January 30, 2015

On January 27, students from Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario (CSCNO) schools won the gold and bronze medals at the North-Eastern Ontario Regional Elementary Cardboard Boat Race competition for elementary schools. No less than 28 teams from various Northern Ontario communities met in Sturgeon Falls to measure their ingenuity. École Alliance St-Joseph (Chelmsford) won the gold medal while École Ste-Marie (Azilda) earned the bronze medal.

École Alliance St-Joseph (Chelmsford) stood out among competitors through its capacity to build a quick and sturdy cardboard boat. Not only did the vessel navigate a distance of 25 metres in 19.28 seconds, it was able to carry a load of 545 pounds. The team from Azilda’s École Ste-Marie had a time of 32.60 seconds and its boat supported a load of 542 pounds. As North-East Ontario champions, the École Alliance St-Joseph students, as well as fellow medalists from Ste-Marie, will travel to Waterloo to take part in the Elementary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races on March 4. Two other CSCNO teams will also travel to Waterloo. École Saint-Joseph (Wawa) will also compete in the Elementary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races while students from École secondaire catholique Jeunesse-Nord (Blind River) will take part in the Secondary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races on March 5.

The competition, organized by Skills Canada for students from grades 7 and 8, requires each four-student team to design and build a boat. Students were evaluated based on the design and the construction quality of their boats, teamwork, organization, security, creativity, team spirit as well as the speed and resistance of their vessels. In addition to seeing the performance of their cardboard boats measured on water over a distance of 25 metres, the teams took part in a load challenge to determine how long their boats could carry a maximum number of team-mates without sinking.

The following CSCNO elementary and secondary schools also took part in the Regional Cardboard Boat Races regional competition: St-Étienne (Dowling), Georges Vanier (Elliot Lake), Saint-Joseph (Wawa), Collège Notre-Dame (Sudbury) and École secondaire du Sacré-Cœur (Sudbury).

The Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario offers a French Catholic Educational Program that is widely recognized for its excellence. The CSCNO provides a quality academic program that runs from early childhood to adult education, with some 7,000 students in 27 elementary and 10 secondary schools.

 INFO:              

Paul de la Riva
Communications and Community Development Coordinator
Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario
(705) 673-5626, ext. 294
(705) 677-8195 – cell phone