1

October 25, 2016 Siena Catholic Academy

Siena Notes 2617 EAST AVENUE , ROCHESTER , NEW YORK

Civility II I have observed Mr. Bodensteiner’s class recently. He has been working with his students on identifying and developing reasoned arguments using evidence and warrants to support claims. The class recently watched how Juror #8 had done so in the movie 12 Angry Men. Thoughtful, evidence-based presentation of ideas, made clear by careful attention to syntax, grammar, and style is the hallmark of an educated adult. Control over language gives us the power to persuasively convey our ideas. Our culture seems to be moving away from this ideal.

Journalists have tended to use compelling and salient quotes from public figures to summarize their subject’s ideas. This has increasingly turned into the pursuit of the soundbite on the journalists’ part and the willing (and unwilling) provision of the soundbite on the part of the public figure. The danger in this practice has been that comments are taken out of context or, worse, that the soundbite becomes more important than substance.

Nuance in argument is increasingly coming under attack by the use of social media as well. When we are forced to render our opinions in 140 words, nuance is the first casualty. The second casualty is civility. Several of my friends have taken breaks from Facebook during this presidential campaign because posters’ tones have become increasingly acerbic and nasty. Passion has subverted reason.

At Siena, we emphasize and teach across our curriculum the power of ideas and the need to understand them, demonstrate their validity, and convey them eloquently. When Mr. Bodensteiner’s students examine a text for evidence from which to draw conclusions, and they write structured arguments that rely on such evidence, they are becoming more critical readers and gaining strength as persuasive writers.

While passion and conviction are powerful forces that can enrich our lives and embolden us to accomplish great things, they can just as easily lead us into evil. Therefore, these forces ought to be tempered by reason and directed toward the Good. The effort our students put into developing their critical thinking skills and to honing their writing skills will pay off for them and for society.

Martin Kilbridge

Mr. Bodensteiner with one of his seventh grade classes.

2

Student Council Elections

Elections for Student Council Officers were held today and the results are in:

Student Council President—Lilly Ansley-Purpura

Student Council Vice President—Lucia Lanahan

Student Council Secretary—Jessica Schiffhauer

Student Council Treasurer—Elizabeth Deni

Elections for homeroom representatives will take place on the 27th.

Optional Lunch Program to Resume

The Optional Lunch program allows families to order from five different vendors (Wegmans, Arby’s, DiBella’s, Rosey’s, and Salvatore’s) throughout the week for months at a time. Place orders on our online system which is now open and will close on October 31st at 11:45 pm. We will only take online orders. Payments will be due by November 1st at 3 pm. A separate email went out today with details.

Siena Ski and Snowboard Club 2017

It’s that time of year again—to prepare for skiing and snowboarding! Mrs. Sue Colombo, parent of alumni Brandon and Deanna, is our coordinator. Mrs. Colombo has coordinated our Siena Ski Club for 18 years. Siena skis on Friday nights at Bristol Mountain. Students leave directly from school at 2:45 and return to school at 10 PM. More information is on the forms page of the website.

Sports Rally and Siena Cup

This Friday, October 28th the school day will end with a sports rally during an end of day assembly. That evening the annual Siena Cup will take place at Aquinas beginning at 6 pm. Siena’s boys and girls soccer teams will play one another for bragging rights.

FIRST Lego League Team Sponsorships Sought

Our three FIRST Lego League teams are seeking sponsors to support their registration, kits, and robots. A letter seeking corporate sponsorships is in-

(Continued on page 3)

News and Events

Calendar Reminders: Click for our Google Calendar

10/25 Optional Lunch order form available.

10/27 OLM Open House 6:30—8 pm

10/28 Sports Rally and Siena Cup @AQ

10/28 Spiritwear t-shirt orders due

10/31 Opt. Lunch orders due 11:45 pm

11/1 Fleeces Required in Dress Code

11/1 All Souls Mass 9:20 am

11/1 Opt. Lunch payment due 3 pm

11/3 Middle States Visit 8 AM – 12

11/3 McQ Open House 6—8 pm

11/6 BK Open House 1—3 pm

11/9 Siena Open House for Prospective Families 6—8 pm

T-Shirts From Elementary Schools

During Open House we will display a t-shirt from each school that sends students to Siena . If you have a spirit shirt from your elementary school that you would like to donate to this effort, please fill out this Google form.

Amazon Wish List

We have set up a Siena Wish List on Amazon. It is populated with technolo-gy and intramural sports equipment.

Annual Fund

Tuition only covers a portion of the true cost of educating our students. Please consider a donation to our Annual Fund to help cover our oper-ating expenses.

Internet Access for Everyone

If you have thought home internet access to be unaffordable, you might explore this website. http://everyoneon.org/.

Facebook

Follow us on Facebook!

Opportunities to Help

… and Be Helped

3

cluded in this week’s emailing.

Middle States Association Visiting Team Scheduled for November 3rd

We are gearing up to celebrate the visit from Middle States representa-tives next week as the final step we take in renewing our accreditation with the Middle States Association.

For the past year, the schools of the Diocese of Rochester have been un-dertaking a self-study as part of the Middle States Association Accredita-tion Process. Anticipating this and desiring to plot our future, we under-took a strategic planning process in the 2014-2015 school year. This pro-cess included an online surveys of our parents, students, and staff, a stra-tegic planning summit in January of 2015, and a series of subcommittee meetings. The product of that process was a series of action steps and Charting our Course: The Siena Catholic Academy Strategic Plan 2015-2020. With the strategic plan and action steps as our basis we conducted a thorough self-study. The entire process is coming to a close with the visit from a team of educators on November 3rd. In the morning groups of parents, students, and staff will be joining the team for interviews.

Sixth and Seventh Graders Experienced a Retreat

This last Thursday, October 20th, our sixth graders experienced a half day retreat focusing on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and our seventh graders experienced a full day retreat entitled “Encountering Jesus.”

(Continued on page 4)

Spiritwear Shirts Available for Order

The Parents Advisory Committee, in partic-ular Sharon Kruger and Christine Merle, has put together a spiritwear t-shirt that you can order. The information is on a flyer accompanying included in this week’s emailing. Orders are due this Friday.

Above: Some of our sixth graders play a version of Pictionary in which they have to draw a scene from the bible while their team mates try to identify it. At Left: Evan Ciurca painted this image of God during the 7th grade Retreat simply using finger paint.

4

Uniform Season Changes on November 1

Students will be required to wear their school fleeces beginning November 1st.

Winter Jackets

A generous donor contributed a number of winter jackets for students who might not have one. These will be available during Flex the week of October 31st in room 105.

Jazz Band

We are excited to announce that we are forming a new after school program: Jazz Band. The Jazz Band meets every Wednesday after school from 3 until 4. The band is under the direction of Vince Ercolamento, who has been playing, performing, and teaching saxophone for over 35 years. Not only are students who currently participate in our band program invited, but pianists, bassists, and electric guitarists are invited. There is a $100 per semester fee.

If your child is interested in being part of our new Jazz Band, please contact the office.

Instrumental music lessons

Instrumental music lessons are available after school for a fee with Mrs. Gelose. Lessons are available for most band or orchestra instruments (but not piano or guitar), and students can begin study on an instrument if they do not currently play one. Students must provide their own instrument except for snare drum. For more information or to sign up, please email Mrs. Gelose at diane.gelose@sienacatholic.org.

Admissions Season

We are in the midst of our admissions season, a period during which we invite prospective students and families to visit the school Open House for Prospective Families is November 9th and individual shadow days begin after that. Encour-age your friends to consider a Siena education. A flyer for our Open House accompanies this week’s emailing.

Odyssey of the Mind Seeks Interested Students

What is Odyssey of the Mind ? It is a creative problem-solving competition where teams of students select a problem, create a solution, then present their solution in a competition against other teams in the same problem and division. Students learn teamwork, the appreciation and understanding of others and that a group is a more powerful thinking force than an individual. They develop a sense of self-respect and respect for others through activities such as brain-storming and role-playing. And it’s a lot of FUN! For more information please follow the link: http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/ Local Catholic High Schools Open Houses

Dates and times for Rochester’s Catholic high schools’ open houses are listed in the Calendar Reminders on this page.

School Counselor, Mary Pat Cleary, has produced a flyer with relevant information regarding the high school admissions process. It accompanied last week’s emailing.

Chromebook Insurance

For those who want to purchase insurance for the Chromebook, there are a number of vendors. GoCare provides our families with a discount rate due to bulk purchases. The GoCare Portal will close on November 4th.

Women in Engineering Program at RIT

Girls interested in engineering should check out this upcoming opportunity to explore the field at RIT’s Women in Engi-neering program Open House on November 5th.