November 2015 SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

Notre Dame High School

The Notre Dame Theatre Department presented "The Woman In White" in November. The show was a light-hearted musical and the students performed three evening shows and one matinee.

The Freshmen class attended a day long retreat at the Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School

OLPH School once again partnered with Catholic Charities of Chattanooga to provide Thanksgiving dinner for all those in need. With donations to Catholic Charities covering the cost of purchasing turkeys, OLPH families collected the side dishes to accompany the meals. 8th grade students kept the collection bins emptied and maintained the count to prepare for the crew of parish volunteers and Boy Scouts who helped assemble the baskets. The food drive this year netted over ¾ of a ton of food and fed 125 area families for that special meal.

OLPH students represented the school well this year in the Hamilton Place Santa Arrival Christmas Parade.

Families gathered to show off their competitive side while raising a bit of money for the OLPH Annual Fund with a Spirit Night at Pin Strikes Bowling. It was a great way for families to get to know each other better and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Parents and siblings joined their students for our traditional Thanksgiving Lunch.

St. Jude School

In honor of All Saints Day, 5th Grade dressed up for a Saints Procession during Mass and then presented a "Saints Wax Museum" for the entire school. Each Saint came to life when touched and told their individual and unique story.

As part of their Grand Opening, the WalMart Neighborhood Center in Hixson invited Fr. Charlie Burton to give the invocation and the St. Jude Choral and Bells Choir to entertain. In addition, they presented St. Jude with a check for $1000 to cover the cost of a new cross curriculum game, Aim for Pie and other equipment that will be used in PE.

Well over 200 Grandparents and Grand Friends joined us on November 24 as we held our Grand Open House and presented a program entitled "It's Our Story," highlighting the 55 year history of our school and the importance of family in our spiritual and spiritual development.

Knoxville Catholic High School

Congratulations to the Scholar’s Bowl Team on their decisive 395-105 victory over Webb at the fall tournament. The team advanced to the Elite Eight, where they lost a close match to L & N Stem Academy. Team members are Thomas Morris, Andrew Maze, Jack Deinhart, Nathan Geist, Alex Harold and Michael Shipley. The Irish Cross Country team had a great showing at the State Championships on Saturday, November 7. The boy’s team of Johnathan Chavez, William Doktycz, Georde Goodwyn, Devin Sullivan, Jake Renfree, Ethan Tornstrom and James Daffron won the State Championship by 90 points. Johnathan, William and Georde were named to the All-State team. The girl’s team finished in a strong fourth place. Shila Kapaya finished 6th to lead the way, and was named to the All-State team.

KCHS hosted an Early Signing Day on Wednesday, November 11, at 3:30 p.m. in the Library. We honored five students who have recently committed to their university, and will be signing Letters of Intent. These are the student-athletes who will be recognized tomorrow afternoon, along with their sport and school. Gianna Carideo: University of Washington (Softball). Alec Connolly: University of Tennessee (Swimming). Jessie Hamilton: Transylvania University (Softball). Hunter Judd: Lincoln Memorial University (Baseball). Turner Whitfield: Lincoln Memorial University (Baseball).

Congratulations to Katie Alley and all of the performers, assistants and volunteers who worked together to present an amazing production of “Little Shop of Horrors the weekend of November 20-22. The acting and singing, sets, choreography, sound and costumes were outstanding. KCHS would like to congratulate Shannon Rearden, Meagan Hawk and Charlotte Daigle, who were selected to sing in the All-East Honors Choir in Chattanooga the weekend of November 21-22. Selection into the All-East Honor Choir ranks these students among the best choral singers in East Tennessee. The KCHS Latin Club won first place at the Knoxville Latin Fest, for the 2nd year in a row. Congratulations to the team and their moderator, Mrs. Jenny Fields. Congratulations to Catholic wide receiver/defensive back Amari Rogers on his selection as Mr. Football on Monday, November 30 in Nashville at the awards luncheon at Nissan Stadium. Cade Mays was named as runner-up in the Class 4A Lineman category.

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

Challenger Center Field Trip 6th grade headed to Chattanooga to the Challenger Center to bring their study of Mars to life. At Challenger Center, created to honor the lives of the seven astronauts who died in the STS 51-L mission, students experience hands-on, STEM based activities that focus on cooperation, communication, creativity and problem solving. From designing a new Mars rover (in budget) to manning a Mars landing vehicle, students are challenged to think and work outside the box.

Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church On Friday, November 6th, 2015 Fr. David Boettner and Principal Breen gathered the students after Mass for the official kickoff to the school “construction project”. There was a cross to mark the altar location in the new cathedral; balloons at the height of the dome – 135 feet; and a small piece of foundation rock for all the children. Each grade level will tackle a question as it applies to the building of the new Cathedral

Spelling Bee Champ Congratulations to 4th grader, Sophia Comerford! She won the SHCS Spelling Bee and will be moving on to the next level. 7th grader, Connor Brunson was the runner up. It was an incredibly intense competition that went on for almost an hour and a half.

Thanksgiving Basket Drive For Sacred Heart’s first mission project this year, students collected food for Thanksgiving baskets for less fortunate children and families in our community. K-8 Sacred Heart students sent in over 800 cans of food and donated a grand total of $1,081 towards perishable foods! Everything combined provided about 200 area families with a wonderful Thanksgiving meal this holiday season. The faculty and staff at SHCS could not be more proud of our students generosity and willingness to serve! A special thanks to Mrs. Brach’s 6th graders who helped collect, sort, and pack boxes as well as the six spectacular 8th grade boys who helped carry boxes and load the Ladies of Charity truck.

St. John Neumann School

5th Annual Trimathlon – Of the twelve national winners in this year's Mathnasium Trimathlon, one is a student at SJNCS! Alex Kalinin, a second grader in Mrs. Dorman's class, came in third nationally. Congratulations Alex! We are so proud of you! SJNCS was given $10 for each of our students who participated (6) and was also awarded a $250 bonus for having the greatest percentage of students (relative to our population) who participated in this annual event. Way to go, Mustangs!

SJNCS Tennis – Congratulations to our Mustangs middle school tennis teams! Both middle school teams competed in the City Tournament November 6-8. The SJNCS/SHCS "B" team also made it to the playoffs! Way to go, Mustangs! Spirit Week – To help our students rally together in a spirit of fun and generosity, we celebrated Spirit Week from November 9-13. Each day the students dressed in "Show Your Spirit" attire. To participate, students brought in 2 cans (or non-perishable food items) each day to donate. All donations were sent to Food Life Services, the food pantry that serves the LaFollette community. Our canned food drive was a huge success this year! The volunteers at the Food Life Services were overwhelmed by the generosity of our faith community. The SJNCS Leadership Council delivered over 4,000 canned and non-perishable food items along with a check for $1,245 to help the poor in LaFollette. Thank you for participating in this work of mercy!

Congratulations, Band Students! - Four of our SJNCS middle school band members auditioned and were selected to participate in this year's East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association (ETSBOA) Junior Clinic. Congratulations to the following students who will participate in this elite clinic with other musicians from across the state! Eleni Christopoulos placed 4th chair, Silver Band Adam Cieslik placed 2nd chair, Gold Band Alex Dally placed 3rd chair, Gold Band Alonso Vela placed 2nd chair, Bronze Band Alternates from SJNCS include Ryan Beldyk, Baylor McCubbin, and Jodie Spangler.

St. Joseph School

Staff CPR/AED Training On Wednesday, November 4th, the SJS staff was trained in CPR and learned again how to properly use our AED. The staff of Project ADAM from East TN Children's Hospital conducted the American Heart Association training and Dr. Julie Morgan, of the ETCH Emergency Room staff was also present to assist.

Student Art Exhibit 8th Grader Kiersten Man's art work has been entered into the East Tenneessee Regional Student Art Exibition. Congratulations to Kiersten, whose mixed media entry depicts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.

Veterans Day Celebration We adored God and honored veterans from our school community on Tuesday, November 10th, with an all-school Mass and performance by our 5th Grade Class. During Mass, Father Ron Franco encouraged our community to follow the example of Pope Saint Leo the Great on his feast day, in having great faith in Jesus Christ and confronting evil like that of the invader Attila the Hun. Master Sergeant Mike Gates, USAF, Retired, reminded our students that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - using the wise words of Edmund Burke. Stanley H. Pickering, Sr., veteran of World War II, who was also in attendance, later wrote to our 5th Graders: "Many thanks to you for the GREAT Veterans' Day Program Tuesday; also, thanks to Miss Colburn for preparing you for it along with Mr. Zengel, Mr. Lovelace, and all the folks who love you enough to give you the opportunity to attend the best school ANYWHERE-and, most of all, thanks to Almighty God for all the above!" We couldn't say it better ourselves! Thanks also to our Home & School Association and our 5th Grade parents for providing a light reception after the show!

Middle School Field Trip On Tuesday, November 10th, our Middle Schoolers headed downtown to the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum for a series of short plays based on the works of authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Washington Irving and Mark Twain. It was a timely field trip, since our students have been reading these works in their Language Arts classes. Thank you to all our parents who came along as chaperones and for the great behavior of our 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders!

Tennis Champions! The Saint Joseph Varsity Tennis team were victors once again, winning their division of the GKTA/USTA Tennis Championship for a third year in a row. The team consisted of 4 athletes: 8th Graders Seth Lawson, Nicholas Harpst and Grace Morgan, and 7th Grader Sami McLean. This championship followed an undefeated season, landing this team first in their division overall. Congrats to our Tennis Squad and their Coach, Mrs. Kathy Rankin, Assistant Principal.

Thanksgiving Baskets Service Project Each of our classrooms collected canned goods and other food items to fill a ‘Thanksgiving Basket’. Our 8th Grade leaders were in charge of sorting and packing the baskets for delivery. Thanks to almighty God for the blessings that enable us to give to needy families in our community! Click link to watch SJS in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0y5VVj3-5o&feature=youtu.be

Grandparents and Special Friends Day On Tuesday, November 24th, our students welcomed their Grandparents and Special Friends to Mass, breakfast, and classroom presentations. It was a great way to start a long weekend of family time and gratitude over Thanksgiving break.

St. Mary School – Oak Ridge

St. Mary’s School competed in the Secret City Chess Tournament on Saturday, November 7th at Oak Ridge High School. The tournament included 123 students from 35 different schools. Eight members of the St. Mary’s Competitive Chess Team competed in the tournament. Six of the eight students played in their very first chess tournament and WON FIRST PLACE for their section! Madavan R. competed in the championship section for the first time on Saturday and came in fourth place. Congratulations to all of our St. Mary’s students for a great tournament. We are grateful to our Chess Coach, Teri Wiest, for her commitment to our students.

St Mary’s School participated in the East Tennessee Vocal Association Honor Choir Event held on November 20th-21st in Chattanooga, TN. This year’s All-East Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir was made up of over 275 advanced 7th & 8th grade vocal students from 29 schools throughout East Tennessee. Other honor choirs at the event included 9th Grade Honor Choir, Women's High School Honor Choir, Men's High School Honor Choir, & the Mixed High School Honor Choir. Congratulations to our 7th and 8th grade students for such an accomplishment!

St. Mary’s Students give generously in support of St. Joseph’s Food Pantry. St. Mary’s School Students and faculty gathered on Monday November 30th for an all school assembly to share some great news with St. Joseph’s Food Pantry, an outreach service provided by St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge. The St. Mary’s School Student Council presented Mary Ann Gubanc, coordinator of the Food Pantry, with a check for $1,859.85 and 2,234 pantry items collected at the school. Collections poured in from our St. Mary's School students, Religious Education students, and parishioners; it was a true community effort!

Mrs. Gubanc shared with the children that the Food Pantry had decided that they would not be able to include meat certificates in the Christmas baskets this year, but because of the generosity of St. Mary’s School, they will be able to offer the certificates. She said, "Because of what you have done here, which is amazing for children so young, you have had a direct impact on many, many families." St. Joseph’s Food Pantry is serving approximately 500 people each month. The 5th Grade hosted the Veterans Day Parish Breakfast in the cafeteria on November 11th. We are so grateful for the service and sacrifice of the men and women that have served our country.

The 6th Grade hosted the Parish Reception following the Alumni Memorial Mass on November 24th. We are so grateful for the commitment to Catholic Education at St. Mary’s School!

Our students showcased their creativity with ornament making and gingerbread house

building for the annual Fantasy of Trees event.

St. Dominic School

For the third consecutive year, Mr. Dusty Newman, our wonderful librarian, hosted a family-friendly “book-building” opportunity. Children, over 20 of them, used a “story board” to plan their “personal” story. They then choose from a myriad of materials, including a blank book, to

turn their story into their own personal book. The morning ended with a sharing of the books. It was a great morning for families.

Adoration Wednesday Just over one year ago, the Saint Paul Sanctum was dedicated at SDCS. That chapel was made possible through volunteer efforts and has been a place of frequent prayer over the past year. In November for the first time Adoration was held at St. Dominic School and it was a wonderful celebration of faith. We were very excited to be able to share this experience with our students.

CELEBRATING READING: On Wednesday, November 4, Mr. Newman’s Book Club visited with author Chris Grabenstein via skype. Mr. Grabenstein is the author of Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and The Island of Dr. Libris. The Book Club gave “Escape” the highest possible ranking after completing it. Mr. Grabenstein attended Notre Dame Catholic High School in Chattanooga and his writing credits include co-writing two books (I Funny and Treasure Hunters) with Mr. James Patterson.

On Tuesday, November 24th, we celebrated Thanksgiving as a community serving over 300 family members and friends a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal which the students help prepare. Our pre-school students kicked off the event with a performance of song and dance followed up by our K-5 students.

In November the first of three raised flower beds was installed in our Pope Francis Garden. The garden was made possible by a grant from Thrivent and Rev. Josh Russell. The raised

garden beds will provide an engaging learning environment where students can learn about nutrition, preserving nature, and service to others. Students cracked egg shells and mix lime into the soil in preparation for planting the butterfly bushes and mums.

St. Mary School – Johnson City

Our second graders celebrated their First Reconciliation on Saturday, November 21st. As one of the incentives for our Walk-A-Thon fundraiser, some of our students and parents met Ms. McKee at Holiday Lanes to bowl on Thursday evening, November 19th.