December 2011

Dates to Remember

Tuesday, December 6    

 Christmas Concert

Holy Name Church 

7:00 P.M.  

  

Thursday, December 8   

Progress Reports Mailed   

 
Wednesday, December 14  
Parent & Teacher Conferences
3-6 P.M.

Thursday, December 15 
Faculty Meeting Schedule
School Starts at 9:00 A.M. 
 
Wednesday, December 21
Start of Christmas Vacation
No Classes
This is a schedule change due to the Bishop's Holiday given for Wednesday, December 21st

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Christmas Gift Drive

 Grades 7 and 8 will be collecting "stocking stuffer" items that are appropriate for children ages 5-11. These items will be used for goody bags at the Mather School Winter Carnival on December 16th. Since the Mather School serves a diverse population and is not a Catholic School, we are asking for the items to be "Winter" themed as opposed to "Christmas" themed.  Suggested items include small toys, stickers, crayons and coloring books, gloves, chapstick, and individually wrapped candy (no peanuts). We are NOT looking for toiletries. These items may be brought in until Wednesday, December 14th.  Your help with these items is very much appreciated. 

National Honor Society Clothing Drive

December 5-9

 

We are looking for children's clothing, grades K-5, to benefit the

St. Francis House in Boston. 

You can drop bags of clothes in the lobby of the high school.

_____________________________

 

National Honor Society

Blood Drive

Monday, December 12th

CM Gym

7:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

 Please contact Mr. Croteau to make an appointment at

 (617) 469-8000, ext. 5008, or RobertCroteau@catholicmemo
rial.org

 

My Trip to London  

by Johnathon Treon '16

Recently I visited the historic city of London, England with my family.  On the first day of our stay in London we visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. It was impressive to see the impeccable detail that was put into each wax figure on display.  The next day we went on a tour of the outskirts of the city.  First we visited Warwick Castle; it is in the city of Warwick.  It is a majestic castle with beautiful grounds and views. 

Johnathon (Second Right) with his family in front of the
London Bridge.

On the next part of our tour we visited Stratford-Upon-Avon.  I really enjoyed being able to see the home of William Shakespeare.  It was very exciting to see the place where William Shakespeare wrote some of his prized writings.  Then for the final part of our tour we visited Christ Church College on the Oxford University campus.  I learned that Oxford University is not just one school, but  a series of schools.  That night we went to see the play "Wicked."  It is my favorite play of all time. It made me rethink the story of the "Wizard of Oz."

For our third day in London, we went to the 'Eye of London" (the third largest Ferris wheel in the world).  It was unbelievable because you are able to see all of London from the top of this gigantic Ferris wheel. Then from there we visited the Tower of London.   It was unlike any place I have ever been to, because of all the uses that it served, which were, a prison, a place to store royal jewels, and even as a royal residence.  In conclusion, I really enjoyed the opportunity to visit London and hope to return soon 

Drug and Alcohol Awareness

by Alex Lustig-Goessens 

 

Last week a speaker came in to talk to the 8th graders.  She came to talk about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.  She spoke about her personal experience, and experiences of others and none of them were happy memories. Her name was Dr. Brodie from the Whittier Street Health Center and she is an expert on the effects drugs and alcohol can have on people.  Her first topic was alcohol, and how it can have a genetic component.  If members of a family have a strong history with alcohol, there is a greater chance that others in the family will start drinking at an early age. The problem is when we are young our brain and organs are still developing until we are about 25 years old.  When we drink alcohol, it affects many parts of our brain which controls our memory.   When we drink we are more likely to forget things, which is one of the side affects of a hangover.  Also, alcohol can effect our bodily movements and decisions, which are all the functions one lacks when they are drunk.  Another interesting fact Dr. Brodie mentioned was that over 20% of 14 year olds have reported  being drunk at least once in their lives, and that 25% of 14 year olds report having had alcohol in the past 30 days.  One of the bad effects of drinking at an early age is that people who start drinking under the age of 15 get addicted a lot faster than people who do not, and it is then much harder for them to stop.  

 

The other thing Dr. Brodie spoke about was marijuana and prescription drugs.  One of the first facts she mentioned was that 15% of 8th graders have tried marijuana, and 6% have smoked it in the past month.  One of the problems with marijuana is because of its expense.  The kids who use it sometimes start to steal from their parents or others to pay for their habit.  Another major problem is that marijuana literally makes you stupid.  It kills brain cells, damages your memory, and slows the processing speed of your brain, which can be critical for someone that is still in school and is learning. These problems are just the effects of the drug, never mind all the dangers of smoking it. Dr. Brodie also talked about how bad prescription drugs can be if you take drugs that are not prescribed to you.   In conclusion, Dr. Brodie explained the dangerous effects of marijuana, alcohol, and prescription drugs.  Her speech was very helpful and informative, and now it is up to us to make the right decision.    

Dr. Brodie with Ms. Concannon  and members of the Edmund Rice Society 

 

Catholic Memorial Bookstore Christmas Sale

Sunday, December 11th

10:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M.

 

$10.00 OFF YOUR PURCHASE OF $100.00 OR MORE WHEN YOU BRING A BAG OF CHILDREN'S CLOTHING

 (K-5) TO THE SALE IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE NHS CLOTHING DRIVE



new shield 

Catholic Memorial Christmas Concert Helps to Ring in the Christmas Season

 

"Glory to God in the highest..." (Luke 2:14), A Catholic Memorial Christmas Concert Celebration, will be performed on Tuesday December 6, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury.  This year's concert will feature performances by the Catholic Memorial Grade Eight Chorus, CM's Jazz Ensemble - The JazzMen, the Chamber Ensemble, and will also feature performances by soloists and readers.  The concert is under the baton of Catholic Memorial's Director of Music and Chair of Fine Arts, Mr. Craig Spaner, who had this to say about the upcoming performance:  "Christmas is such a beautiful time of year.  And at Catholic Memorial, the Christmas Concert is a wonderful way to begin the Christmas season.  This year's concert features music from both the sacred and secular Christmas repertoire.  Our students have been working to make this concert a beautiful tribute to the holiday season.  It's going to be a truly wonderful show."

 

The Eighth Grade Chorus at last year's concert.

 

Spaner continued, "Holy Name Parish has once again, so graciously allowed us to use their magnificent church to perform our concert, which so majestically captures the true essence of the Christmas season.  It is an impressive church; a truly tremendous opportunity for our students to perform in such an exquisite space.  We are thankful for Holy Name's generosity for the use of their church.  Holy Name provides a poignancy to the spirit of the Christmas season.  It is a marvelous church."

 

Please join us on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury for "Glory to God in the highest..." (Luke 2:14), A Catholic Memorial Christmas Concert Celebration.  Refreshments will be served after the concert.

The Edmund Rice Society

by Kevin Hock '16 

 

The CMMS Student Government is known as the "Edmund Rice Society."  The purpose of the "Edmund Rice Society" is to represent the interests of students, to increase student decision making, teach leadership skills, improve campus life, and support the Catholic Memorial Mission Statement.

 

The members of the "Edmund Rice Society" are elected each year by the students in grades 7 and 8.  The members of the 2011-2012 student government are listed below.

 

                                    Class Officers

 

            President:               Kevin Hock

            Vice President:       Finn Gundersen

            Treasurer:               John Marino

            Secretary:                Will Schmidlein

 

                               Student Representatives

 

    Paul Marino              Jake Hallisey   

    Sidney Sarfo              Greg Tobin

            Paul Hardiman         Kellan Grady

            Dolan McCarthy       Shaun Kirby

            Nick Ricci                  Jake McGowan

            Matt Campbell         Timmy Weinstein

The members of the Edmund Rice Society with Mr. Boyle 

 

The Edmund Rice Society is organized and designed for service. One goal of the student government is to teach leadership through service to the CM community and the greater community with activities such as school dances, food & clothing drives, and book drives. We are in the process of researching other service project opportunities to get involved with later in this school year.  In our next few meetings, we hope to put together a plan of action.

 

Finally, the members of the student government will serve as examples to the CM Mid-Knights. At our meetings, we discuss proper behavior and the way we should treat each other.  We hope to be responsive to all of the questions, suggestions, and concerns of our fellow classmates.       

 

 

 

The F.B.I. Visits Donahue Hall

by Matt McGurn '16

 

On Wednesday, November 30th, my eighth grade class met three F.B.I. Special Agents. They were Michelle Bloch, Bill McDermott, and Eric Toole.  Mr. Toole and Mr. McDermott graduated from Catholic Memorial. Mrs. Bloch is the aunt of my fellow classmate Robert Mullen. Mrs. Bloch was responsible for putting the whole presentation together.

John Marino, Agent McDermott, Agent Bloch, Robbie Mullen, Agent Toole, Kevin Hock, and Matt McGurn
 

The agents talked about many things, like where they grew up, and how they got involved with the F.B.I.  In their talk they emphasized the importance of saying no to drugs. They talked about the effects drugs can have on you. They also talked about the seriousness of  becoming addicted to drugs. They advised us, "Once you start it is very difficult to stop."

 

Other things they talked about was what they do as F.B.I. agents.  They told us that they are mostly involved with bank robberies. They said that there are about three hundred bank robberies a year in the U.S.  They also talked about counter-terrorism.  After 9/11 counter-terrorism became a much more important part of their mission.  Today if they even hear rumors of an attack they will do whatever possible to prevent it from happening.

 

They talked about what weapons they use when the need arises. They mostly use M4's, and shot guns. They told us that if a cruise ship were to be taken hostage that they would use a Blackhawk helicopter to gain access to the ship and attempt to overtake the terrorists.

 

At the end of the presentation they explained what you need to become an F.B.I. agent. You need to be an American citizen, you need a college degree, and you need to pass a polygraph test. Their presentation was very interesting and I can bet that there are a few of us who are now thinking about joining "The Bureau."         

 _________________________________

 

"To be or not to be...."

(Hamlet, Act III, scene I)

 

We, in the middle school, are going to have a Shakespeare Program.  It is entirely for grades seven and eight.  A performance will be presented in March.  The program will be after school beginning in January.  It is entirely possible for students to participate in multiple after-school programs, including Shakespeare!  Students can have the time to be on an athletic team, as well as be a part of this program.

 

If your son is interested, now is the time.  Please have him see Mr. Spaner in the Music Room.  The performance in March will consist of monologues and scenes from many of Shakespeare's plays.  Rehearsals will begin in January and run after-school until the performance date in March.  Rehearsals will not be every day for all students.  This is an incredible opportunity for our students.  The show will be directed by Mr. Ross MacDonald, who is also CM's varsity rugby coach.

 

Now is the time to have your son get involved with this program from the beginning.  If you need more information, please contact Mr. Spaner at:  craigspaner@catholicmemorial.org

 

 CMMS Speech Team Going Strong

 

Congratulations to the twenty-five 8th Graders who competed at the Jewish Country Day School in Watertown on Sunday, November 20th under the direction of Mrs. Eberly.  Most performed for their first time at a Massachusetts Middle School Forensics League interscholastic competition.

 

...and the winners were: (L-R) Paul Marino, Jack O'Brien, Joseph McCauley, Eric Lyons, Joshua Mullins, Mike Calderone, Tim Weinstein, and Alex Lustig-Goessens

Special recognition was earned by the following CMMS students:

Joshua Mullins, 3rd Place in Poetry;

David Kenny, 6th Place in Poetry;

Eric Lyons, 3rd Place in Play Reading

Paul Marino, 4th Place in Play Reading

Michael Calderone, 5th Place in Play Reading Joseph McCauley, 5rd Place in Declamation.

 

The CMMS Speech Team's next  two competitions are on Sunday, December 4th at the Pike School in Andover and on Sunday, December 11th back at Jewish Country Day School.

 

 
Paul Marino

CMMS Football:

A Memorable Season

by Paul Marino '16

           

The CMMS football team has just finished a fantastic season. We had an overall record of 7-2 and won the Catholic Conference. We achieved this great record by beating BC High in our last game. The only two losses we had during the season were to Roxbury Latin and Wellesley. Both of these teams were phenomenal, because they had great plays in their playbook to draw from and use against us. This season was a major success and was a great accomplishment for everyone on the team. Our coaching staff did a very good job working with the talented players we had. We even had three players who made the Massachusetts all-star team. They were Darren Wagner, Frank Cosolito, and Curt Bletzer. Each of them played a pivotal part of supporting one of the best records Mr. Boyle has ever coached in his tenure at CM. 

 

The team playing under the lights.

 

 The final game against BC High was our most important and most exciting. We got an early lead by scoring two touchdowns quickly in the first half.  However, BC High answered by scoring on a great kickoff return.  Still, CM was not going to be defeated that easily and scored right back with another touchdown and the CM team never looked back.  In the fourth quarter the CM team locked up the game with a 95-yard touchdown screen pass to Frank Cosolito. The result was that we crushed the Eagles and claimed the Catholic Conference Championship. Coach Malone called the plays for our line on both sides of the ball, contributing greatly to the win. We also had a great defensive strategy led by Coach Strum that prohibited BC High from scoring more than three touchdowns.  However, at the end of the game, it was Head Coach Boyle who enjoyed a water bath from the team to celebrate the momentous win. The entire team felt special to be part of this extraordinary season.  It is one each of us will remember for a long time.