At the Board Meeting held on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 7 p.m., the Trustees: HEARD: A presentation about the PVNC Leading from the Middle initiative by Superintendent of Learning/Special Education Services Joan Carragher and Superintendent of Learning/Innovation Technologies Anne Marie Duncan. Leading from the Middle is leadership based on influence and trust, not on position or rank, and it has its roots in the gospel value of subsidiarity, which states that all social bodies exist for the sake of the individuals. In PVNC, we live leading from the middle through our collaborative, equitable processes in professional learning, school/board improvement planning, and tiered intervention to best meet staff and student needs. APPROVED: The proposed St. Mary Catholic Secondary School trip to France and Holland from April 6, 2017 to April 15, 2017, in principle. That any board trustee and/or student trustee wishing to attend the OCSTA Martyrs Shrine Pilgrimage taking place on April 30, 2016 in Midland, Ont. be supported to attend with the understanding that the board will support one night accommodation and that the trustee/student trustee is personally responsible for the cost of the registration fee. That the board authorize administration to complete a Waiver of Interest form regarding surplus property offered by Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB for: Ontario Street Public School, Bowmanville South Monaghan Public School, Bailieboro Cobourg District Collegiate Institute West, Cobourg - CONTINUED -
FUTURE MEETINGS AND EVENTS: STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS Regular Board Meeting March 22, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom Chairperson s Committee March 7, 2016 4:15 p.m. Director s Office Governance Committee March 21, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom Policy Development Committee March 1, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom OTHER COMMITTEE MEETINGS Accessibility for All Committee Feb. 24, 2016 1:15 p.m. Boardroom Audit Committee TBD 6:30 p.m. Seminar Room Catholic Parent Engagement Committee Equity and Inclusive Education and Family Life & Religious Education Committee First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Advisory Committee French as a Second Language Advisory Committee Special Education Advisory Committee April 18, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom Feb. 29, 2016 6:30 p.m. Large Boardroom May 17, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom April 20, 2016 4:30 p.m. Boardroom March 10, 2016 6:30 p.m. Boardroom STSCO Governance Meeting March 2, 2016 3:15 p.m. STSCO Offices Student Council Liaison Committee March 22, 2016 4:15 p.m. Seminar Room CONFERENCES AND EVENTS (chronological order) Catholic Leadership Development Series #2 - Called to Lead - Building Cultural Competence in our Schools. March 3, 2016 4 :15-6:30 p.m. Baxter Creek Golf Club OCSTA AGM and Conference April 28-30, 2016 Collingwood Catholic Education Week: Opening Doors of Mercy Catholic Student Leadership Awards Night Catholic Leadership Development Series #3 - Called to Serve - NET Ministries Catholic Parent Engagement Committee Recognition Event 2016 Canadian Catholic School Trustees Association (CCSTA) Annual General Meeting May 1 to 6, 2016 May 4, 2016 7 p.m. Holy Cross CSS May 17, 2016 4:15-6:30 p.m. Baxter Creek Golf Club May 25, 2016 TBD St. Mary CSS June 9 to 11, 2016 Yellowknife, NWT. To view this document on our website, go to http://goo.gl/mqimel
SPREADING MERCY The PVNC Cross of Mercy has been on the move, touring our Clarington schools and offering an opportunity to celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. T he PVNC Cross of Mercy continues its tour in Clarington this month, having made stops at St. Stephen, St. Elizabeth, St. Joseph, Holy Family, Holy Trinity and Good Shepherd schools. Crafted in the St. Stephen technology shop, the Cross of Mercy is helping PVNC celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Each school has organized events and ceremonies to receive the Cross and recognize the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation. At Holy Family Catholic Elementary School in Bowmanville, for example, the Cross made a big impact on the FDK class, said teacher Zandra Smith. "We talked about Pope Francis and what Mercy means and looks like to 4/5/6 year olds. We shared the story of the Good Samaritan. We talked of the ways we feed the hungry with our food drives and clothe those without by donating our old clothes, Smith said. Together we prayed the Our Father and HOLY FAMILY HOLY TRINITY the students were invited to touch the cross and make a promise to God to be kind and forgiving. Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Courtice began its week with the Cross with readings over the PA system about the Corporal Works of Mercy and prayer. During the week, Chaplaincy Leader Anne Heemskerk led talks and discussions about the Year of Mercy and a guided meditation about the Corporal Works of Mercy. The school s welcome sign reads: Give up hatred for Lent; be Merciful instead. After visiting Mother Teresa and Monsignor Leo Cleary in upcoming weeks, the Cross begins its journey in our Northumberland Family of Schools. HOLY TRINITY STUDENT VOICE "Mercy means having compassion; this resonated with me during the meditation." "Meditating on the Corporal Works of Mercy was calming for me." "The experience allowed me to focus on the needs of my elderly grandmother." "I was reminded of ways I have shown Mercy and ways I could do better to show Mercy in my life." ST. ELIZABETH/ST. STEPHEN
St. Paul Lakefield takes part in National Sweater Day If you re an Eco Superhero, the likes of which are seen roaming the halls of St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Lakefield, you have to do more than talk the talk. That s why Grade 7 Emma Wiggins and her peer Kaitlin MacMillan made their costumes out of recycled material. And that s why they spend much of their free time at school brainstorming ways to make their community greener. We stay in so many recesses to get these things done, MacMillan says. Soooo many, Wiggins adds. The two help lead the school s very serious Eco Club, which on Feb. 4 organized a school-wide initiative to embrace National Sweater Day. The Eco Club, which boasts more than 20 members from Grade 1 to 7, convinced school administration and the student body to turn the thermostat down for a day (hence the need for sweaters) as part of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) s national initiative. The club hopes their school campaign will encourage other PVNC schools to embrace National Sweater Day next year. And it s important to be able to give students concrete ways they can make even small differences, Wiggins explained. Especially at this age, a lot of kids don t think they can do anything. You know, they think we re young, so adults don t care, but we speak at assemblies and when the kids see that, they get excited and think oh, we can do that. Besides the Eco Superhero costumes and the Sweater Day, the club advocates for recycling, composting, gardening, shade mapping and car-free Wednesdays (once a month) at the school. I find it s very important. We do a lot of stuff here that actually makes a difference. I find it really interesting. It doesn t just benefit us, I mean it s fun for us, but it actually benefits the earth too, MacMillan said. The club s efforts have gone a long way in helping St. Paul Lakefield achieve a gold rating as an Ontario EcoSchool. (Learn more about all 12 PVNC EcoSchools here: http://goo.gl/jtkefk). The senior members of the club say they will be bringing the experiences learned at the St. Paul Eco Club as they look forward to high school in upcoming years. It is going to be really cool, because we already know so much about saving the environment. Most of us here, we tally car-free Wednesday, we do map-outs of the school layout to find shade, MacMillan said. That s really cool. I think that s going to help a lot, so when we try to bring eco to our next school, it ll be easier because we know what we re doing.
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PVNC students float above the pack St. Teresa CES earns two coveted spots at Skills Ontario competition St. Teresa Catholic Elementary School students returned with Gold and Silver medals from the Regional Cardboard Boat Races in Markham in late January. PVNC sent several teams to the event, which was one of several across the province as part of Skills Ontario Competitions for elementary schools. Teams from St. Teresa, St. Catherine, St. John, St. Patrick, Monsignor O Donoghue, Immaculate Conception and St. Dominic all participated in the event where teams were given two hours to build a boat out of cardboard sheets and duct tape. They had to race the boats 25 meters in a pool and then see how much weight it could hold before sinking. Both teams from St. Teresa placed in the top two. The Grade 8 team of Claire Corcoran, Sarah Ludgate, Nolan Burke, and Will Everson placed first (gold). The Grade 7 team consisting of Clair Diamandakos, Sophia Sokolski, Charlie Ens, and Nathan Twohey placed second (silver). The St. Teresa teams now qualify for the provincial championships in Waterloo on March 1, 2016. I am extremely proud of both teams, said coach Craig Smith, a Grade 8 teacher from St. Teresa. We put a lot of time and effort into our preparation and the students learned a lot about the essential skills necessary for success. Team work is a huge part of the challenge. Working together for a common goal is a skill that they will always need. They had a great time and they are looking forward to the provincials in Waterloo.
The Grade 8 students at St. Dominic CES in Lindsay have been learning about many significant historical figures as part of Black History Month. The students made posters and developed a better understanding of the civil rights movement and are now writing their own "dream" for our world today. St. Stephen CSS in Bowmanville welcomed actor Beau Dixon and his one-man play Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story. It is the story of an African Canadian who survived the historic mining disaster in Springhill, Nova Scotia in 1958. St. Elizabeth CES in Bowmanville welcomed the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda. Watoto Children s Choirs have traveled internationally since 1994 as advocates for the estimated 50 million children in Africa, orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS, war, poverty and disease.
FEBRUARY PHOTOS Students at St. John Paul II CES in Lindsay welcomed Metis drummer Adele Passmore and more than 30 drums on Feb. 19 as part of FMNI lessons for grade 3 and 5 classes. In the afternoon, the whole school got to take part. Grade 3/4/5 students at St. John CES in Kirkfield turned their study of Pop Artist icon Jim Dine into a creative Valentine s Day art exercise.