Monday, May 10, 2010
By JENNY YUEN, TORONTO SUN
OAKVILLE — After the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup last year, the students at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School were graced by its mighty presence — thanks to their gym teacher, who also works as a scout for the hockey team.
“The Cup was a rock star that day,” said physical education teacher David McNamara. “People kept saying to me that you’ll never win the Stanley Cup or be a teacher, so to be able to tell the kids and give them hope — my message to them is don’t ever let people tell you you can’t do something.”
The same inspirational message is carried throughout the Oakville Catholic high school through many of its diverse programs.
The school placed sixth among the Top 10 schools in the Halton Region, earning an 8.2 out of 10 in the Fraser Institute report.
St. Ignatius scored an 85% average on its academic math results and 56% on its applied, which were both above the board and provincial averages.
In Grade 10 literacy results, students scored 97% on tests, above the board average of 92% and provincial average of 85%.
“It’s a strong school that focuses on academics, but also developing the whole student,” acting principal Rocco Di Ianni said. “We have a lot of initiatives in the areas of literacy, numeracy, pathways that crosses the curriculum. More than that, we have a lot of initiatives start off right from Grade 9.”
In Peter Posocco’s Grade 9 to 12 jazz band class, 33 students are playing Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
“Most of our students come to the school without any prior instrument knowledge,” he said. “This year, we entered the Golden Horseshoe Music Fest and the concert band received gold and jazz band received silver.”
The hallways of this 27-year-old school are decorated with over 70 murals from visual art students past and present to liven up the atmosphere and show students what they can do when they accomplish their full potential.
Gives back
St. Ignatius is also a school that gives back to the community through its art. Since 2009, the school has raised nearly $2,000 for Sleeping Children Around the World by selling calendars depicting work from visual arts students. They have also sold colouring books with money donated to War Child Canada and Halton Women’s Place.
“It makes me feel like I’m giving back to the world — like my art has a further purpose,” Alex Irvine, 18, said.
The school is in the midst of a multi-million dollar renovation. In January, a new synthetic turf sports field was built, sporting the Loyola name. Di Ianni said there will be an additional 10 classrooms built near the back and a new cafeteria, new arts wing and new chapel will be finished sometime in 2011 or 2012.
“It was the first publicly funded Catholic school in Ontario,” he said. “The new field, we’ve been told, rivals the ones used in the NFL and the reason we put it in was because it gives students more time to be involved in extra-curricular because weather doesn’t permit us to be on natural turf.”
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jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca
