By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Last week, the Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) held one of their bi-monthly Board of Trustees meetings and discussed many items relating to the board, which included details on a holiday competition emphasizing the religious origins of Christmas.
Amanda Bartucci, the board’s communications officer, introduced the only presentation to trustees at the meeting, focused on the “Keeping Christ in Christmas” competition that HCDSB holds annually.
Bartucci introduced the finalists for the 12th annual contest.
“We continue to be in awe of both the amount and quality of submissions we receive each year,” Bartucci said. “And since 2013, we have received over 4600 student entries, and over 62,600 online votes have been placed. All student finalists of the contest have joined us here tonight, along with their parents and families, all justifiably proud as they should be.”
Juliana Gligoric, of the strategic communications department, spoke about the expansion of the contest to raise money for a local charity.
“As many of you will remember, in 2018, we took the Keeping Christ in Christmas initiative to the next level by using student artwork to create Christmas cards, which were offered up for a donation with proceeds supporting families in our community through the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul,” Gligoric said.
Since 2018, HCDSB has sold over 2800 cards, raising over $38,000 for the charity.
Students could submit their art from November 1 to 20 and pick from four different categories of submissions to make: traditional artwork, original songs, short videos, and short stories or poems. HCDSB received over 330 submissions this year.
Bartucci spoke about the judging process.
“Student submissions were reviewed separately, and the judging panel did not receive any personal information about students,” Bartucci said. “For example, name, age, home, school, etc., or any additional information that would influence the selection process. The judges reviewed all of the entries and narrowed down the submissions to 12 entries.”
The 12 submissions were taken from four different groups: three from kindergarten to grade 3, three from grades 4 to 6, three from grades 7 to 8, and three secondary submissions from grades 9 to 12. A winner was selected from each group.
The 12 submissions were then posted on the board’s website and were voted on by staff, students, parents and other members of the community; 5000 people voted in this year’s contest. All finalists received a gift for making it to the final 12.
The contest was sponsored by both the elementary and secondary Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association. The presidents of both associations, Tara Hambly (elementary) and Vanessa Slee (secondary), said a few words before the top prize winners were announced.
“Every year it is such a great honour for us to sponsor this contest, where we get to showcase all of the wonderful talents of all of our students,” Hambly said. “We are so proud of each and every one of you for all of the work that you’ve done.”
The four winners from each category were Kinley Gunn, a grade 2 student from St. John The Baptist for her original song; Jisael Ann Jubin, a grade 4 from the Sacred Heart of Jesus for her short video; Adelina Marcuzzi, a grade 8 student from St. Nicholas for her short story; and Mack Watson, a grade 11 student from St. Kateri Tekakwitha for his painting.
Bartucci concluded the presentation by thanking all of the participants in the contest.
“Since its inception, the Keeping Christ in Christmas contest has continued to grow and flourish,” Bartucci said. “Each year, we continue to be amazed by the enthusiasm and incredible talent we see in each of the submissions.”
