Each month, students also learn a virtue which is presented through the eyes of St. Josephine Bakhita.

Grade 6 teacher Barbara Paluch-Berthiaume, who organized the feast day celebrations, said St. Josephine Bakhita gives students an example about humility and caring.

“She knew her limits but that didn’t stop her from giving to people,” Paluch-Berthiaume said.

Students like Akhigbe learn about faith and cultural diversity not just by learning about their school’s patron saint, but also from their day-to-day interaction with each other.

There are nearly 600 students at the diverse school with families from nations like Laos, the Philippines and many from Africa and the Caribbean. Diversity is also represented in the teaching staff, with several from Africa.

One of Akhigbe’s close friends is Morayo Obembe. Both girls share more than their cultural ties with their parents’ homeland of Nigeria. Akhigbe says the class enjoys laughing together. It helps that their teacher Shane Boscoe is “funny,” she said.

“Learning different things about different countries is a good thing,” said Akhigbe.

Akhigbe’s favourite subject is religion because she “gets to know about Jesus.”

The eight-year-olds in Boscoe’s Grade 3 class also share lofty dreams. Nockeem Peck wants to become a police officer to “help people” and Jahleel McKoy sets his sights high on the basketball court.

After running exercises and dodge ball games in gym class, the kids pile into the classroom to learn about marriage in religion class. Boscoe uses the example of his own eight-year marriage to his wife Mary Beth and their two children, John and Jasmine, as a “special blessing from God.”

Boscoe, 35, tells students that if he didn’t go on to teacher’s college at the University of Guelph after graduating from Seneca College, he wouldn’t have met his wife.

“Everyone has a destination,” he said as students listened intently.

On St. Josephine Bakhita, Boscoe says she is good role model not just for the school community but also for young women. The saint’s example shows students that “women are capable of leading the community and the school,” he said.

As for what he’s learned from students during his first year at the school, Boscoe has gained an appreciation and understanding of diverse cultures.