Grade 8 students had the opportunity to participate in writing workshops with the Canadian bestselling author of "Words That Start With B".  Now working in publishing and with 4 novels under her belt, Vikki spoke to students about the process of getting published and the publishing industry in a modern world.  She conducted a series of writing exercises with the students, and gave many tips to our aspiring writers.  Thank you, Ms. VanSickle, for an inspiring morning!

STA's Life Skills Students recently enjoyed an all day Special Olympics Bocce Tournament in Cornwall.
Both students and staff had a great time. Pictured below are Samatha Denis Faubert, Patrick Green and Connor McLeod displaying their skills.

Over the March Break some staff and students from STA toured Italy for 11 days. The trip included stops in Venice, Florence, Assisi, Sorrento, the ancient city of Pompei, the beautiful tourist attraction of Capri and Rome. Pictured below are Mrs Zurawski and Ms Landry and a wonderful group of students and parents infront of the ancient ruins in the Roman Forum. Mrs. Zurawski and Ms. Landry would like to thank the CDSBEO and all students and parents who made this trip possible. We are extremely proud of our Ravens for their excellent behaviour and attitude in representing STA while travelling abroad!

STA Staff and students alike joined in the fun of cheering the Canadian Women's Hockey Team to Victory in their Gold Medal match against the United States. We were so proud to wear our team colours and cheer on our girls just as many of us repeated on Sunday, from home cheering on the men to Gold as well. Go Canada Go!

On Monday, January 27, the Grade 7 and 8 students at STA celebrated Family Literacy Day with an afternoon of activities following the theme “15 Minutes of Fun!”

During the afternoon, students experimented with static electricity, investigated different ways of cleaning up an oil spill, solved a mystery, and transformed their writing into visually striking word-clouds! In addition to participating in activities at school, students were then encouraged to take home a learning activity to share with their family.

Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family.

The 7&8 Millenium Robotics Team is still reeling from their incredible experience at the FIRST LEGOLeague Provincials held in Oshawa on January 18.

Out of the three presentations the team was required to make, they got call-backs (reserved for the best of the best) in two of the categories: robot design and core values. Other teams have competed at this level for years without ever receiving a call-back. This was a sign the team was potentially in the top 5 of 40 teams.

 

The robot competitions were in the afternoon, where teams competed with the LEGO robots that they had designed and programmed to complete specific missions on a game board. The team's goal was 300 points in a round and they made 347! They came 11th out of everyone, which put them into the playoffs!!!!

 

To make a long and amazing story short, they made it to the third round of playoffs (top 4 in the province) for robot rounds!!! Incredible!  Our students conducted themselves with admirable leadership, team-building and spirit throughout a very busy, emotional and exhausting day.

 

In the awards ceremony, these super stars received the Rising Star trophy (made of Lego, of course)!  For their first year at Provincials, these students made a lasting and positive impression on the judges and coordinators of the event.  The team is fuelled by their success, and are very much looking forward to building on what they have learned for next year's competitions.

The Knights of Columbus recently held a poster contest and grade nine student Matthew Aspec's Drug and Alcohol Abuse poster won for the whole Ottawa Area. Matthew received a plaque and a cash prize for his efforts. STA is very proud of you, Matthew!

On Friday, November 29th STA hosted their annual sports day with the  Movember Dodgeball Tournament. Both students and staff alike participated in the event to raise money for male cancers. Congratulations to all participants and special thanks to Mr.&Mrs. Longval for organizing this event with the help of student council.

The STA Varsity Girls Hockey Team participated in the 8th annual Capital High School Hockey Tournament held at the Sensplex, November 25-26. They succeeded in capturing 3rd place by beating the Holy Trinity Tornadoes by a score of 7-3. Emily Spence scored 5 goals in the final game and was named game M.V.P. Helen Markovic finished with 8 points, which was a tournament best. Congatulations girls!

Congratulations to Mr. Brooks and the Junior Girls Baskettball Team for winning the EOSSA Championships. The girls played extremely well. We are so proud of our Ravens!

Congratulations to the Junior Girls Soccer Team for winning the Prescott-Russell Title. All girls played extremely well. Emily Spence scored both goals while Maddie Leavitt and Sarah Bolduc played great defensively. Dana Dore played well in goal making some key saves for the team. The girls head off to EOSSA in the spring to represent STA. Special thanks to Mr. Benoit for coaching the team. Go Ravens!

A great season for the Senior Girls Soccer Team who finished with a record of 5 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. Great season girls! Special thanks to Mr. Soares for giving up your time and dedication into coaching the team.

Farm Credit Canada recently commented on the efforts of staff and students in raising over 6,000 lbs of food for the local food bank. "The 2013 FCC Drive Away Hunger program was a huge success thanks to all the schools that participated. This year over 6.5 million pounds of food was collected for food banks across Canada.”  That’s amazing! St. Thomas Aquinas CHS played a fantastic role in fighting hunger in our community.

On October 10th, Grade 7 & 8 Students hosted a special event in honour of the United Nations International Day of the Girl. Girls in grade 7 & 8 participated in a Help Lesotho "Pearl Bee," where they made pearl bracelets that will be sold to help raise funds for girls education in Lesotho, Africa.

St. Thomas Aquinas Senior Girls played St. Francis Xavier on Wednesday, October 16th on home court. Pictured below is Gr. 12 Student Tamara Hamilton contemplating the play. The Senior girls beat St. Francis Xavier 39-13. The Junior Girls team also played well beating St. Francis by a score of 47-17. Congratulations to both teams for their tremendous effort. Go Ravens!

On September 20th 2013 Staff and Students at St. Thomas Aquinas celebrated International Peace Day with a student assembly that focused on the need for national and international measures of peace and non-violence. Pictured below are Unity Team Teacher Members Mrs. Helen Zurawski and school chaplian Mr. Chris Vonesch with Unity Team Members, including Zachary Bertinato, Unity Team Leader with guest speaker Genevieve Gallant from the Development and Peace Organization.

Grade Eleven Students Jessica Hart and Zachary Bertinato along with student volunteers from Gr. 7&8 are pictured loading the trucks for STA's donation of over 6,000 food items to the local foodbank. Way to make us proud, Ravens!

Students and Staff at STA celebrated their annual Thanksgiving Mass on Wednesday, October 9th. Special thanks to Ms. Landry's Grade 12 Religion Class for the beautiful decorations and to Father Paul for leading the celebration.

Thanks STA! Miss Landry's Grade Twelve Religion Class is pictured with all food items collected by students and staff at STA. Students raised over 6,000 food items for the local food bank.

Thanks to a strong effort by the Ravens, in the second half which included two rushing touchdowns by Jedding Turcotte, the Ravens rallied from a 20 point deficit to give TISS a mighty scare. Though the Ravens eventually lost the game, they treated the home crowd to spirited performance.

Gr 12 Student Football players Broedy Peake and Patrick O'Neill try to gear up student spirit at the Pep Rally held on Friday afternoon.

STA hosted their first Pep Rally Friday, October 4th 2013. Pictured below are members of the Senior Boys Football Team and Gr. 12 Student Victoria Pizzamiglio who is the 2013-2014 Student Council Spirit Chair. Go Ravens!

The STA Golf team captured their third consecutive PRSSAA golf championship at Hawkesbury and will represent the region at EOSSAA in Pembroke.  Left to right are Brady Harris, Andrew Harding, Joey Ladouceur, Brendan Harris and Tyler Tribble. Thank You to Mr. Beacom for coaching the team.

The Senior Girls Basketball Team took the win last week in their game against Rockland High School. Pictured is Gr. 12 student Theresa James working hard.

Staff and Students of St. Thomas Aquinas enjoyed the annual welcome back barbeque prepared by the prom committee. Special thanks to M&M Meat Shops for providing the burgers.

Welcome Back Students and Staff to the 2013-2014 school year! Our Link Crew made up of Grade 11 and 12 students did an outstanding job welcoming Grade 9 students during the orientation on August 28th. Orientation was well attended by grade 7 and 9 students last week.