August/September 2015 SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

Notre Dame High School

Thirty-five students from Notre Dame traveled to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis in September. The group made a stop at Busch Gardens on the way.

The Class of 2016 traveled to Horns Creek Retreat Center in September for their senior retreat. Jimmy Mitchell led the retreat. In addition to Mass, Reconciliation, and Adoration, the students were able to relax with paintball and the low and high ropes courses at the retreat center.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School

Papal visit / Catholic Heritage Week: OLPH students celebrated the Holy Father’s visit with a week of fun and concluded with an all-school Mass celebrating our Catholic Heritage. The kindergarten students and their 8th grade buddies had fun making mitre hats. The first and second graders made a video, welcoming the Holy Father in both Spanish and English. The second graders also designed "Papal shields" and 8th grade made a "quilt" of Pope Francis' quotes.

Cross Country Champs: The OLPH Running Rams middle school girls’ cross country team was awarded a First Place trophy and the elementary boys’ team received 3rd place for the regular Chattanooga Independent Schools Conference season. These awards were given out based on the times placed by each runner during the entire season. Three individual standouts from the teams went on to compete in the Chattanooga area Middle School Cross Country meet and have now qualified to compete in the Middle School state Meet in late October.

ChooChoo Fall Festival: The OLPH Home and School Association held the second ChooChoo Fall Fest and Grand Ram Tricycle Race. Tricycle and big wheel participants from PreK to adult competed in separate heats. Following the race, the fun continued (despite the rain) with festival games, face painting and the 25th Annual Choo-Choo Bowl Football game starring the middle school Catholic Football team (a combined OLPH and St. Jude team). The event raised thousands of dollars for the Home and School Association and brought smiles to many faces!

St. Jude School

St. Jude welcomed two new members to its staff - Mr. Joe Thoni, nephew of the late Fr. Philip Thoni, is the new middle school math teacher and Miss Julia Luscombe is the new 2nd grade teacher. We welcome both with enthusiasm. The school year jumped off to a quick start with separate Open Houses for Preschool, Kindergarten and Elementary (Grades 1-8). Parents enjoyed meeting teachers, touring classrooms and hearing about upcoming activities from our HASA (Home and School Association) and Development representatives.

Middle School held its annual election for Student Council with officer candidates presenting speeches prior to the election. 8th Grade student Anna Booker was elected President.

The Catholic Football Team - a combination of St. Jude and OLPH players and coaches ended their season undefeated - the first time since 1966!

Knoxville Catholic High School

We were blessed to have Bishop Stika as the Principal Celebrant at our first All School Mass of the school year on August 26 at All Saints Church. Bishop Stika also blessed our campus that week.

KCHS transitioned to an 8 block rotation schedule this school year, and it has gone well. This change only added 15 minutes to the school day, and most of the adjustment has been getting used to the class meeting times.

KCHS introduced a new foodservice provider this school year. After a slow start due to construction delays, Pedestal Foods quickly introduced a wide variety of offerings in the cafeteria, with many food stations and a menu available each week so students and staff can decide what to choose before they go to lunch.

The Technology Committee, made up of teachers and administrators, has been meeting over the last 12 months to explore ways to expand and improve the technology applications at KCHS, and to prepare the school for a wireless environment with the plan of instituting BYOD (bring

your own device) to the school for the 2016-2017 school year. One of the recommendations was to utilize Moodle as a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which will prepare students for their college experience. Moodle also makes it easy for teachers to provide online support for all courses. It provides a central space on the web where students and staff can access a set of tools and resources anytime anywhere. Currently, we have 18 teachers who are using Moodle with their classes. Each student has a unique log-in and password for their Moodle account. Should parents want to see what their students are seeing at this point, i.e. assignments, lesson plans, quizzes, PowerPoint's, etc., they must acquire their student’s log-in information. Moodle does integrate with RenWeb, which will be the official source for ALL grades.

The annual IPN Open House was held on Thursday, September 17. This has always been a great night for our parents to meet their student’s teachers and to experience the daily schedule, and this year fulfilled those expectations. The group of 50 students and chaperones who traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Papal Mass and other activities related to the first visit of Pope Francis to the United States made it back safely. They were tired, but filled with excitement from their experiences. Please check out their many postings on the KCHS Facebook page. KCHS was proud to host almost 90 colleges on September 28 at this year's KCHS College Fair. Check out this video: https://youtu.be/pL-6BCePKVM. In October of last year over 1.5 million students in more than 22,000 high schools took the PSAT. The PSAT serves as the qualifying exam for the National Merit Competition. Out of the 1.5 million students who took the test, only 16,000 have qualified as finalists. In the entire State of Tennessee, only 340 students were names as finalists. Knoxville Catholic is proud to announce that Ian Greeley has been named as a National Merit Semifinalist. About 34,000 of the original 1.5 million PSAT participants have been recognized as Commended Scholars. Five students from Knoxville Catholic have been named Commended Scholars. Congratulations to Jack Deinhart, Alex Harold, Michael Shipley, Patrick Shurina and Caroline Wilson. Congratulations to these students, and thank you for bringing honor to our school.

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

Sacred Heart Cathedral Construction – Real World Applications Big changes are under way on the Sacred Heart Cathedral School Campus. Our project manager from Merit Construction, Fred Atkins, was kind enough to allow Mrs. Briselden’s 8th grade Algebra 1 and Pre-Algebra students access to the blueprints of the 100-wing renovation to better understand scale drawings. Algebra students are creating scale models of real world items they brought from home and Pre-Algebra is creating a scale drawing of their bedrooms. The students were absolutely amazed to see the drawings and then follow up with looking at the real changes that took place in the 100 wing. They took a quick look

at the new bathrooms and one of the third grade classrooms. Looking at the blue prints and then the real world application of what they saw on the blue print was very helpful to the students!

Author Visit Newbery Honor winning author, Mr. Vince Vawter, shared lunch with middle school students, autographed copies of his book, "Paperboy", and then spoke with the entire Middle School student body in the gym. It was an incredible afternoon full of inspiring and insightful conversation.

SHCS ATHLETICS Congratulations to the girls elementary cross country team on winning their meet on September 28th! Sydney Clements finished 2nd out of 456 runners. Christina Belanger finished 9th, Jenna Clements 20th, Kaylee Estridge 21st and Caroline Muth 32nd. Congratulations to the the boys team on their 13th place finish. Keegan Smith finished 1st out of 485 runners. William Wolski finished 40th and Davis Perry finished 46th.

St. John Neumann School

Leadership Council – SJNCS Leadership Council is a group of nine students in grades 7 & 8 who have been elected by their peers to take a leadership role in our school community. These students will be involved in activities such as leading prayer in special events, promoting school spirit, representing the school in charitable works, and developing leadership skills. The following students were elected to the 2015-2016 SJNCS Leadership Council. Sam Sompayrac, Nicholas Renfree, Chase Fuller, Emily Latham, Kennedy McFarland, Kate Timbes, Olivia Escher, Kate Gleason (Not Pictured is Carlee Hart.)

KCHS 6th Annual Community Tailgate – On Friday, September 11, 2015 we held our annual tailgate at the KCHS practice field as part of the KCHS Community Tailgate for all area Catholic Schools. Our SJNCS Mustang tailgaters

enjoyed complimentary bottled water, desserts, and kid's activities. This has become such a wonderful event and we thank our friends at KCHS for their hospitality.

Fundraiser for Syrian Refugees – On September 30th an out-of-uniform day was held to benefit refugees in Syria. To participate, each student brought in a $2 (or more) donation in order to make a contribution to people whose needs are so great. Because of their generosity, a total of $620 was contributed by SJNCS families to support the refugees in Syria. Please continue to pray for peace.

Cross Country State Qualifiers – Congratulations Eleni Christopoulos (Gr. 8), Kate Pettinger (Gr. 5), and Jack Bartlett (Gr. 5)! Each of these SJNCS athletes qualified to participate in the upcoming State Cross Country meet at Victor Ashe Park on October 24th. Way to Go, Mustangs!

PreK Community Helpers’ Week – The last week of September was Community Helpers’ Week in our preschool classrooms. On Tuesday, September 29th, Deputy Clint Doss from the Knox County Sheriff's Department visited with our students to talk about safety. Thanks Deputy Doss!

St. Joseph School

Delta Kappa Gamma Teaching Fraternity Visits SJS On Monday, August 24th, Saint Joseph School was visited by 30 plus members of the Delta Kappa Gamma Teaching Fraternity. DKG contributed materials and funding to Saint Joseph School last school year to help supply and support the Outdoor Classroom and Greenhouse. Eighth Grader Claire Earl spoke to the group about how their generosity helped her complete her Science Fair project, which involved studying plant growth under a variety of colors of light. Claire conducted her research in the Saint Joseph School greenhouse and used some of the supplies that were given to the school from the Delta Kappa Gamma sisters. Our visitors were very impressed by our school and our students and facilities.

In-School Volleyball Game On Thursday, August 27th, Freedom Christian Academy visited our Lady Bulldogs on the Volleyball Court for the first Annual Volleyball In-school Match. Saint Joseph was victorious in 2

games and our student body was able to cheer them on. We were very proud of the way our young fans conducted themselves and especially of the way our student-athletes demonstrated both sportsmanship and competitive skill!

National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony On Wednesday, September 2nd, families gathered in our New Library for the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony for twelve 7th and 8th Grade students. Mrs. Rosemary Calvert, Moderator, and Miss Katie Colburn, Co-Moderator, led the gathering with a reflection on the virtues of learning. The 6th Grade Induction is in the spring. Congratulations to our new members!

Bishop Stika Visits SJS On Wednesday, September 9th, Bishop Richard Stika celebrated an all-school Mass with Father Chris Michelson, Father Ron Franco, and Father Jerry Tulley co-celebrating. Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey assisted and Paulist seminarian Michael Hennessey was also in

attendance. After Mass, Bishop Stika visited each of our classrooms and even braved the Ga-Ga Ball Pit with the Middle School students!

Compassion On September 25th, noticing a classmate was not feeling well, one of our 1st Graders asked his teacher, "May I wipe my friend's tears?" What a beautiful witness to what our community is about at Saint Joseph School - Holiness as a Way of Life! We echo Pope Francis's words to Congress on September 24th: "every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity."

St. Mary School – Oak Ridge

Knoxville Catholic High School (KCHS) hosted the 2015 KCHS Volleyball Feeder Fest Tournament on August 15th. The tournament lasted more than eight hours, with some teams playing up to six games each. St. Mary’s School Varsity volleyball team took first place in the overall pool and continued its winning streak through the finals, securing its second consecutive Feeder Fest championship. The St. Mary’s Junior Varsity team also did very well, as they took first place in their pool and second overall in the finals.

St. Mary’s Students, Parents and Staff enjoyed an afternoon together with a Welcome Back Family Ice Cream Social

The 8th Grade Light of Leadership Mass was held on August 21st to bless our new school leaders. What a special way to start the new year at St. Mary’s School.

St. Mary’s Church and School in Oak Ridge celebrated Mass on Sunday, September 13th with a special blessing and dedication of a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In preparation for the special day, members of the Knights of Columbus made an "Ark of the Covenant" to carry the statue from the church to the school. After Mass, the statue was mounted by the Knights of Columbus Honor Guard as the entire congregation processed through the school to the main entry foyer for a special dedication and placing of flowers at Our Lady’s feet. Over 250 parishioners and guests continued the celebration in the gym with live music and delicious food. Sister Marie Blanchette, O.P. Principal of St. Mary’s School described the moment, “It was a day rich in God's blessings. It was beautiful to see the whole parish come together to honor the Mother of God. The devotion and love for Our Lady were tangible. From now on when someone walks in the doors of St. Mary's School, the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe will serve as a reminder of the love Mary and her Son has for each of us. What a blessing to our school and parish community!”

St. Mary's School in Oak Ridge has begun offering Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as part of its regular religion curriculum in grades PreK-5th grade. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori-based approach to teaching children Scripture, Liturgy, and how to develop a personal relationship with God. Children have an innate desire and knowledge of God. It is the job of St. Mary’s School to help nurture this natural instinct. The Atrium is a sacred place where children can cultivate this relationship. The room is filled with materials from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. The materials are specifically designed so that the children can learn and reflect about events and passages from the Bible and the Mass. This room can be likened to a retreat room for children in our school. Here the children can encounter God and develop a relationship with Him that will bear fruit throughout their lives. Because children learn best by using their hands, working with materials allows them to enter more deeply into meditation, nurturing their relationship with God and inspiring wonder. It is our goal to have our classes spend time in the Atrium once a week as the program continues to develop.

Sister Marie Blanchette, OP, Sister Mary Marta, RSM and Kim Bellofatto enjoy time together at the Knoxville Catholic High School Tailgate on September 11th. We enjoyed visiting with our

current students and alums. Go Irish!

St. Mary’s Cross Country team is off to a great start! Go Crusaders!

St. Dominic School

We are a blessed community at St Dominic School and those blessings were very evident throughout the start of the new school year. Already this year, the students have been provided many opportunities to grow and develop intellectually, socially and spiritually.

The flag pole at SDCS has been a place of prayer and celebration for our community. On Friday, September 11, our school family gathered around the flag and we spoke of God, freedom and love. Intentions were offered for those public servants who protect and serve us every day. On Wednesday, September 23, our morning circle was at the flag pole in front of our school as part of the world-wide “See You At the Pole 2015” event. This was part of a Global Week of Student Prayer.

Author and artist, Nancy Crumley, visited our school to talk to the students about storytelling, writing, and drawing. Recently published “Broken Sky” is a tale involving Native Americans and the theme of unity. Mrs. Crumley also shared a video about the positive impact wolves had on the rivers of Yellowstone Park.

Our third and fourth classes had a special guest from the Fall Branch Volunteer Fire Department! Public Information Officer and Firefighter, Pat Boone, taught students about the principles of flight and the many uses of drones. Mr. Boone took the ultimate class selfie from 400ft!

Mr. Paul deMarria again provided each of our classrooms with Monarch chrysalis. The students were fascinated to watch the progress from chrysalis to butterfly and celebrated in the release of the butterflies.

Hands on learning was abundant throughout the school.

Guest speakers added much to the learning environment during the first two months of school. Marty Silver from Warriors’ Path State Park was on hand to share local pioneer games with the students. Meteorologist, Brian Walder, from WJHL helped conduct air pressure experiments with the students and shared with them a presentation about weather and weather forecasting.

St. Mary School – Johnson City

Coming Soon!