Volume 20 No. 21 - April 8, 2016

VOLUME 20
NUMBER 21
APRIL 8, 2016 CATHOLIC EDUCATION OFFICE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS
Catholic schools join in creation of
St. Louis mural at The Magic House
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
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The e-Vangelizer,
Write
[email protected]
PK through eighth-grade students from all over the St. Louis area have been busy
helping in the construction of a permanent 280-square-foot mural of our beautiful
skyline!
Designed by St. Louis Priory School senior Connor Wright in the artistic style known as pointillism—a picture created from small dots of color—Connor
used 330,000 dots in the form of simple crayons!
Using an algorithm he designed that assigned a color to each pixel in the photo,
Connor and his “student apprentices” inserted each crayon into 132 separate blocks.
The completed mural has been permanently installed in The
Magic House’s Grand Hall, adjacent to the main entr ance,
and has been submitted for inclusion in the
Guinness Book of World Records.
A banner with the names of all schools that participated in this
project is on display next to the mural. Please visit and feel proud
of our students!
At left, students from St. Anthony Catholic
School in Sullivan use a color template,
crayons, and caulk to create some of the 132
sections.
"We just studied pointillism in art class," reported teacher Lori
Little. “This was a gr eat oppor tunity for the students to
apply their knowledge to a real-life work of art."
St. Anthony students also utilized their organizational, leadership and cooperation
skills as they worked in groups of six. "Each group developed a different system,"
observed chaperone Kim Hurt, "but the amazing thing was that they all worked!"
Several students plan a return trip to see the finished product. "We can't wait to see it
all put together!”
Congratulations...
Monsignor Jack Costello, Pastor of St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood and David Laughlin,
President of Saint Louis University High School, recipients of the first annual NCEA
Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award as Catholic Educational Leaders!
Congratulations …
Rosati-Kain High School
senior Bridget Taylor has received an
Honorable Mention in the 2016
Missouri Scholars 100, a state-wide
program that honors 100 of Missouri’s top academic students in the
graduating class of 2016.
Laura Clark, Principal of Holy Cross Academy-Our Lady of Providence Campus, recipient of the 2016 St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Principal Award!
More Catholic school participation in The Magic
House mural...
Villa Duchesne junior Harper
W. has been awar ded the
University of Missouri
Distinguished
Achievement Award
for Excellence in
Science.
Besides excelling in
her science courses,
Harper holds a leadership position in
Villa Duchesne's Science Club and
has been recognized for her research
achievements though the STARS
summer research program at the
University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Ursuline Academy seniors
Katherine Cassani, Casey Doherty
and Grace Freund have received an
Honorable Mention in C-SPAN's
StudentCam 2016 competition.
StudentCam is a national video documentary competition that encourages
students to think critically about
issues that affect our communities
and our nation. Their video on the
topic of education reform was
produced during the fall semester in
Ms. Tracy Nondorf's
AP Government cour se.
The C-SPAN Bus will visit the private all-girls secondary school on
April 18.
Trinity Catholic High
School—Winner of Annual
Catholic Appeal (ACA) Video
Competition!
See story at right...
Above, students from St. Theodore Catholic School in Flint Hill
show off the fruits of their labor—three of the 132 boxes used in the construction
of the mural. “We worked on this project during the week of March 14-18,” they
reported.
At left, St. Theodore art teacher Connie Baalman supervises her
students as they work on their section of the mural.
At right, St.
Patrick
Catholic
School in
Wentzville sixth grader
Lillie J. shows box
#C6—one of 132 that
comprise the world's largest crayon mural
now on display at The Magic House.
Trinity Catholic High School wins ACA Video
Contest (continued from sidebar at left, bottom)
All Catholic high schools across the Archdiocese of St. Louis are invited to
participate in the Annual Catholic Appeal High School Video Contest. Three finalists
are chosen by the Appeal Council from all of the entries, and their videos are shown
at the Annual Catholic Appeal Kickoff Dinner attended by pastors and parish
volunteers from across the archdiocese. All attendees at the dinner vote for their
favorite video. The winning school receives a grant of $5,000 and the other two
finalists receive Honorable Mention awards of $2,500. This year, Honorable
Mentions go to St. John Vianney High School and Cor Jesu
Academy. To view all 2016 entries, visit http://archstl.org/ACA2016-videocontest
Memories of Holy Week...
Students at St. Joachim
Catholic School in Old
Mines have focused on computer
science in their technology classes
this spring.
Students in second through eighth
grade are learning the basics in
computer programming, which
begins with simple lessons like
learning to give directions (pictured
below). Students in sixth through
eighth grade have advanced further,
programming their own games.
It was March Gladness as the Little Flower Catholic School
students, led by the seventhgrade class, celebrated Holy
Week with a stirring Living
Stations of the Cross
devotion on March 18 for
parishioners.
St. Joan of Arc Catholic School celebrated that Jesus is the
Bread of Life!
The St. Joan of Arc second grade First
Communion class baked bread for their
Family Dinner befor e their Fir st
Holy Communion.
Eighth graders at All Saints
Catholic School in St. Peters
performed a Passion Play for the
student body, parents and parishioners.
Students volunteered for their parts, and their performance, solemn and reverent,
began with the Last Supper (below, left) and concluded with the Burial of Jesus
(below, right).
The lessons, developed by
Code.org, teach the students that
computer science is fun and
accessible at all ages.
Students are encouraged to help
their classmates debug their code
mistakes.
Below, Ben helps Hannah
organize her code.
**********
Congratulations to the Federation of Catholic Schools in the
Northeast Deanery who have been awarded a $10,000 grant from the
Koch Foundation, Inc. of Gainseville, Florida in suppor t of student r etr eats
for sacramental preparation.
“We are grateful to the Koch Foundation for this
generous grant in support of our efforts,” said Cara
Koen, Director of Advancement for the Federation
of Catholic Schools in the Northeast Deanery. “The
funds are needed to continue to enhance the collaborative work of our parishes
and schools.”
The Koch Foundation’s mission is built on the Koch's vision "to strengthen and
propagate the Roman Catholic faith by providing grant support for a wide variety
of evangelization efforts." To learn more, visit www.thekochfoundation.org
Around the Archdiocese...
Saint Mary Magdalen
Catholic School
celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph
(March 19) by preparing the
traditional St. Joseph’s Day
altar.
According to legend, the people
of Sicily prayed to St. Joseph to
intercede for them and send rain
to salvage their dying crops—
primarily the fava bean crops.
The rains did come, and the
people showed their gratitude by
creating a beautiful altar of
flowers, wine, bread and fava
beans, a symbol of good fortune.
Valle Middle School's Student Ambassadors wor k har d to spr ead
the “Good News” about their school. (That’s what all student ambassadors do!)
To show her appreciation for all their efforts, Assistant Principal, Jill Metzger
recently treated the group to lunch in her office with pizza and soda!
Fall, 2016 Student Ambassador Training Dates Set!
Archdiocesan Secondary Schools—
Wednesday, August 24, 9:00-Noon
Cardinal Rigali Center (limit: 20 students)
Elementary Schools—Grades 6—8
Wednesday, October 12 and Wednesday, October 26
11:30-2:30
(Choose one session; limit: 10 students)
To register, write [email protected]
Today, many Catholic parishes
continue the tradition with a
special St. Joseph’s Day altar and
by sharing loaves of bread and
fava beans.
The feast reminds us, who have
been richly blessed, to share our
blessings with those who have
less.
Above, St. Mary Magdalen’s
St. Joseph’s Day altar. At right,
SMM students distribute loaves
of bread and fava beans to be
shared with students’ families.