Clubs and Committees

Doctors of Tomorrow:

Doctors of Tomorrow Club, commonly known as DOT, is a new club at STL! Students who are interested in learning about the healthcare system, medical field, diseases, facts and worldwide healthcare related crises get to explore and further their knowledge in these topics. DOT’s goal is to inspire and prepare students who are interested in pursuing a future in the healthcare system. This year DOT has given the STL community a chance to apply to be a part of this year's club. After the selection of the executive members and club members, DOT has monthly meetings to discuss and learn new things. During DOT’s second meeting this year, members had to introduce themselves and talk about what medical interests they have. This was an effective icebreaker and way to get members to focus on something they care about. At our last meeting, members were given the challenge to have a debate regarding COVID-19 vaccines. This was a great way for students to improve their confidence, communication and listening skills. Also DOT was able to create breakout rooms where members got to plan and organize their positions and facts. STL's DOT club can be found on their Instagram @stldoctorsoftomorrow. DOT executives were given the task to create posts about health topics like blue light, anxiety, sleep and the importance of exercise. Also found on their Instagram are updates regarding the club. We recommend following this account if you are interested in joining next year! DOT looks forward to many more events and meetings taking place during the rest of this year. Some events planned include guest speakers (university students or health care professionals), kahoots, a trivia night and much more! DOT is a great way for students to get involved at STL and motivate students to be a part of the future of the medical field.

The Business Department would like to congratulate all students who participated in the first ever virtual DECA Provincials Competition from February 16th to the 21st.

Over the past few weeks, all 106 members have been working diligently to prepare for this year’s Oral and Written Provincials Competitive Events. Training groups met weekly in classrooms for their respective competition categories, including Writtens, Finance, Marketing, Business Management and Administration, Principles, Entrepreneurship, as well as Hospitality and Tourism. STL DECA was among 238 chapters who achieved ACHIEVEMENT level recognition this year and will be commended with a certificate and pennant from DECA Inc. Stay tuned for a virtual closing celebration as we conclude this year’s STL DECA Chapter.

The advisors and executive team could not be more proud of how hard everyone has worked!

Ms. A. Merenda

ESP/SOS:

Empowered Student Partnerships:

St Theresa’s Empowered Student Partnership (ESP) club has been very busy these past couple months. ESP has weekly meetings regarding upcoming events. ESP dedicates a week to a certain event or topic, and its members brainstorm ideas on how to inform the STL community about healthy lifestyle topics. These topics include, school safety, solutions to drug use, bullying, and much more. In December, we dealt with the dangers of drugs and impaired driving. In January, ESP dedicated a week to National Non-Smoking Week (January 18 - 22) where the harmful effects of tobacco and marijuana were outlined. Recently, ESP focused on Pink Shirt Day (February 24); STL students, whether in school or online, were asked to wear a pink shirt symbolizing anti-bullying. This was a success as many classes sent a photo of the students recognizing Pink Shirt Day! As well, every year ESP usually hosts a dog therapy day. This year ESP decided to keep the tradition, but instead the STL community was asked to submit photos of their pets and answer some questions on how their pet brings them happiness. ESP looks forward to posting the submissions in the upcoming week and hopes that the posts spread joy in our busy lives! ESP has been using the STL Instagram account and the STL app as their platform for all their posts. ESP looks forward to continuing its contribution to the STL community. Keep reading our posts STL!

Stomping out Stigma:

Stomping Out Stigma (SOS) is a part of the ESP/SOS club that focuses on spreading awareness and eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health. Over the past few months, SOS has conducted research, spread awareness, hosted events and discussed a myriad of topics. A key subject highlighted in our posts has been mental health. From discussing the causes and symptoms of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, OCD, mood disorders and eating disorders as well as putting out coping mechanisms and support resources, SOS has ensured that students feel heard, welcome, supported and never alone. Another essential issue that SOS has discovered and addressed is discrimination. Whether it be against women, people with different sexual or gender orientations, people of colour or any other minorities, SOS has highlighted memorial and international celebration days, such as the International Day for the Elimination of the Violence Against Women and talked about the importance of standing up for those who are marginalized as well as the importance of being inclusive and accepting. SOS aims to make a significant impact on the school and municipal community and strives to continue to eradicate stigma and promote acceptance.

Model UN:

STL Model United Nations Lead as Socially Responsible Global Citizens

Model UN is a simulation of the United Nations that allows student delegates to work with others to create a resolution that solves the issues present within the council and align with their country’s values. It is more than just debating; it builds character and confidence. Collectively, it allows students to improve on their leadership, public speaking, and problem solving skills. At the end of each conference, awards are given out to delegates that have stood out during the committee session. Overall, MUN is an excellent opportunity for students to think outside the box and connect with other students, as well as form friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. St. Theresa of Lisieux’s Model United Nations chapter has had a great start to their year. At our weekly meetings, over fifty passionate students come together on Google Meet and formally debate on a wide range of pressing world issues, such as the negative impacts of the critically acclaimed app “TikTok,” as well as the Rohingyan Refugee crisis. Through these meetings, a sense of community was formed amongst the chapter and has allowed us to grow stronger together. STLMUN has had to adapt over the past few months in preparation for their upcoming virtual conferences. Nonetheless, each delegate has exceeded our expectations and delivered amazing contributions to their debates. With the virtual setting, our MUN team has had the opportunity to attend international conferences and debate amongst students from all over the world. Over the span of three conferences, our team has represented St. Theresa of Lisieux with pride, capturing a total of nine awards! However, the year is not over yet, and the executive team is looking forward to continuing to proudly represent STL and the YCDSB .

In December 2020, STL’s Model United Nations Chapter hosted its first ever In-House Conference. The delegates debated on pressing world issues such as biological weapons and the effects of plastic on our environment. Each member demonstrated tremendous effort and dedication, which helped to make the conference a huge success. In February 2021, thirty delegates represented STL at the University of Toronto’s Model United Nations Conference. The conference usually runs over the span of four days in downtown Toronto. However, this year, it was conducted over Zoom. Regardless of the challenges the pandemic presented, every member displayed immense dedication, diplomacy, and respect, and five of STL’s members won awards in their respective committees. In February 2021, for the first time ever, STLMUN attended the North American Invitational Model United Nations Conference. NAIMUN is one of the oldest and most prestigious high school Model United Nations conferences in the world, and it is the largest conference held in the Western hemisphere. Thirty-one STLMUN delegates attended the conference, in addition to over 3,000 delegates from all over the world. Despite the extremely competitive nature of the conference, two of STL’s delegates won awards in their respective committees, and every single delegate worked hard to represent our school and our country on an international level.

In February 2021, STLMUN also attended the Western Model United Nations Conference held at Western University, one of the top universities in Canada. While the majority of the conference was solely for university students, five of STL’s delegates participated in a committee open to high school students. STL swept through the conference and obtained all of the awards for their committee despite being up against university students, evidently showcasing their hard work and debating skills. Finally, in March 2021, STLMUN will be attending Central Peel Secondary School’s Model United Conference and the annual conference the YCDSB organizes in May. The delegates will debate on topics ranging from the French Revolution to George Orwell's 1984, and even Grey’s Anatomy! Overall, STL is extremely proud of all of our delegates and is looking forward to a successful rest of the year!

Teacher Advisor: Mr. Saggese

MUN Executive Team: Brian Lee, Daniela Valenzuela Neto, Lauren Kim, Sabrina Arcuri

STLMUN In-House Conference Award Winners:

United Nations Environment Programme Best Delegate - Amber Dhall

United Nations Environment Programme Outstanding Delegate - Amelie Kolnik

United Nations Environment Programme Honourable Mention - Benson Ye

United Nations Environment Programme Honourable Mention - Apollo Cezar

United Nations Environment Programme Best Position Paper - Lillian Zhang

United Nations Security Council - Best Delegate - Sahej Saini

United Nations Security Council - Outstanding Delegate - Mark Maulucci

United Nations Security Council - Honourable Mention - Grace Avveduto

United Nations Security Council - Honourable Mention - Jonathan Stringer

United Nations Security Council - Best Position Paper - Miriam Youssef

UTMUN 2021 Award Winners:

European Central Bank Best Position Paper - Albert Li

United Nations Capital Development Fund Honourable Mention - Lillian Zhang

UN Women Best Position Paper - Miriam Youssef

International Labour Organization Best Delegate - Amelie Kolnik

International Labour Organization Honourable Mention - Hande Soran

NAIMUN 2021 Award Winners:

Third Committee SOCHUM Honourable Mentions - Amber Dhall

British House of Commons Honourable Mentions - Sahej Saini

WESMUN 2021:

SDG 13: Climate Migration Specialized Agency Best Delegate - Daniela Valenzuela Neto

SDG 13: Climate Migration Specialized Agency Outstanding Delegate - Sahej Saini

Sing for Harmony Club:

The Sing for Harmony Club, under the leadership of Neika Zawar, Ingrid Woo, and Alia Ginevra is comprised of students from grade 9-12 who have a love for singing, and a desire to share the joy of music with the community. Due to the Pandemic, live performance is not an option. These students have been meeting weekly to put together a virtual performance for the residents of Reena in Thornhill. They will be reaching out to L'Arche in Richmond Hill, and other long term care facilities that might benefit from the joy of shared music. Special mention goes out to the video editors, Cassiopeia Cruz and Katrina Khoury for the hours spent editing in order to create the finished product. Stay "tuned" for another virtual performance coming up in April!

Textile Design Club:

Textile Design Club is a club that teaches students useful life skills, such as crocheting, sewing, embroidery, and macramé. It provides many students with a way to relax after a long, stressful week of school. Over the past few months, students have dabbled in a few different crafts and created many holiday-themed decorations.

This past Christmas, students crocheted festive wreath ornaments to mark the occasion. Recently club members have been learning macramé and creating various heart-themed coasters and decorations to honour Valentine’s Day.

The club has fostered an environment that allows fellow students to indulge in the hobbies that they share as well as create a place away from the isolation caused by the pandemic.

Robotics:

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic posed numerous challenges and obstacles for STL Robotics to overcome. Here is how the Lions adapted to and overcame the challenging situation to create a stronger and more scalable network of passionate future pioneers of society.

The enforcement of social distancing rules brought about the shift towards online participation for robotics members through the use of Google Meets and social media such as Discord and Instagram. Weekly robotics meetings ensured the members’ participation, collaboration and ensured our team updated team members with the ever changing VEX Robotics Competition guidelines.

The building of each team robot had to be done at a team member’s house, with other members participating virtually to provide ideas and insight. The introduction of the stay at home order was especially challenging, as only one team member was able to compete at tournaments. However, with the help from family members and the virtual support from other team members, our teams were able to prevail and win competition after competition.

Our teams continue to impress with all competing teams having already qualified for provincials and one of our teams qualified for worlds! Our returning teams, the “82855G” and “82855Y” teams, have both placed first in competitions and have placed in the top three countless times. Currently, we sit 5th, 6th and 15th in the country, and we continue to climb the ranks and have taken a spot among the top 30 in the world (out of 2000Eli teams)! Our newest team, the 82855T team, consisting entirely of new members in grade 10 who have demonstrated their undying commitment and amazing skills in robotics, placed 2nd in one of their first ever competitions! STL’s X team has shown magnificent results with an impressive skills score of 146 points, helping STL secure all of the top three spots in the Caution Tape Finale Competition!

Go Lions!

Robotics will continue carrying the Lions pride while finding our path through the little way…”doing the ordinary with extraordinary love.” With pandemic restrictions slowly easing, STL Robotics has many great plans to further succeed and improve. Teamwork looks very different virtually, as many of our team captains are forced to build independent of their teams. Through these tough times, we have stuck together like a family, with our veterans helping our newest members learn the ropes. Although COVID-19 has created many unique challenges, it is obvious to the STL Robotics Team that nothing can get in the way of our goals. It is our intention to send multiple teams to the World competition this year. Although it will be virtual, we look forward to showcasing our teamwork and robotics expertise. We will continue to succeed, grow, and build a great name for St. Theresa of Lisieux CHS in robotics education and competition.