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VOLUME 19 NUMBER 20
APRIL 15, 2015 CATHOLIC EDUCATION CENTER
ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS
Mrs. Chik receives St. Rose
Philippine Duchesne Award
CONTACT INFORMATION
Sue Brown
Director of Marketing
and Community Relations
E-Mail:
[email protected]
Phone: 314.792.7304
Fax: 314.792.7315
Cell: 314.479.1283
Twitter: @CatholicEdSTL
The Elementary Principals’ Coordinator
Council has announced that Mary Beth Chik,
Principal of Holy Spirit Catholic School in Maryland Heights,
will receive the 2015 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Award (formerly the
Elementary Distinguished Principal Award).
The award recognizes Mrs. Chik for her leadership in Catholic education. She will
be honored at the annual Elementary Principals’ Institute in June.
Coordinator Council Chair, Mary Chrapek wrote in her letter to all elementary
principals, “It is without question that the St. Louis Archdiocese is blessed with
highly-talented and dedicated administrators in its elementary schools. It is our
hope and expectation that recognizing one, who has achieved a consistent standard
and reputation for excellence, will serve as inspiration and a source of pride for
all.”
Editor’s Note...I have had the honor of working with Mary Beth as her principal
at St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic School, where she became principal upon
my departure, and remained until the school closed in 2003. She is a model of
spirituality and leadership by example.
STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, Mathematics)
STEAM (STEM + Arts)
STREAM (STREAM +
Religion) =
Best Practice
Catholic Education!
And, because I can, the rest of this page is
devoted to just one of Holy Spirit’s recent
academic fairs to which HS families and
parishioners are always invited. STEM is a
current hot topic in education, and HS held a
hands-on exhibit of the various classroom
STEM activities. (Read more in the April issue
of Catholic Family magazine. See top of page 2
for link.)
However, STEM has undergone an evolution,
in that some schools have incorporated the arts,
making it STEAM, and some, who can, have
added religion, making it STREAM.
At right, a family gathers around a robot being
controlled by the little one’s brother, a HS student. She recognizes her brother’s
face, and is intrigued by the image of him on the screen of the robot.
Already, she is hooked on science!
CATHOLIC FAMILY
TM
Trinity Catholic High
School chemistry class
magazine
Print copies will be delivered to schools
this week and next.
teams competed in the recent
Battle of Burets Chemistry
Contest at Southern Illinois
University-Edwardsville.
Senior Alan Scheibel (St.
Angela Merici) and junior
Xavien Walker (Hazelwood
West Middle) finished 10th out
of 17 teams; juniors Nicole
Jedding (St. Rose Philippine
Duchesne) and Yen Quach (St.
Norbert) finished sixth.
Each team had to perform a
chemistry experiment within a
time limit.
Trinity Catholic finished second
in the small school division of
the sectional round of the
Worldwide Youth in Science &
Engineering (WYSE).
And...Congratulations
to
Dan Grumich, Director of
Advancement at Trinity
Catholic High
School, who will succeed
Duchesne High School, host
of the semi-annual Archdiocesan Math
League’s Spring Math Contest, also
finished in first place in the team
contest.
The winning team includes Jakob
Mueller, Renate Mueller, Abby
Rothweiler and Hannah Wiseman.
Students from six area high schools
participated in the event. First place
winners in the individual tests include Carrie Jansen, (Kennedy) Nick Thiele,
(Duchesne) Ethan Wetter (Duchesne), and Jake Krussel (Duchesne).
The AML is a cooperative effort of the St. Louis Archdiocesan high schools for the
last twenty years! Pictured, left to right, Kennedy Catholic contestants Haley R.
Nina O. Grace W. and Connor Berry
The students at St. Simon Catholic School got their principal, Sharon
Lenger to dress up as a cow in support of their efforts to raise money for the Cow
Project to support the
Diocese of Masaka in
Uganda.
Vince Drake as Athletic
Director next year!
Meanwhile, back at the Valle
Desert…
The Valle Catholic Middle
School’s Student Council organized a
Penny War fundraiser in support of two local
organizations, The Ride to Survive and the
Ste. Genevieve Area Center for Life.
St. Anthony Catholic
School students K-2 pose
for a picture at the Butterfly
House and Carousel on a recent
spring field trip.
Their incentive? The winning grade got to
select two teachers who the
students would turn into human sundaes!
Pictured, topped with whipped cream, the two
"lucky" teachers, Dawn Skaggs (6th grade)
and Kyla Palmer (7th grade)
St. Joan of Arc Catholic School
fourth graders interviewed their second grade
siblings about their feelings as they prepare for
their First Holy Communion.
Their interviews will appear in the first issue of
their class newspaper!
In other SJA news...Students decorated
placemats with prayers for inmates at Menard
Prison who will be attending a Kairos Retreat.
Jazz guitarist, Nathon P., (above)
of Bishop DuBourg
High School, is one of the
winners of a prestigious 2015
National YoungArts
Foundation competition
recognizing America's most
talented 15-18-year-old students
in the visual, literary and
performing arts. The BDB senior
is ranked the #2 bassist in the
nation!
Nathan has been accepted at
several distinguished music
schools, including The
Manhattan School of Music,
The New School and Berklee
College of Music.
Parishioner and retreat leader,
Bruce Verkruyse, (at left) joined
the SJA students one day for
morning prayer for him, for his
ministry, and for the men who will
attend the retreat.
Vicki Haynes's preschool and pre-kindergarten students at St. Joachim
School Catholic School in
Old Mines re-enacted the “Last Supper,”
sharing bread, grape juice and discussion
about Jesus' meal with his disciples.
St. Joachim second and third graders
(below) are learning the ukulele, thanks to a
generous donor, and instruction provided by
Virginia Peterson.
—Congratulations and best
wishes, Nathan!
They are currently practicing for their
debut performance of "Rockin' Robin"
at the school's Fine Arts Night on April
27.
Ste. Genevieve du Bois
Catholic School has
started an “early bird” Math Fact
Scholars program allowing
students to take timed tests on
math computation to improve
speed and accuracy.
The before-school program is
self-paced and voluntary, with
participation from over 50
kindergarten through fifth grade
students.
SAVE THIS DATE!
May 31, 2015
Catholic Family Day at 6 Flags—Mass—
Vocation Fair—Catholic School Musical/
Theatrical Performances
Vendor Fair—Rides—Food—FAMILY FUN!
Special Ticket Pricing Deadlines—May 27 for Picnic Combo
May 29 for General Admission
Order online at sixflags.com/stlouis and click on Events tab or
Call 636.938.5300 X 6291
Around the Archdiocese...
Students in second, seventh and
eighth grades from the elementary
schools in Region 8 celebrated Mass
with Archbishop Carlson recently as
they near the end of their preparation
to receive the Sacraments of the
Eucharist and Confirmation.
We pray for the repose of the
souls of all the faithful
departed, and especially for,
Students from St. Anthony
Catholic School in Sullivan
posed for pictures afterward with the
Archbishop (at left) and Superintendent
Dr. Kurt Nelson (above).
Greg Patron, son of Joan Patron,
teacher at Christ, Prince of Peace
Catholic School. Greg attended
St. Peter Catholic School in
Kirkwood,
Lynn Everett, mother of Carol
Breckle, DRE at St. Robert
Bellarmine Parish,
May they rest in peace.
Amen!
NEW!!
Prayers by Heart
Daily prayers, memorized by
heart, are a wonderful way for
children to stay close
to God. Prayers by
Heart: The Catholic
Children's Prayer
Book, was created to
support the
Archdiocese of St.
Louis' religious education
program, and designed to
introduce young children, age
birth to grade 8, to the beautiful
prayers of our Catholic faith.
$4.95
To order, visit
http://www.smp.org/
product/4411STL/Prayers-by-Heart/
Or call Sandy Rigsby at 507-4577995 (Cell--248-797-9505)
St. Dominic High School
sophomore, Lauryn T., wanted to
make a difference, so she decided to
start collecting children's books to
donate to families with children who
are sick. With support from her
classmates, she collected 260 books
to donate to children at SSM
Cardinal Glennon Children’s
Medical Center.
"This was the first collection I had to
organize by myself, and I was very
pleased with the success of the book drive, said Lauryn, “I know the children at
Cardinal Glennon and their families at the Ronald McDonald house will enjoy the
various books."
St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic School hosted the
“grand opening session” of Adventure Tree’s on-campus Science in a Tree
program.
All 180 K-8 students, plus some teachers,
parents and parishioners participated.
With harness and helmet, they climbed a rope
high up into a red oak tree outside the parish
church to investigate tree growth/seed
dispersal, and gravity/air resistance.
Climbing expert, Guy Mott, (at left with
SRA student climber) has developed special
techniques so that everyone, regardless of
age of physical ability, can hang out in a tree
as high as 50 feet in the air!
This is a whole new branch of science
instruction! (Couldn’t resist!)