Notre Dame Construction's
​'Tiny Home Project'

Notre Dame's Construction classes have undertaken a very special project this year,  building Tiny Homes for Indigenous Reservations in Ontario's North.  

​Under the guidance of Mr. Nason (winner of Skills Ontario's 2022 Inspiring Educator Award),  and in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity,  Notre Dame students have built one tiny home,  to be used as temporary emergency shelters on the Chippewa's of Nawash Unceded First Nations Territory in Northern Ontario,  and will be completing a second home this term.​
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Each unit is a fully contained home,  featuring two sleeping areas,  a kitchen and bathroom.   Notre Dame students install all of the homes fixtures and complete the interiors from the ground up in partnership with community tradesmen.   Students learn to install windows,  ventilation systems,  lights,  plumbing and carpentry from this project,  while giving back to the community by helping those in need.

For more information and a tour of the inside of the home,  check out our video coverage of the Tiny Home,  featuring interviews with Mr. Nason and students in his Construction Classes

Notre Dame Celebrates
​Black History Month

PictureOlympian Neville Write spoke with Notre Dame students about his experience competing for the Canadian Bobsled Team.
By Tiana Kayemba
Black History Month is a time for us to learn more about the history of Black Canadians in Canada, and Black History all over the world. As Canada is a diverse country, with people of many different ethnic backgrounds, it is important for us to take some time to recognize the history of individuals who have shaped our country into what it is today. As we work toward recognizing Black History year-round, Student Council worked to put together a series of events to recognize Black History this February.

One of the highlights of our Black History Month Events was the opportunity to have 3x Olympian, Neville Wright, talk to us about some of his experiences. Mr. Wright spoke about his athletic journey, his disappointments, and how he was able to overcome his disappointments and adversity. He also gave us a chance to understand the values he learned throughout his journey, and the importance of a growth mindset. Neville Wright taught us that no matter who you are, or how you define yourself, it is important to persist and chase after your goals. He gave us the inspiration we needed to hear, and reminded us that in order to succeed, you will experience failure, but the important thing is to never lose hope, and continue to fight to achieve your goals. He taught us to remind ourselves “I CAN! I DO! I WILL!” to help us get through the challenging times we may face. We are very appreciative that we had the opportunity to work with Mr. Neville Wright in bringing this presentation to our students.
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Get Your Popcorn Here!
ND Life Skills Students
​ Become Entreprenuers! 

The students in the life skills classes at Notre Dame are often referred to as the "heart of the school." They prove this sentiment every day through their generosity and kindness to all. They are also very social and want to interact with all of the staff and students in the school. They decided that in order to be more present, they would start a business to generate money that would be used to better the school community. That’s when #NDLife was born. This business was created by the students who decided that selling popcorn during all lunches was the best way to meet their goals. They began by designing and creating their uniforms with the help and guidance of Mr. Nason’s daughter, Hailey Nason, who generously donated her time and resources. From there, they produced their advertisements in the forms of posters and announcements. On February 11, the business was successfully launched. Every member of life skills program had a role in set up, making and selling popcorn and the clean up process. After 2 very successful Friday sales, we have decided to reach our global community who are in need. This Friday, March 4,  #NDlife will be donating all funds from the popcorn sale to help out our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine. Large bags of popcorn are $4.00 and small bags are $1.00. Please come and support our life skills students in their endeavour to make a difference in the world.

#NDCREATES

At Notre Dame we have creative and skilled artists across many mediums, check out some of the work from #NDArt's Arts & Crafts students, and some digital wizardry from our students in #NDMediaArts!
Student in Mr. Piccoli's Media Arts classes answered the question "What are you into?" with the media arts collages above!
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Students in Ms. Tolan's ART SHSM created the pottery above at the Burlington Art Centre!
Click the image above for a closer look at these hand-woven tapestries,  and the artists who created them!

InsideND: En Francais!

Students in Mme Tayler's Gr. 9 French Geography Class (Immersion and Extended) were asked to choose "Un oasis canadien" / "Canadian Oasis" and explain its geographical and personal significance. 

Wellness @ ND

PictureClick to enlarge image
A message from Nicole Pietroiusti,  Notre Dame's CYC!

​During January and February, a lot of us feel the “winter blues” which is characterized by low mood, changes in appetite and a desire for more sleep.  The funny thing is, the more time spent doing nothing and hanging out by ourselves in our room or sitting on the couch and watching hours of TV, the less good we start to feel.  Our mood is negatively impacted when we get stuck in a pattern of not doing anything.  The getting active visual shows how having a daily goal of doing something for yourself can improve your mood.  So go for a walk, skate, toboggan, bake, build something, try to master that new sports trick, make plans to see a friend or create a new Anime character. Any positive activity you can do for yourself to get moving will start boosting your mood and getting you feeling better so you can beat the “winter blues”.  
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Phys Ed Update

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From Notre Dame's Phys Ed Head. Mr, Ferguson

​After our latest hiatus sports is back again:

Sr Boys Hockey: 5-0
Sr Girls Hockey: 4-0
Sr. Volleyball: 3-0
Jr Volleyball 2-1
Sr. Basketball 3-2
Jr boys basketball: starting to figure things out and will be prepared for playoffs. (my way of saying we are 0-5)

So 3 of our 6 teams are undefeated. 

Also Bantam boys basketball and volleyball have started up along with swimming and curling returning shortly.
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