moellerwired ...leadership
moellerwired ...for leadership By Sally Nugent, YPC Coordinator
Moeller Students ‘Give Away’ $12,000 More YPC Grant Recipients: All Saints Tutoring Program: Participation incentives for Moeller students. Student that won donated the money back to the school. Moeller Stepping Stones: Purchased and installed stepping stones to connect the parking lots between All Saints and Moeller. Area was often a hazard to walk through prior to the installation. Unified for Unifat Video Equipment: Grant enabled the organization to videotape their recent trip to Uganda and to use that video material to promote their mission of supporting the school in Uganda. (See pages 6-7 for more information.) Moeller Archery Club: Provided start-up money for this additional co-curricular activity. Currently, 90% of the Moeller students participate in at least one after-school activity. Peru Summer Service Trip: Funded the building of four houses that the Moeller students helped to build. St. Vincent DePaul: Funded a corn hole fundraising activity for St. Vincent DePaul. Kid's Café: Funded new games for the children. Moeller students regularly volunteer at Kid’s Café located in downtown Cincinnati (part of the Free Store Food Bank program). Heroes for Unifat: Funded a Guitar Hero competition/ fundraiser. The money raised purchased mosquito nets that were distributed to the children of UNIFAT School in Uganda. Moeller Advocates for Life – UCP: Purchased computer and Wii to assist patients with social networking skills at the United Cerebral Palsy agency. 4 • FALL/WINTER 2008
PHILANTHROPY. The very mention of the word elicits images of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the good work they are doing with a billion-dollar budget. Philanthropist. Now the image is a wealthy, middle- to late-age person, most likely a man! But the students at Moeller are breaking that paradigm. Because of the generosity of a local philanthropist, the students are “giving away” $12,000 and learning firsthand the complete process of being a philanthropist. The Youth Philanthropy Council was the first of its kind at a Cincinnati area high school when it began just two years ago. Now there are more organizations of this type springing up in high schools and colleges throughout the greater Cincinnati area. The Moeller Youth Philanthropy Council (MYPC) began in 2006 when a generous donor approached the Pastoral Ministry Department with an idea to truly engage the students in the philanthropy process. Moeller agreed and asked for student applications to form a council. Once the students were selected, they spent many hours learning about philanthropy with the assistance of Xavier University’s Dr. Gene Dupres. They also spoke with recipients of donations from charitable organizations, as well as local philanthropists, and with a representative from Impact 100- the local organization that makes a one-time donation once a year to a nonprofit in Cincinnati (most recently, two $111,000 donations). The students learned that philanthropy is much more than just the giving of money. It involves establishing a process to solicit grant requests, learning about the organizations that are asking for financial assistance, and the actual decision-making process of awarding the money.
The criterion set forth was simple: the project must be led and executed by students at the schools, and it must benefit the community in a way that has not been implemented before. The councils have the flexibility to award the money to one project or to multiple projects. After reviewing 16 grant proposals from their peers, the
The 2007-08 MYPC (Back row, from left): Mark Shipp ‘08, Andrew Urban 09, Matt Almario ’09, Alex Parra ‘11, and Taylor Shaw ‘11; (Front row, from left): Mark Nugent ’09 and Eric Werner ’09. Missing: Marc Ketcha ’08, and Aaron Doppes ‘10.
council chose to fund 13. One grant, Moeller Advocates for Life Without Limits, involved purchasing a computer and a Wii for the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) agency in Cincinnati. This enabled Moeller students to work with the agency’s clients at the Alfred J. Rendigs Center, helping them with online tools like Facebook so that the clients could connect with friends and family. In addition, the students played games on the Wii (a perfect tool for those with limited mobility) to encourage physical activity. “It was a great privilege for us to have the opportunity to work with a team of young men committed to others in the Cincinnati community who are living with disabilities,” said Denise Durel, UCP’s development director. “We would like to commend Matt Almario for his leadership and insight in understanding our need, as well as his determination to see the project funded... The gift of creating a world of acceptance and understanding simply cannot be measured.” MYPC members are already experiencing the many rewards that come with giving. Matt Almario ’09 said, “The (council) is such a great opportunity because it allows Moeller students like us to support groups and projects that are the most important to our classmates. In addition, it has… created a sense of responsibility to give back (now and in the future) to the communities who contributed to the person I am and will be.”
Top left photo: Quentin Coletti (facing) plays John McCain, with Dom DeNoma (back) assisting with his presentation. Top right photo: Collin Joyce plays Barack Obama. Lower photo: Front row, from left: Quentin Coletti, Ben Flannery, Dominick Denoma. Back row, from left: Greg Schneider, Cullan O’Brien, and Tom Middleton.
Election Offers ‘Teaching Moment’ REGARDLESS THE OUTCOME of the November election, the historic level of the presidential campaign this year provided lots of fodder for classroom discussion. Two teachers specifically took advantage of the “teaching moment”: English teacher Mike Moroski and religion teacher Anthony Corder. Moroski had his students running a campaign, in conjunction with an argumentative essay in support of a candidate. Using a debate-style format, he then split the class into two teams. Each student wrote a five-paragraph essay, offering specific reasons for their support. Then they elected a campaign manager who compiled all the data from his team. Each side also elected a student to represent their candidate, who took the role seriously, wearing a coat and tie for his role in the debate. Meanwhile, students on both sides collected election memorabilia – campaign posters, stickers, t-shirts – even Busken cookies. “It’s a neat assignment, and the boys really dig it,” said Moroski. “The neat thing is that the boys in my other classes also got into it and brought in their own campaign posters to support their brethren. Fun stuff.” New religion teacher Anthony Corder worked with his seniors on a unit called, “Justice and Peace: Faithful Citizenship.” He had his students read the US Catholic Bishop’s document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” Then the students researched issues and candidates in preparation for a group presentation. “Groups presented on a topic, like immigration or abortion, giving the background information, church teachings that address the issue, a current event that helped us to see the human face of the issue, and a comparison of the candidates' platform on the issue,” said Corder. “With several groups presenting, we had an opportunity to explore Catholic social teaching on a variety of issues and see where the candidates stood. Also reinforced was the Catholic teaching on political participation: ‘We are called to bring together our principles and our political choices, our values and our votes, to help build a better world’ (USCCB May 2008). With the election just after the conclusion of our unit, our month's faith formation was clearly relevant.”
MOELLER SENIOR EARNS YMCA CHARACTER AWARD: Moeller senior Michael Glaser, son of William and Paulette Glaser of West Chester, received the 2008 YMCA Character Award. He is a straight “A” student and a leader within Moeller’s House System. Michael swims year round on three different teams and is an active volunteer. A budding entrepreneur, he operates a landscaping business with his older brother. “We landscape and maintain approximately 20 yards within our neighborhood,” he explains. Another service he provides is free landscaping for his elderly or sick neighbors. In addition, Michael is an accomplished musician. “I have been taking piano lessons for almost 11 years and fill in occasionally as a sub at my mom’s music school,” he said. “I have been playing saxophone for almost nine years. Last year I was one of the first chair alto saxophone players in the Moeller Symphonic Winds.” Michael uses this gift to serve others by performing concerts for the retired residents of Chesterwood Village, playing the national anthem at swim meets, and teaching piano lessons to elementary students. “Service to others” has been a theme of Michael’s life, so it’s no surprise that this isn’t the first honor he has received. A few years ago he won “Outstanding Student of the Year” from the Kiwanis Club of Mason.
SENIOR MARK NUGENT was selected to attend the 2008 Leadership University in Washington, D.C., sponsored by LeadAmerica at Gallaudet University. “Leadership University” is a college-accredited, invitational leadership program for academically talented and promising young leaders from across the United States and around the world.
Freshman Leadership Program During the Freshman Leadership Program kickoff, speaker Tom Hewlett from FranklinCovey shows Michael Madden ’12 the importance of learning to balance the many roles he has in his life.
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