Feburary 2, 2016

On January 26, students from Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario (CSCNO) schools stood out at the North-Eastern Ontario Regional Elementary Cardboard Boat Race competition for elementary schools. Some 30 teams from various Northern Ontario communities met in Sturgeon Falls to measure their ingenuity. École Alliance St-Joseph (Chelmsford) students were dominant as they won both the gold and silver medals.

Both École Alliance St-Joseph (Chelmsford) teams stood out among competitors through its capacity to build a quick and sturdy cardboard boat. The gold-medal winning team’s vessel navigated a distance of 25 metres in 25.15 seconds and carried a load of 474 pounds. This team consisted of Danika Potvin, Megan Beaudry, Danika Aubrey and Vanessa Morris. The silver-medal winning team from Alliance St-Joseph, which benefited from the expertise of Cloé Arsenault, Jenelle Frappier, Émilie McTaggart and Megan Boulard, had a time of 29.75 seconds and its boat supported a load of 533 pounds.

As North-East Ontario gold and silver medal champions, École Alliance St-Joseph students will travel to Waterloo to take part in the Elementary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races on March 1. Also competing will be the squad from École Saint-Joseph (Wawa), the North-West gold-medal winning team. Another CSCNO teams will also travel to Waterloo. École secondaire catholique Jeunesse-Nord (Blind River) will take part in the Secondary Provincial Cardboard Boat Races on March 2.

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: École St-Étienne (Dowling), École catholique Georges Vanier (Elliot Lake), École Ste-Marie (Azilda), École St-Thomas (Warren), École St-Antoine (Noëlville), École Notre-Dame-du-Sault (Sault Ste Marie) and Collège Notre-Dame (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 learning environment and 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
Interim Assistant Director of Communications and Community Development
Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario
(705) 673-5626, ext. 294
(705) 677-8195 – cell phone