T2 Reveal!

T2, also known as “Think Tank” is a group of students that remained anonymous form the whole student body, and administration for months, preparing and “thinking” of ideas on a
school sponsored charity fundraiser.

The students remained anonymous with the help of the Principal,Mr.Tonero, and the  technical support of Mr.Falgares, that kept the the T2 Schoology page up
and running to keep the student body updated. In December, the Students revealed themselves through clues and riddles. The group consisted of 10 students : Nico Landino, Anna Southwell, Brenna Harold, Lauren Lithgow, Kaylee Apple, Emma Gould, Mary Gowen, Tara Glover, Calista Colbert, and Fiona Jordan. The group asks all members of the community to come forth with a talent they would like to share in the 1st Annual St Rose Talent Show, happening in late March. The T2 group has contacted celebrities to come and judge our talent competition in hopes to raise money for the victims of natural disasters around our country.

NHS Tutoring Program For High School and Grammar School Students!

The National Honor Society strives to succeed the four cardinal principles of the society, Character, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. Tutoring has been performed for many years by members of the society, as it is a primary service opportunity that highlights all of the four cardinal virtues.

 

Students in NHS are required to tutor throughout the year. There are many tutoring opportunities. Underclass students that may be struggling in certain aspects or subjects have the opportunity to be tutored by members of the Society and it only takes one email. Guidance counselors or teachers have the ability to contact NHS moderator, Mr. Critelli, if they see a student to be struggling. From there Mr. Critelli will assign an NHS member to tutor that students that needs help. In addition, National Honor Society has teamed up with St. Rose Grammar School. Every Tuesday, students from the grammar gather in the SRHS Library and have the opportunity to be tutored by members of the society who excel in certain subjects.

Jenny Bassi, NHS member, was asked a few questions about tutoring.

 

Courier Writer: How is tutoring beneficial to you as a student?

Jenny Bassi: It allows me to interact with students and provides me the opportunity to view learning in a new perspective. I enjoy seeing students grow academically and it is exciting when a student understands we are going over.

Courier Writer: How is tutoring beneficial from the student.

Jenny Bassi: It helps the students gain a better understanding from the material and because I am a peer, the learning experience is more comfortable and allows them to be more confident and sure of themselves. Students feel more comfortable asking questions.

Courier Writer: Do you enjoy tutoring the grammar school students, and how is it different from the high school students.

Jenny Bassi: I enjoy it a lot because the students are excited to learn and find joy in the little, such as when they get a question right or understand the material.

 

Tutoring is a great way for NHS members to fulfill their required 25 service hours per semester, as they receive the hours but also help students to further understand what they are learning in school. Tutoring is also a great way for members to improve their leadership skills. Many benefits come from tutoring!

Christmas Tree Lighting Delights Both High School and Grammar School!

 

The 1st Annual St Rose Christmas Tree Lighting was held. It was an amazing afternoon, where the high school put on a fantastic show for the Saint Rose Grammar School. From The Live Nativity, to a visit from Santa, the new tradition was an excellent way to ring in the holiday season.

The event was kicked off by Megan Stefanacci (‘20) who gave a beautiful singing performance. After that, our students performed The Live Nativity. That was followed by a skit from the St Rose High School Theatre Company and a performance by the St Rose High School Cheerleaders. After the St Rose High school Rosettes performed their dance, and the St Rose Choir performed a beautiful melody of Christmas songs, the children of St Rose Grammar School were delighted to see Santa Claus was on his way to the gym! The Tech department along with some help from other St Rose students, were able to track Santa live, and provide updates on his arrival. Santa came by boat into Belmar, and took a fire truck to St Rose High School. In true Santa fashion, Santa emerged from the rooftop, and climbed down the ladder onto the stage. Santa distributed presents, with the help of his elves, and did the honors of lighting the Christmas tree! Smiles and holiday spirit filled the gym that afternoon, and it was a truly magical start to the Christmas season. Lauren Hickey (‘19) was an elf in the show and helped Santa deliver the presents to the children. She said that her favorite part of the show was “seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when Santa Claus entered the gym.”Mr. Tonero along with the faculty, the Tech department, St Rose students, and many others worked extremely hard on this event. It was a tremendous success and Saint Rose High School looks forward to doing more events like this in the future.

Sophomores Bond on Class Trip

 

This past November, the Class of 2021 went on the annual class trip to Chelsea Piers Fitness Center. On this trip, the sophomores learn the importance of teamwork through different games and activities.

To start their jam packed day, the sophomores took a ferry across the river for breakfast and dancing. The ferry takes them along the Hudson River with a view of NYC and the Statue of Liberty. Anne Ditullio says, “The view of NYC is beautiful on the boat and the dance floor was fun!” David Frost agrees, “My favorite part was seeing the Statue of Liberty from the boat.”

Upon arriving in Chelsea Piers, the sophomores are given opportunities to participate in activities such as rock climbing, soccer, and more! With so many activities to do, many of the sophomores found it hard to pick just one as their favorite. Kiernan Hickey said, “My favorite part was when we got to play soccer in the sports zone and the food on the breakfast cruise because it was really good!” Abby Antognoli says she “had a really great time having a fun and eventful day” with her friends and “really enjoyed Chelsea Piers!” Overall, the sophomores agree that Chelsea Piers was plenty of fun and a great experience to share with friends.

Starting the School Day with a Focus on Community

Convocation is an exciting new element at St. Rose this year.  The idea is to bring the school together as a community on a daily basis and the effects are fantastic. With this new set-up, the students and faculty can communicate directly to each other and express new ideas that they have. Convocation also includes new, recurring segments a few times a week. The whole school community meets every morning in the gym, other than Wednesdays,  when students go to their homeroom.

 

The meeting includes announcements from students, teachers, and members of the administration about school news and reminders. Also, at each convocation it begins and ends with a blessing from Father Chris, which includes our new school prayer: “Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever. St. Rose of Lima, pray for us.” The student body has really taken to the new prayer and it gives the school a sense of identity.

 

Another fun part of this new function is the weekly student spotlight. This highlights a student or group of students to be recognized in front of the school community for the great acts they have done. The first students under the spotlight were Jenny and Jamie Bassi. They were recognized for going on a week-long mission trip to Puerto Rico to assist victims in recovery from the devastating Hurricane Maria that hit in 2017. One of the other segments at convocation is called: Did You Know? This brings students and faculty closer together by giving interesting, unknown fun facts about faculty members or students. One of the newer segments is birthday shoutouts, in which a member of student council announces whose birthday it is, teacher or student. The school also recently installed a new sound system for the gym and a massive screen to display highlights from sports and other school activities.

 

Convocation has truly set the tone for this school year and the school’s future. It produces a positive attitude for the whole community and everyone is thrilled about all of the new ideas becoming reality.

2018 NEW COURSE: AP PHYSICS

Our school is filled with new, exciting additions this year and one of them is our new class: AP Physics. The class is taught by Mrs. Keegan who is extremely excited about the course in its rookie year. It is an introductory year course, so none of the students taking the class have ever taken physics prior to this year. In order to enroll in the class you must have completed biology and chemistry, so the class consists of juniors and seniors. These students excelled in the honors level chemistry class and are all very proficient in math, which is a pivotal aspect of physics.

The class is equivalent to one full semester of college level Physics 1. The class covers the entire curriculum, but the main focus is preparing for the AP exam in May. There is not a traditional lab day once a week like most of the school’s science courses, but labs will be done as part of the curriculum to help the students become more comfortable with the free response questions they will see on the exam. When asked about her hopes for the class, Mrs. Keegan said, “We are able to incorporate some of the school’s newer technology into some of our labs to make the class even more dynamic for these students.”

Having this class taught in high school is an advantage because it is over a seven-month period, so Mrs. Keegan is able to slow down when the students need her to. Whereas in college, the course takes place over a rapidly-paced four-month period and is far more rigorous. The curriculum is extremely similar to the honors and CPA courses, but the biggest difference is the speed of the class so that there is time left over solely for exam prep. Additionally, the curriculum deals mostly in learning problem solving strategies and accumulating that knowledge to be used later with other, similar content.

This AP course is exceptionally helpful for the minority of students who have a specific idea for their major in college and even further, their career. It is highly recommended for students that are looking for a future in engineering or something in the medical field because they will have to take biology, chemistry, and physics, and this is a great starting point to advance to that level. Mrs. Keegan believes that the class will grow in size and that due to a potential change to the schedule that more students would be able to enroll in more AP courses at a time. There is an abundance of change and AP Physics is glad to be a part of the action.

Academic Awards and Inductions, Fall 2018

On Thursday September 20, 2018 students, faculty, and parents gathered in the St. Rose Church to honor and acknowledge students for their academic achievements. The celebration included the induction of the new members of the National Honor Society for the Sister Ann Massarelli Chapter, the induction of the new Executive Board of the National Honor Society, and the recognition of the students who received academic accomplishments for the 2017-2018 school year.

The 25 inductees, 20 juniors and 5 seniors, joined the other members of NHS with great pride. The inductees wore their white stoles around their collars to represent this academic achievement. Acceptance into NHS is no easy feat, you must have a 96 GPA or higher from Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Year, and complete 75 hours of service, and also submit a letter of intent, and a letter of recommendation. In addition, 25 hours of service is required each semester to stay in the Society. In addition to the induction of the new members, the National Honor Society Executive Board was also inducted. The board members include President Grace Martis ‘19, Vice President Nico Landino ‘19, Secretary Lauren Hickey ‘19, Treasurer Matt Forlenza ‘19, and Parliamentarian Mary Gowen ‘19. The members of the board will give all of their effort in attaining the four cardinal principles of the Society: Character, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service, and the Society’s motto, Noblesse Oblige, which translates to “nobility obligates”. Scholarship pertains to the commitment to learning. Character relates to the force within each individual which distinguishes that person from the other. Service refers to the willingness to work for the benefit of those in need. Leadership pertains to someone who strives to train and aid others to attain a common goal. The Society strives on excellence and the excellence continues with the new moderator, Mr. Critelli. 

In addition to the National Honor Society Inductions, the night was also to celebrate students who achieved academic excellence in the 2017-2018 school year. Awards were given by Mr. O’Halloran, Mr. Tonero, and Father Chris to students with the highest and the second highest average in each class, including all subjects in all levels, CPA, honors, and AP. In addition, awards were given to seniors who were recognized for 3 years of excellence. These students included: Joey Urspruch who received the Georgian Court University High School Book Award, Jenny Bassi and Jada Weedon who received the St. Michael’s Book Award, and Brady Shea who received the Jane Murphy Celia Award . Congratulations to all of the students who were acknowledged, to everyone that helped in making the night so special, and to all of the parents and families that attended the ceremony.