High school lessons prepare baseball prospect for future

{mosimage}TORONTO - It was a school camping trip in Algonquin Park that helped baseball prospect Jerome Werniuk define his future goals and the leadership role he would like to take on in his life.

The 17-year-old Texas Rangers draft pick says leadership camps like the one he took with students from Toronto’s Neil McNeil High School have helped shape his outlook on faith, baseball and education.

Werniuk was the 604th player chosen in this year’s Major League Baseball draft.

Perfection is satisfaction for Bishop Allen Academy scholar

{mosimage}TORONTO  - It was a perfect year for Jana Cmorejova. The 17-year-old Bishop Allen Academy High School student scored the best marks in the Toronto Catholic District School Board, earning a perfect 100 per cent in all six of her Grade 12 subjects,

Cmorejova credits hard work and a passion for education as the keys to her success.

“I want to make a difference somehow in life, to make the best of what I can do and be the best I can be,” she said. “I believe that’s going to happen to me through education and university.”

Schools need to open up to community

{mosimage}TORONTO - When 11-year-old Madison Wood first started kindergarten at Toronto’s Our Lady of Wisdom Elementary School, her mother enrolled her at the school for a specific reason: an after-hours enrichment program featuring dance, drama and arts.

Pam Wray, 40, said Madison gained confidence after meeting students from different ages and participating in Irish dance, judo and the homework club.

St. Bonaventure's music program part of a well-rounded education

{mosimage}It’s been 10 years in the making. But for St. Bonaventure’s College music teacher Vincenza Etchegary, the sweet sounds of success for the school’s choir, wind ensemble and jazz band have paid off with a chance to play at a music festival at the famed Carnegie Hall.

“The difference between our students and some other groups was the conviction with which the children play and sing,” the 20-year teaching veteran told The Catholic Register from St. John’s, Nfld.

Toronto Catholic board supervision team resigns

{mosimage}TORONTO - After a challenging and controversial tenure, the provincially appointed supervision team for the Toronto Catholic District School Board has resigned.

In an Aug. 21 letter to Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne, the team led by Norbert Hartmann said it had accomplished part of its mandate in restoring the financial health and public confidence in the board. Last year, the board was in the middle of a trustee spending scandal and came under provincial supervision after it failed to balance its budget.

Richard Alway, president of the University of Toronto's Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies and chairman of the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation, will replace the supervision team.

Top high school students in GTA

{mosimage}The top three graduating students from Catholic school boards in the GTA.

Arrowsmith program cancellation sparks lawsuit

{mosimage}TORONTO - The head of the Greater Toronto Catholic Parent Network says it’s “appalling” that parents of some children with learning disabilities must file a lawsuit against their own school board in order to save a program their children need.

“It’s ridiculous for parents to be put in this situation,” said chair Murielle Boudreau.

Boudreau was responding to news that five parents with children enrolled in a unique special education program called “Arrowsmith ” launched a lawsuit in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court against the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Toronto Catholic trustees shut out again

{mosimage}TORONTO - An on-again-off-again public meeting of the embattled Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees is off again.

The Aug. 24 meeting at the Catholic Education Centre was abruptly cancelled by the provincially appointed board supervisor last week. But it had been rescheduled by Catholic school trustees John Del Grande and Rob Davis for Aug. 24 at the Toronto District School Board.

Higgins to leave St. Thomas University

{mosimage}Dr. Michael Higgins has set himself free from the daily struggles of running a university.

One of Canada’s best known Catholic writers and intellectuals, Higgins has tendered his resignation after three years as president of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B .

Ontario Catholic schools at top of class

{mosimage}TORONTO - Catholic schools are receiving top marks in Ontario, according to a new study.

In the C.D. Howe report “Ontario’s Best Public Schools, 2005/06-2007/08,” 10 of the top 11 schools, out of about 3,000 publicly funded schools, are from Catholic boards.

The study’s author, Wilfrid Laurier University economics professor David Johnson, compared the provincially standardized EQAO test scores of students from schools in similar socio-economic backgrounds.

Toronto trustees have plug pulled on Aug. 24 meeting

{mosimage}TORONTO - With the abrupt cancellation of what would have been the first public meeting of embattled Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees since January, parents have been “shut out” of sharing power with the board, say two trustees.

Trustees John Del Grande and Rob Davis had set up an Aug. 24 meeting at the Catholic Education Centre for trustees to meet with parent and Catholic community groups. But provincially appointed board supervisor Norbert Hartmann revoked permission for the trustees, working under the name Association of Catholic Trustees, to use the board's headquarters.