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Dates to Remember
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Friday, October 7
Olympic Day
7:50-2:25
Wednesday, October 12
Middle School Program Mini-schedule
7:50-12:00
Parent & Teacher Conferences
1-3 and 5-7
Friday, October 14
Faculty Professional Day
No Classes
Sunday, October 16
Open House
1-3
Friday, October 21
Seventh Grade Field Trip
to the Higgins Armory Museum
Eighth Grade Field Trip to the
Moakley Federal Courthouse
and Kennedy Library
7:50-2:25
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Higgins Armory Museum
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Niagara Falls
by Kevin Steele '16
This past summer my family and I went to Niagara Falls. It was a long drive to get there but it was worth it. We stopped to look at the falls from the American side. I was very surprised when I realized how close Canada was from the U.S. We could see the hotel we were heading for in Canada while standing in the U.S.
We headed for the border crossing. I had never used my US passport before. Going through customs was similar to going through security at an airport. When we got to Canada, we looked out over the falls. They were very impressive. At night, lights shone on the falls and they changed color every few minutes. On weekends, they have fireworks over the falls, but unfortunately we were not there to see them.
The next day, we headed to the falls to get a closer look. Even at a distance, you could feel the mist and hear the roar of the falls. You can get very close to the edge of the falls with just a small wall and fence between you and the raging water. It is easy to see how someone could fall in. Sadly, we found out that a Japanese student died by accidently falling into the falls a few days after we were there.
We took a tour called Journey Behind the Falls. On this tour you walk through tunnels that were blasted in the rock behind the falls. There are cutouts in the rock and all you can see is the water pouring down in front of you. You then walk out on the deck and the falls are directly beside you. The wind blows the mist all over you. You can hardly hear because of the noise of the falls.
While walking through the tunnels that lead behind the falls, there are displays that tell the story of the falls and the people who went over them by accident and on purpose. It was once a stunt for daredevils to go over the falls in a wooden barrel. Some survived, but many did not. There was also a display about the youngest person to ever go over the falls and survive. In 1950 a nine-year-old boy went over the falls after a boating accident. He was wearing only a swimsuit and a life jacket. Somehow he survived the incredible drop, and was picked up alive by the Maid of the Mist tour boat.
We then went on the Maid of the Mist boat cruise. You can take the Maid of the Mist from the American side or the Canadian side and you will get the same tour. The boat takes you past the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. You then cruise at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls. The cruise is called the Maid of the Mist and you do get covered by mist. They give everyone a rain poncho before boarding the cruise.
We broke up the drive home by spending the night in Cooperstown, New York. The following day we toured the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I really liked seeing the display of the World Series rings. They also had a good display of baseball cards and had Curt Schilling's bloody sock from the World Series. It was a great trip and I would highly recommend seeing Niagara Falls and the National Baseball Hall of Fame!
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Kevin with his sister Caroline
and brother Mark
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Interview with
Mr. Spaner
by Eric Lyons '16
What are your plans for the 8th grade music class this year?
I am about to teach the 8th grade some Christmas songs starting soon. There is going to be about six or seven songs. The songs are going to be a mix of sacred and secular songs.
What are your more general plans for the Christmas Concert?
It's going to include middle and high school students. The selection of songs is going to include many famous titles so hopefully everyone will know them.
What play are you planning to put on in the spring?
I'm not sure about that yet, but I need to know by the beginning of next month because I'm going to start auditions on the first week of October.
What's open to middle school students after school every day?
Anything that goes on in the Music Room is open to everyone such as the musical, Chamber Ensemble, Liturgical Choir, and the CM JazzMen.
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Eric Lyons and Mr. Spaner
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Just a thought:
When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.
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Dear Parents,
I hope you enjoy this year's first issue of The Squire. You will be receiving The Squire the first week of each month until June. The purpose of this parent newsletter is to keep you informed of the many activities that are taking place in Donahue Hall. We also hope to use this e-publication to showcase the achievements of our students. As you know, this year the seventh and eighth grade teachers will be focusing on "Making Healthy Life Choices." If you have any suggestions for guest speakers, or information that would be helpful to other parents, please feel free to contact me at donaldcormier@catholicmemorial.org.
Below is a list of events and activities that we have in place for October.
- Starting this week, students interested
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in joining any of the following clubs should see the teacher moderating the club. Speech and Chess Clubs/Mrs. Murphy, Speech Program/Mrs. Eberly, After School Program/Mrs. McGauley, Homework Club/Ms. Concannon, Latin Club/Mrs. Hynes, Art Club/Mrs. Peacock, and Music Club/Mr. Spaner. - Wednesday, October 12th is an early release day. Students will be released after lunch at noon. We will have two guest speakers on this day to start our interdiscipinary teaching unit on "Making Healthy Life Choices." Officer Castill from the Boston Police Department will speak on biking in Boston and Debra Levy from the Whittier Street Health Center will discuss the importance of physical activity as a life-long habit.
- Friday, October 21st will be a field trip day for students. The seventh graders will be going to the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester to learn about the history of Knighthood and the eighth graders will be going to the Moakley Federal Courthouse and the Kennedy Library as part of a unit they are doing in civics on the executive and judicial branches of government. Students will be bringing field trip permission slips home next week.
I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday, October 12th at the Parent & Teacher Conferences from 1-3 and 5-7.
Sincerely,
Donald A. Cormier
Head Teacher |
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Moakley Federal Courthouse |
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CM + The Whittier Street Health Center = Good Health by Ms. Mary Concannon, Middle School Guidance On September 28th parents new to the middle school program were given practical tips on providing busy CM boys with healthy food options by Kerry A. Mendes, a nutritionist with the Whittier Street Health Center. Her presentation entitled "Choose My Plate" will be given again here at school on October 18th to students in grades seven and eight. Math teachers in both grades will be constructing lessons around this broad theme during the month of October and students will then be required to produce a project based on the topic of nutrition.  | |
Ms. Concannon
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This is the 'kick-off' to an exciting year of guest speakers, projects and field trips all of which focus on the Middle School theme for 2011-12 "Making Healthy Life Choices." Month by month throughout this academic year teachers will address issues such as: sports medicine, art therapy, smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, fitness and more. Each month will feature a guest speaker, an expert in the specific area being discussed, who is on staff at the Whittier Health Center in Roxbury. Students will discuss the topic in their subject area classes, listen to the presenter and construct an end product based on what they have learned. Associated grade level field trips will enhance the units through the year. This first time partnership between the middle school and this well respected health care facility results from the generosity of CM parent Frederica Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of Whittier Street Health Center. Ms. Williams has offered both her personal expertise along with that of her staff in arranging this wonderful program. Additionally, former CM parent Dumas Lafontant, Director of Community Relations at Whittier will be assisting in scheduling of speakers and trips during the year. Look for monthly updates here in The Squire as the year progresses. Learn about the speakers and their topics and talk with your sons at home as they learn about "Healthy Life Choices."
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Dr. Edward Benz, President and CEO of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Devin Williams-Ageman '15, and his mother Mrs. Frederica Williams, President and CEO of the Whittier Street Health Care Center at the Park Plaza Hotel were over $500,000 was recently raised for the Whittier Street Health Care Center.
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Middle School Football Team
Displays Poise and Determination
by Paul Marino '16
This year the CM Mid-Knights are having a great football season so far. Mr. Boyle is the head coach again this year and assisting him is Coach Malone and our new defensive coordinator Mr. Strum. We are doing a good job this year getting out to an early winning record of 2-1. We beat Westwood by a significant amount in our first game even though we weren't able to play the entire game, as lighting forced the game to be called early. In our second game, our team could not stay mentally focused and jumped off sides a lot. We had better skills than the other team in our opinion; however, without Coach Malone working with the line, our offense could not gain key yards and stop the big plays on outside runs by Wellesley's running backs. We lost by a slim margin in that game and couldn't do anything late in the 4th quarter.
The next week our game occurred on a Friday at home against Weston. During that week leading up to our game, we received a rare and needed day off because of rain. We used the extra time to learn new defensive tactics, including blitzing, and new formations on offense. We used these tactics, such as the 3-5 Defense, to almost completely shut down Weston. We successfully protected our turf by overpowering Weston by more than five touchdowns and everyone received a significant amount of playing time at home. We have a short practice week this week playing Roxbury Latin at home, which will be a very tough, hardnosed game. We have a talented, good team this year capable of winning a lot of games, and a coaching staff that is more than qualified of pushing us to win and calling the right plays with the right players. I predict a great season with a winning record this year finishing by defeating BC High, our rival in the last game of the year.
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A Team of Poise & Determination
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Middle School Soccer
Team Steadily Improving
by Finn Gundersen '17
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Finn Gundersen
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I think that the middle school soccer team is improving every day with Coach Jordan and Coach McGovern. We seem to be getting better all the time. Although our record is 1-2-1, I think that our losses were for three main reasons. We had not played together before, and we needed to work on our settling and passing. I think that because we have been doing more passing drills and we have been playing better together now that those problems are being fixed.
Our record shows this improvement. Our first two games were losses because of the reasons I mentioned before. I think that our game against BC High helped us improve because we knew we needed to beat BC High. After all they are our greatest rivals. So we just couldn't lose. I think that psychologically this helped us play better. I know that before the game the captains Steven Azums , the captain, Jin Soo Lee , the co-captain, and I, the other co-captain, helped the team prepare for the game. We were pretty excited at the beginning of the game, and we were happy that we tied.
I am optimistic that we are going to win our next game against BC High. We are constantly improving, and we won our game against Saint Sebastian's. That game was incredible. We started out losing by one, then we came back when Owen Woodock and then Bryce Connor scored goals. We were doing great on offense for that game, whereas, in most games we were mostly on defense. In this game we were moving the ball and getting lots of shots on goal. To end on a positive note, I will say that we are probably going to win more games from now on because of our steady level of improvement.
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