their high school years.
The Link Crew grade nine orientation and transition program is designed to both welcome and support grade nines by assigning them a senior Link Leader as a mentor. The Link Crew leaders attended mandatory training days in August where the students were trained by teacher coordinators. This preparation was put to use on orientation day, Thursday, September 4 as the now-trained leaders were confident in facilitating their small group instruction with the energetic grade nine students.
The Link Crew leaders and teacher coordinators are now focussed on planning some exciting events and academic activities for the grade nines to keep this momentum moving throughout the 2014-2015 academic school year.
Yellowfish Road at Bishop ACCSS
Bishop Alexander Carter is participating in Trout Unlimited Canada’s Yellowfish Road Program to educate and remind our community about their responsibility to reduce storm-water pollution.
Bishop students are taking a stand and becoming leaders in the community by informing people in the Valley about the pollution that enters our local bodies of water through the storm drains.
The students have painted yellow fish beside the storm drains near their school with the message “rainwater Only”. This is to remind community members of their responsibility to reduce storm water pollution which is one of the largest sources of freshwater pollution. People often forget that water from their drive-ways, yards and sidewalks, are washed into storm drains and re-enter our rivers, streams and creeks. This means that any chemicals used or spilled make their way to local fishing holes, beaches, well systems, etc. Students also hung yellow fish-shaped brochures on doors in the neighbourhood to better inform the public of these issues.
The City of Greater Sudbury also warns that an influx of water drainage from our residential homes may lead to flooding due to the fact that the storm drain system was never meant to filter out any hazardous chemicals/materials that homes may be washing down their drains. For the protection of all, household waste must be properly drained into the City’s Sewage system.
Sudbury Catholic Students Serving in the Love of Christ
On Wednesday, May 7th, students and staff at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School joined with Catholic Schools across the province to celebrate the Eucharist. What made this celebration even more vibrant was that students from St. Charles College, Marymount Academy and Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School were also part of the celebration. The theme of Catholic Education Week this year is “Serving in the love of Christ” and in his homily, Fr. Jim Hutton, pastor of St. Patrick Parish, reminded the students and staff of the importance of serving as Jesus did, to not count the cost and to not look for notoriety as we serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. A special message from Pope Francis was also ready to the students as he had sent a letter to be read to all of the Catholic students in Ontario during Catholic Education Week.
Bishop Students Walk for Mackenzie Rooney
The entire student body of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School has much to be proud of. Over the past couple of weeks, the students have rallied to kick off the Mackenzie Rooney Memorial Scholarship Fund. Mackenzie Rooney was a Bishop Alexander CSSS student who passed away last year. The students and staff wanted to do something in Mackenzie’s name to keep her legacy alive.
Beginning with a pep rally hosted by the New Hot 93.5’s G-rant – the students were challenged to raise $20,000, and proceeded to raise as much money as they could through a series of fundraisers and community canvassing. To end off the event, the students, joined by Mackenzie’s parents, participated in a memorial walk from the Metro parking lot in Valley East back to their school – approximately 8.3 km. All donning pink toques as it was Mackenzie’s favourite colour, the students were led by staff from Zumba-Vibe for a pre-walk warm up, and then the Greater Sudbury Police Services escorted the group back to their school. Once they had returned, the students enjoyed a barbeque and revealed the grand total raised to go towards the fund.
“For our students to have raised well-over $16,000 for this fund is absolutely incredible,” Cassandra MacGregor, Principal of the school explained. “The entire Bishop ACCSS community united together for a great cause, and I am so proud of their efforts. I am sure that Mackenzie would be just as proud. I am so privileged to work with such an incredible staff, and with such an enthusiastic and passionate group of students.”
Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School Principal “Arrested” for School Fundraiser
On Wednesday, October 23, Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School principal Cassandra MacGregor was taken away in handcuffs by their school liaison officer, Victor LaRoux. As part of the school’s memorial fundraiser for Mackenzie Rooney (a BACCSS student who passed away on August 6, 2012 at the age of 16), MacGregor was met at the school by LaRoux, handcuffed and taken to the Greater Sudbury Police Station and booked. MacGregor had to raise at least $1000 in order to be release as part of her own fundraising challenge for the fundraiser. By the end of the day, MacGregor suppassed her goal of $1000 by collecting $$1243.15 to add to the school’s collective total as the students and staff have been canvassing their neighbourhoods for the past week. The group is capping off this fundraising drive on Tuesday, October 29 with a entire school Zumba session in the Hanmer Metro parking lot and then just over an 8 km walk back to the school. The students will be joined that day by Mackenzie Rooney’s parents.
“Go Gators Go!”
Bishop A. Carter students showed their school spirit at their pep rally October 10th. The host of Hot 93.5 afternoon show, G-Rant, made a special guest appearance and cheered on the students. G-Rant brought his own energy to the pep rally as he challenged the students to raise $20,000 for a Memorial fund for Mackenzie Rooney, a former student who was killed in a tragic accident last August. Students will be canvassing the community to help raise money to reach our goal. A 8.3 km walk is planned for this event on October 29th.
Bishop ACCSS Trying to “Change the World”
Students at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School are trying to change the world. As part of her student’s Grade 10 Religion Class, teacher Shelley Raymond was inspired to get her class involved in the “Change the World” campaign. This campaign is a three week campaign for Ontario Youth, and is a challenge with one goal – to get secondary school students to volunteer in their community. To take part in this challenge, Raymond’s class decided on two different projects. On Thursday, May 3, they organized a school goalball tournament with monies raised for the CNIB. The second project involved a community wide clean up. The goal ball tournament was a huge hit with a school with all ten team spots immediately filled. Sudbury Catholic Specialist Teacher of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Adriano Simonato, helped with the organization and instruction on the rules and regulations of goalball. “One of the great benefits of goalball is that it promotes teamwork and cooperation among participants as all players are blindfolded” Stated Simonato. “Also, because goalball can be played by individuals who are sighted and visually impaired together, it acts as a medium for breaking down barriers. As a result it helps promote awareness within the school community regarding what individuals who are visually impaired can do.” Natalie Perdicou and Brittany Prosser were two of the students who were key in organizing the school’s “Change the World” events. Both girls felt that each element, the goalball tournament and the community clean up were excellent opportunities for Bishop students to join together to make their school and community better places to be.