Features

{mosimage}There’s plenty of blame to go around in the furor at St. Jerome’s University , and it’s going to take the Christian value of forgiveness to get the small, Catholic liberal arts college back on track, according to a consultant who spent two months investigating the university’s troubles.

“The Gospel values that are included in the mission statement are a very good reference point for everybody in this particular exercise. Some part of that involves good Christian value of forgiveness,” Ken Snowdon told The Catholic Register.


L'Arche's 'laboratory for living'

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{mosimage}RICHMOND HILL, Ont. - L'Arche is important if we think our humanity is important. It's founding principle and most basic commitment is L'Arche founder Jean Vanier's idea that we can be more human.

L'Arche Daybreak , the second of 130 L'Arche communities worldwide and the first established in North America, turns 40 this year. The community will celebrate this milestone with a May 12 gala at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts just down the street from the community's eight houses, its Dayspring Chapel and all its programs.

Students aim for zero waste

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Students at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School spread the word about striving for a world of zero waste through a Grade 5/6 play called What a Lot of Garbage on April 27.

The students presented the play before parents, friends, local politicians MPP Laura Albanese and City Councillor Frances Nunziata and Director of Education Ann Perron.

The play was a dialogue between a reporter, a student, Mother Nature, garbage, businessmen, the government and more as they travel through time to see the effects of human actions. 


Manuel Cordeiro earns Ontario Premier teaching award

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Comics books and D-Day simulations aren’t the standard teaching tools.

But for teacher Manuel Cordeiro, it’s these unconventional methods of boosting students’ reading and analytical skills which have garnered him a Premier’s Award of Teaching Excellence as a new teacher.

Cordeiro is a social science teacher at St. Edmund Campion High School. He began teaching at the school in October.


Parents rescue Holy Name of Mary School

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Ontario’s only private Catholic school for girls in Grades 5 to 12 was going to be the latest casualty of the economic crisis.

But a group of parents has come up with a plan to keep the doors of Mississauga’s Holy Name of Mary College School open.

Parent Dan Giampuzzi said when the school announced in March that it was going to close due to low enrolment, he and three parents came together to try to save it. They proposed lower tuition rates, more funding for bursaries and financial assistance and a new Grade 5 and 6 class for parents who wanted to send their younger children to the school. And $300,000 was also raised.

Code of conduct recommended for Ontario school trustees

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Ontario’s education minister should establish a provincial code of conduct for all school boards, says a new report .

In its April 22 report, the Governance Review Committee recommended that the minister consult with trustees or trustee organizations to set a minimum code of conduct for trustees.

While noting that many school boards already have policies on ethics or conduct for trustees, the committee said creating a uniform code of conduct would “ensure some level of consistency across the province.”


Ontario Catholic Education Week extends beyond class

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{mosimage}Parishes across Ontario are being invited to support Catholic Education Week by getting involved with school activities, reflecting on the significant contribution made to the church and to society by Catholic education and by participating in prayer celebrations being held across the province.

The week of May 3-9 has been designated as Catholic Education Week in Ontario, but the celebration extends beyond classrooms. Parishes are being asked to include a notice in Sunday bulletins to invite parishioners to become involved.

Ontario Trustees to meet May 7-9

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{mosimage}TORONTO - Catholic faith plays a key role in student success, says American education researcher Fr. Ronald Nuzzi.

Nuzzi, director of the University of Notre Dame University’s Alliance for Catholic Education, will be the keynote speaker at the 79th annual conference of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association. The conference’s main theme is “Catholic Education — Good News for All.” It is scheduled from May 7 to 9 in Toronto.

Former Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Oliver Carroll must pay for legal fees

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{mosimage}TORONTO - A judge has ordered former Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Oliver Carroll to pay close to $50,000 to help cover legal fees of the ratepayer who brought conflict-of-interest charges against him.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly ruled on April 15 that Carroll must pay $46,420 within six months. The amount will cover some of the legal costs of Catholic ratepayer Michael Baillargeon who brought the charges against Carroll.

Toronto Board trying to save St. Joseph's Morrow Park

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TORONTO - When Grade 12 student Vanessa Tillner graduates this year, she could be one of the last students to do so at the original site of St. Joseph’s Morrow Park High School.

Next year, the school celebrates its 50th anniversary at its Bayview Avenue site in the northern reaches of the city. But the Toronto Catholic District School Board says if the school’s current lease isn’t renegotiated, there will be a new all-girls school for future graduates.

Code of conduct not necessary, say Ontario trustees

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{mosimage}TORONTO - The conduct of school trustees is an issue that has dogged Ontario’s largest Catholic school board for the past year.

But as a provincial governance review committee considers a mandatory code of ethics and conduct, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association says these types of codes should be voluntary.