A Newsletter for the Cardinal Newman High School Community Tr i n i t y E x t r a , M a y 2 0 1 4
CL A RNDEI W NA N EHW MH A NS CHHI O GO H LS C H O O L CARDINA M LA N IG
TRINITY
INewnnovative Intersession program engaging students in experiential learning and building community.
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his spring the CN faculty initiated Intersession, a program engaging students in experiential learning and building community. Working together, teachers offered twentyseven different courses ranging from Archery to Welding. On March 27th and 28th the entire student body participated in newly-designed classes and workshops. While a number of instructors used the CN campus as a base, others took students off campus to visit colleges, paint pottery, practice photography in natural settings, explore culinary arts, and learn the skill of rock climbing. Mr.Vukicevich led tours of local wineries, for students interested in viticulture. His itinerary included a visit to Benziger Winery where students learned about their sustainable vineyard program which emphasizes environmentally sound growing methods. Junior, Brandon Bone, enjoyed the tour and said of the program, “These few days expose students to life experiences.” Mr. Rutherford prepared a program for students curious about criminal justice. His students observed actual trials and met with judges. Sophomore Trevin Anderson found the cases interesting and said that he would love to see the Intersession program expand. Sophomore Johann Hoppe agreed. “It’s a great opportunity to explore things that we would not normally be able to study at school.” College Counselors Mary Euphrat and Tony Greco organized two day-long college tours. Students appreciated how prepared their guides were in helping them to consider future options. Junior Clarissa Chambers said, “Saint Mary’s was never a college I would have considered, but now I’m going to look more into it.” Courses such as Dance, Meditation, Boot Camp, Foreign Food and Film, Soccer, Sports Psychology, “Do It Yourself ” Maker Projects, and Robotics that used the CN campus earned equally high ratings from students. Junior Yuki Ma participated in Morris Acevedo’s CD Recording workshop where she learned to use Garage Band. “We used the app to record every individual part and at the end it constituted a complete song!” In a follow-up survey, students overwhelmingly supported the program and expressed hope that Intersession would grow. “It’s a good way to take a short break and learn something new,” said sophomore Ivan Rubio. Sophomore Haley Saffarinia agreed. “It’s a great way for us to learn interactively. We are more well-rounded students and better prepared to go out into the real world when we have experienced different ways of learning.”
Arts Alive !
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ardinal Newman’s annual spring arts festival “Arts Alive!” got a big boost this year with the addition of a dance and drama component. For Drama, the festival kicked off with two nights of improvisational comedy. There was a core group of very creative performing students that were able to think on their feet and develop a show on the spot in front of a live audience . . . this is performing at its most real and intimate . . . add laughter on top of the performance and you can expect a night to remember. Madison Widener, Angelina Valentine, Alexa Pappas, Chris Lin, Pier Pilenga, Christine Wilson and Sam Krauskopf form this tight-knit crew. The festival ended with the Spring Dance Show. All students that are enrolled in the Cardinal Newman dance classes are part of the Cardinal Newman Dance Show. The productions are performed at Sonoma Country Day School which has a wonderful theater space with professional lights and sound. Great choreography, creative costumes, and lots of energy and vision combine to make the dance show a highlight of the spring arts season. These events were combined with other events in our Arts Alive! week, including: Imagine That, the fine art gallery opening; So Show Me, the talent show; Poetry Night; and Film Festival, this year with a 50s theme to make the 2014 Arts Alive! event one of the best yet!
Campus Update by Graham Rutherford
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ur year remains a work in progress: what work? what progress? On May 1st, we welcomed Laura Held as our new President, after a long and nationwide search. Her experience and credentials are impressive; I found her to be amongst the strongest applicants from the start and she clearly emerged as the best match for our school. We feel fortunate to have a person with many years of all levels of Catholic education to lead us and who also has much experience of community involvement, in service work as a Rotarian, and in making parish connections. Her enthusiasm and energy are also welcome; expect to see her often in our many events. We improved communication directly to start the new year with a new PA system replacing the analog original from 50 years ago. Now, with extra speakers inside and out, we can all hear better. This project, spearheaded by Dirk Bietau, came in under what we expected to have to spend and with its wireless ability, has more flexibility and features. The other tech upgrades that have continued this year have allowed greater use for a variety of devices. Now in place by rooms 12 and 13 is a prayer and reflection area around a large bronze statue of Jesus, arms spread out in welcome, inviting all to come and rest. The statue reminds one of the great Christ the Redeemer look and completes a row that stretches from the Grotto at the library to the Garden of Remembrance to the Veterans Memorial and flag to the Mary and Bernadette rose display. These many signs of faith are well maintained by our staff, supported by gifts from students and parents, and largely have been achieved by Head Maintenance Chief Avid Valentin. His gift to the school of ideas and effort have helped transform our grounds into a more park-like setting and a place where thought is made evident by example. Our new Science building has passed the Diocese Buildings and Grounds committee and the plans are submitted to the county for approval. This was made possible by the work of Mike Truesdell and the generous gift of $2 million from the Finley Foundation, in addition to other gifts by the Seghesio Trust and Gallo Family Foundation. We look forward to adding two new full lab classrooms and an overlarge class that can do multi-purpose work. The building is to be completed in time for the start of the 2015-16 school year, as we begin the next fifty years. The other more immediate building work has been the construction of a women’s locker room in the gym, a need that was moved up a year with the loss of use of the Ursuline Gym. The county approved our plans at the start of April and the work will be done by August, in time to start next year with ADA compliant bath facilities and locker space. The many donations given to this project include the student jog from this year, funds from the Gala fund a need, and a generous gift from Paul Wright in memory of his daughter. This will give girls a personal space in the gym; joining with the pennants from Ursuline, donated by the Sisters from their gym, that were hung up this year with the previous CN ones. The Track and Swim records were also combined last year in recognition of the achievements of other students before the current ones. We believe that in combining these achievements we are honouring the many student-athletes from years previous. More growth? You bet! Growth is progress, the result of hard work; both of these we have seen this year, more expected in the coming year.
Father Daughter & Mother Daughter “This year was my last year of getting to experience the Father/Daughter Dance and Mother/Daughter Brunch. I will miss spending quality time with my parents. These events have always been such a blast. Our lives are really busy, so it’s nice to just take a night or a morning and spend it with some really special people. Thanks Mom and Dad, I Love you.” Jessie Foell, Class of 2014
faith unity spirit excellence FROM SHADOWS AND SYMBOLS INTO THE TRUTH