CDSBEO Trustees Approve Balanced Budget for 2015-16 The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario s Board of Trustees has approved an operating budget of $165.9 million, and a capital budget of $4.2 million for the 2015-16 school year. All expenditure areas were carefully reviewed for efficiencies and to ensure excellence in Catholic program delivery for students across Eastern Ontario. Trustees approved the budget at the Board Meeting held June 16, 2015. Brent Laton, Chair, commended the group, "This budget will help to ensure that the 2015-16 year will be another successful year. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I extend my sincere gratitude for the work done by Executive Council, and the Finance Department. Director of Education, Wm. J. Gartland, was pleased with the report, The budget demonstrates that our staff continue to be dedicated to student success while remaining fiscally responsible with the Board s financial resources. I commend all of our staff for their dedication in serving the best interests of our students. The work being done in schools and at the system level demonstrates our commitment to excellence in Catholic education. Capital Projects The Board will also receive $1.7 million for School Renewal, and $2.2 million for School Condition Improvement, to help address the backlog of facility repairs and upgrades. Elementary Class Size The 2015-2016 financial estimates allow the Board to continue to remain compliant with the provincially mandated primary class size requirement as well as the aggregate class size requirements mandated for full-day kindergarten. Annual Certificates of Appreciation Celebrate CDSBEO Students Each year, the CDSBEO honours deserving students and staff through the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation. Awarded to remarkable persons with outstanding successes, the certificates were presented to twenty-five students at the June 16 th Board meeting. The following are this year s award recipients: Sara White, Holy Trinity CSS After suffering from migraines for a few years, Sara was diagnosed with a Rathke s Cleft Cyst (a benign growth on the pituitary gland.) She had surgery at CHEO in January to have the cyst
removed. The surgery was successful, but Sara has had to work through the side effects. She is a dedicated student who is committed to completing all her credits this semester while recovering from the surgery. Now that she is attending school more regularly, Sara is again very active in the Visual Arts department and helped with the school musical and the Drama Team production. Her commitment to both academic and artistic excellence have been inspirational to both staff and students. Emily Bray and Moira McClenaghan, Holy Trinity CSS In support of the Specialist High Skills Major in Arts and Culture, four teachers of Drama, Art, Music, and Dance worked closely together for over a year to prepare for and support 55 students in the production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The students wrote the original music for this one act play, art students not only created the set, but the costumes and makeup for the actors, and the play was student-directed. The cast then travelled to Hamilton in May to perform at the provincial Sears Drama Festival wherein Emily Bray received the provincial Award of Excellence for Direction, and Moira McClenaghan received the Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award. Jordyn Deveau Yurich (St. Joseph Catholic School, Toledo) and Celeste Fenn (St. Francis de Sales Catholic School) The Girl Greatness Award is the rarest and most prestigious award offered to members of the Girl Guides of Canada. The award is offered in four categories including: Courage, Confidence, Resourcefulness and Making a Difference. Jordyn received the Girl Greatness Award in the category of Confidence while Celeste received the award in Making a Difference. Only a maximum of 20 of these awards are handed out each year across Canada. Joey Brinkworth, St. Francis de Sales Catholic School A program rich in history, Youth Bowling Canada strives to provide a friendly, social and exciting environment for some 13,000 youngsters weekly across Canada. Joey represented the Southern Ontario team at the Canadian Youth Bowling Championship in Oshawa. Although Joey s team did not win the championship, he held the highest average of all bowlers throughout the tournament, while representing Team Southern Ontario. Charis Boland (St. Michael CHS), Arden Leahy (Holy Cross), Isaac Burns (St. Jude), Taryn McDonell (Mother Teresa), Mikaila Joanette (St. Thomas Aquinas CHS), Vincent Baron (St. Thomas Aquinas CHS) This group of students participated in Le concours et festival d art oratoire, which is an annual public speaking event for students in grades 4 through 12, studying French as a second language in Ontario schools. Le concours et festival d art oratoire is an opportunity to integrate public speaking into regular classroom activities, and to involve community
members outside the classroom for judging and administration of classroom and school level events. Each student won first place in his/her category at the Board level competition that was held in early April. All students went on to participate at the provincial event in Toronto in May. Heather Marshall, St. John CHS Grade 11 student, Heather Marshall is one of just 20 people to receive a Caring Canadian Award from the Governor General, his Excellency, David Johnston. Heather received this award in recognition of her outstanding and selfless contribution to volunteer activities locally and nationally, as well as abroad in Arizona/Mexico, Kenya and Costa Rica. In the summer of 2014 Heather was chosen to participate in the Youth Ambassadors Program with Canada. Upon completing the program Heather was responsible for planning and implementing a leadership project in her own community. Heather created the Environmental Club, Butterfly Effects. As part of this Club, Heather has created a design for a Butterfly Garden which will be built on school property this spring, and has raised $500 towards the cost of the garden to date. Courtney Doyle, St. John CHS Courtney competed at the 7th Annual Canadian Transplant Games held in Moncton, New Brunswick in July 2014. Courtney won gold medals in all five of her events (5k bike, 1k run, 50m backstroke swim, 50m butterfly swim, 100m freestyle swim). In her 50m backstroke race, Courtney beat the World Transplant Record time, which was set by a British swimmer in 2011. Courtney has accomplished all of this despite her life-long health issues. When she was one month old, it was discovered that Courtney had a kidney disease, and at the age of two she received a kidney from her father, Mike. Needing to stay exceptionally healthy, Courtney discovered The Perth Stingrays and swimming. Courtney joined the Stingrays Introduction to Competitive Swimming Program in the fall of 2011 and hasn't looked back. Calum MacKenzie, St. John CHS Calum travelled to the Ontario Winter Games to compete in the Special Olympics in North Bay, Ontario on January 29, 2015 in the snowshoeing category. Calum had the ultimate Olympic athlete experience, training extensively for his Ontario finals debut. Calum put forth a valiant effort and received a silver medal in the 800m, and the 100m races, as well as a bronze medal in the 400m race. Isabelle Fenn, St. John CHS The Canada Cord is a national award and is the highest honour that a Pathfinder can earn through the Girl Guides of Canada. It is given to those who not only complete the Pathfinder program, but who demonstrate extra initiative in the areas of Community Service,
Volunteering, and specific hours spent in developing leadership or camping skills. Isabelle Fenn received this prestigious award, of which only 20 are given each year. Sam Poole and Seth Willard, St. John CHS Sam Poole, along with Seth Willard, placed second in the Team Carpentry Competition at the Ontario Technical Skills Competition in May. Sam and Seth also placed first in Team Carpentry in the Eastern Ontario Skills Competition held in March at the Cornwall Campus of St. Lawrence College. Both Sam and Seth have assisted in numerous construction projects for St. John and have been excellent role models for other St. John students. Aidan Harps, Mother Teresa Catholic School For years now Aidan Harps has been working diligently to raise funds and awareness for and about the impact of Brain injuries. He has developed and supported local fundraising campaigns in the school and the larger community. Aidan recently spoke at the Brain Injury Canada Conference in Halifax. In his speech he was able to make realistic connections between his school, his faith and his community through his own experiences and journey. Aidan was awarded the very first Brain Injury Canada Youth Award. This award is open to all Canadian Youth who work at raising awareness of Brain Injuries in their Community. Ryan Earle, Holy Cross Catholic School Ryan Earl has a passion for Snow Cross Racing, which is the most popular form of snowmobile racing. This past winter was Ryan s second season competing in the Canadian Snow Cross Racing Association circuit. He is knowledgeable about the rules of competing safely, he is learning about the care of his machine, and his riding skills are improving steadily. Ryan received fourth place in the Rouyn-Noranda International Show Cross Grand Prix, third place in the Dayco Triple Crown Snow Cross, first in the 120cc Mini Champ in New York and fourth place in the Toronto International Snowmobile & ATV Power Sports Show. Ava Whiteside, Emma Ravary, Camryn Wells, and Sidnye Brownell, St. George Catholic School To help two fellow classmates with cochlear implants, this group of students decided to have a bake sale. The funds from the sale were donated for the purchase of new sound processors which would improve the performance of the processors in the implants, and increase their peers hearing by 20 per cent. A bake sale was organized by the students at the Long Sault Community Yard Sale that raised over $1,200, which more than covered the cost of the processors.
Samantha Peets and Jeremy Mallette, St. Joseph s CSS Samantha Peets and Jeremy Mallette won 1st place at the United Counties Science Fair in Cornwall earning them an all-expense paid trip to the Canada-Wide Science Fair held in New Brunswick in May 2015. Samantha and Jeremy s project was the creation of glasses with sensors to be used by people who are visually-impaired. The sensors detect obstacles for the wearer. They placed in the top 10 in Canada, received a gold medal, and are being encouraged to patent their invention. Sydney Taylor, St. Michael CHS Sydney is being recognized this evening for her outstanding dedication and contributions to the St. Michael Drama Program in both of her senior years (with approximately 500 extracurricular hours this year alone directing and starring in the school play). In addition to her devotion to the dramatic arts, Sydney was fittingly nominated for, and has been awarded the Theatre Ontario Certificate of Excellence, which is officiated by Theatre Ontario an organization which oversees theatrical productions across the province. These certificates are awarded to individuals who show diligence, excellence of participation, and outstanding commitment to the drama community at his/her school. Director of Education, Wm. J. Gartland, expressed his gratification, "It is always a joy to come together to celebrate the unique gifts of our students and staff, and their successes. I am very proud of their accomplishments. Board Chair, Brent Laton, also congratulated this year s winners, On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, I offer my congratulations to this year s winners, and offer my gratitude for being such wonderful ambassadors for our Board.