Provincial education minister tours new Sudbury, Ont. school, announces STEM investment with Science North - Action News
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Provincial education minister tours new Sudbury, Ont. school, announces STEM investment with Science North

Ontario's education minister made two stops in Sudbury, Ont., one at a new school and another to announce a new investment for STEM learning across northern Ontario schools.

Stephen Lecce made stops at the new Lasalle Elementary School and Science North on Thursday

Education minister Stephen Lecce takes part in an interactive soldering lesson as part of his Science North tour in Sudbury, Ont. on Thursday.
Education minister Stephen Lecce takes part in an interactive soldering lesson as part of his Science North tour in Sudbury, Ont. on Thursday. (Erika Chorostil/ CBC News)

Ontario education minister Stephen Leccemade a trip to Sudbury, Ont. on Thursday to announce a new investment with Science North.

However Lecce toured the brand new Lasalle Elementary School first, which is set to open this September for students from kindergarten to Grade 6.

Lasalle Elementary will be the Rainbow District School Board's (RDSB) latest French immersion school.

Lecce participated in a ribbon cutting as part of his tour, which showcased some of the 19 additional classrooms, a gymnasium and new library.

"Alot of small communities, rural communities, northern communities over many years have faced school closures, so it's brilliant to see a net new school being added to the roster," Lecce said.

"It's going to create a lot of opportunity for young people and frankly motivate them to get to school knowing that they're in the best learning space they have in the region."

Left to right - Lasalle Elementary School principal Jim Wachnuk, superintendent of business Adam Guilbault, RDSB chair Bob Clement, Education minister Stephen Lecce and director Bruce Bourget take part in a ribbon cutting at the upcoming Lasalle Elementary School in Sudbury, Ont.
Left to right - Lasalle Elementary School principal Jim Wachnuk, superintendent of business Adam Guilbault, RDSB chair Bob Clement, Education minister Stephen Lecce and director Bruce Bourget take part in a ribbon cutting at the upcoming Lasalle Elementary School in Sudbury, Ont. (Erika Chorostil/ CBC News)

The building, attached to Lasalle Secondary School, will incorporate about350students from Ernie Checkeris, Carl A. Nesbitt and Wesmount Avenue public schools which all closed in June.

Lecce then travelled to Science North toannouncea $300,000 investment which will support hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning across northern Ontario.

The SPARK education program will be developed by Science North in a series of interactive and virtual lessons for teachers to use.

The experiences will also be offered at no cost to all 18 school boards across northern Ontario and engage almost 100,000 students.

"It can be the smallest villageor the biggest town up north, I want every child to have equal opportunity when it comes to accessing scientists, science educatorsand the curriculum," Lecce told CBC Sudbury.

He added the investment, delivered through Science North, would modernize skill sets for financial literacy, coding and robotics to fit future job requirements.

A statement from the province detailed howScience North willcreate programming for monthly live streamedshows for students anddaily virtual workshops on a variety of career-focused STEM topics with staff.

Starting in September, 26 lesson plans will also be offered on Science North's education resource site forall Ontario teachers to use in their curriculums.

"One of the gifts of the pandemic was really allowing us to further evolve how we serve virtually," said Ashley LaRose, CEO of Science North.

She added the remote learning format from the COVID-19 pandemic helps the SPARK program reach students across northern Ontario.

"We'll get them excited through their schools and then hopefully they'll pursue those careers in science."

with files from Erika Chorostil