Rosarian's middle school has introduced three new extra curricular clubs that are competing against other middle schools--Math Counts, Debate Team, and Running Club led by Mrs. Mary Edmonson, Mr. Patrick Hansen, and Miss Katherine Murphy, respectively. 

Math Counts

Rosarian's Math Counts Club is part of the National Math Club which is an inclusive math enrichment program. The math club helps build confidence in students of all ability and interest levels by giving them the opportunity to engage in unique math activities in a relaxed, social setting. The club empowers middle school students to reach their full potential in mathematics. We inspire curiosity and build confidence in students of all levels through The National Math Club. We help create a space where learning math is fun, social and supportive, so that every student becomes a lifelong math learner.   

After attending a few professional development workshops on arts integration, Mrs. McClain has been applying this approach to teaching with her students. Through arts integration, students construct and demonstrate understanding by engaging in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area.

As an annual tradition, Rosarian Academy spends the first full week of October celebrating its faith, history, service, community, and spirit--all of which have been a part of Palm Beach County for 89 years. This year, Rosarian Week took place October 6 - 10 with Monday as Faith Day, Tuesday History Day, Wednesday Service Day, Thursday Community Day, and Friday Spirit Day.

Rosarian Week kicked off with a celebration of the school's Catholic faith at a school-wide Mass, celebrated by Father Brian King. Faith and history were then brought together as Nancy Murray, OP, Adrian Dominican Sister and sister of actor Bill Murray, took the stage on October 7th to present Catherine of Siena. In this one-woman performance, Nancy Murray brought students and faculty back seven centuries and immersed them into the life of the Dominican Saint Catherine who lived her life in service to God through her service to others.

Service to others is an integral part of the Rosarian Academy Community, including educating students to make a positive difference in the world. Service Day was highlighted with Rosarian alum, Teresa DeJesus, presenting a slideshow to students on her recent three month service trip to Ethiopia where she worked with a Catholic mission named Fundación Misión para la Misericordia (Mission Mercy) which operates in developing countries to promote health, education, social support, and Catholic parishes. In addition, lower school students did an in-school service project creating cards and pictures to send to the impoverished children of Ethiopia.

The Rosarian Academy Family Association, led by Jason & Nicole Guari, hosted nearly 500 Rosarian family members at the 61st Annual Spaghetti Dinner on October 9. As part of Rosarian Week, Spaghetti Dinner falls on Community Day, where students, parents, teachers and staff gather together for a wonderful meal.  The sauce was created and underwritten by Marcello's La Sirena and the pasta & salad prepared by WT Café. We are so appreciative of all the hard work of the RAFA Committee and our parents for making this event a huge success, yet again! 

Rosarian Week traditionally ends with the campus ablaze with a rainbow of color as students participate in Mission Day, or Field Day. Clad wildly from head to toe in their team colors, 5th-8th grade students competed in athletic events, such as: relay races, basketball, volleyball, dance, capture the flag, hula hoop, and bocce ball. With only a 33 point spread between the first and last place winners of the eight teams competing, Sr. Donna's Black and White Team took first place with a total of 167 points. Congratulations as well to the Red and Green Teams for placing first place in Sportsmanship and Spirit, respectively. 
 

Field Day is also known as Mission Day as money is raised to support "missions" of the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Through a few generous donations and excellent sno-cone sales on Field Day, we raised $714 for Adrian Dominican Missions. This money will be sent to Espiritu Santo Fe y Alegria School in the Dominican Republic. 

Rosarian Academy eighth grade student, Madeleine Landers, was honored as the school's October Kiwanis Club Student of the Month on October 21st. Continuing its tradition of honoring excellence, character and leadership potential, Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach recognizes students from local schools at a monthly luncheon at the Chesterfield Hotel. Selected students are honored with a check and a certificate.

Madeleine was accompanied by her mother, Nancy Guffey-Landers, and former Social Studies teacher, Ms. Peggy McCray. In the speech she delivered at the luncheon, Madeleine thanked her family, friends, and teachers for encouraging her to be the best she can be, "I especially want to thank Ms. McCray who taught me how to make learning fun...to live life with a good attitude and a cheerful disposition." She spoke proudly of her involvement with Rosarian and the community. She has been a member of Show Choir since second grade; enjoys basketball, painting, tennis, chess, writing and horseback riding; and is an active participant in community service as she enjoys knowing that her actions are affecting others in a positive way.

On October 23rd, the 8th grade students proudly displayed the work they compiled over a year's worth of analysis at the school Science Fair. The projects were judged by a group of teachers, administrators and medical professionals.

Congratulations to the following students for their winning projects:

1st Place: Colloidal Silver: Joey Rouijel
2nd Place: Nuts About Calories and Energy: Gabby Melendez
3rd Place: Deferred Gratification: Caroline Fulton
4th Place: Which Color Makes You Remember Most?: Harper Murphy
Honorable Mentions: To Spin or Not to Spin: Emma Quattlebaum; Lunar Effects: Gina Landrum

The following students qualified to attend districts which will be held on December 9,10, 11 at the South Florida Fairgrounds:

Colloidal Silver (Joey Rouijel)
Nuts about Energy (Gabby Melendez)
Lunar Effects: Gina Landrum
Pearly Whites: Nikki Giordano
Hit or Miss: Michael Brams
Do Sharks have Color Preferences?: Will Keen
Venus Fly Traps: Jake Kaywell
Epoxy Surfboards vs. Fiberglass Surfboards; Toby Vega-Dadurian
Leaf Chromatography: Maya St-Hilaire
How does Aspirin Affect a Partially Grown Tomato Plant?: Hailey Hersey
Lacrosse Mesh: Ryan Monroe
Skateboarding Wheels (Square): Brian Quinlan
Well Water vs. City Water: Samir Thakkar
What Substance Melts ICe the Fastest?: Dante Cooper
Do Dogs Do Color?: Izzy B. Goldstein
Who Wants Moldy Bread?: Ella Schrotenboer
 

 For the third consecutive year, Rosarian Academy's National Junior Honor Society students brought spooktacular fun to The Lord's Place family campus last Friday, October 24.  Approximately 30 seventh and eighth graders paired up with over 35 children, currently housed by The Lord's Place, to carve pumpkins, paint faces, share stories and laugh together.

Led by the NJHS, the school held a pumpkin drive and collected over 50 pumpkins to donate to the families of The Lord's Place.

"It is always amazing to see the joy that this event brings to both the children of The Lord's Place and our Rosarian students," said Patrick Hansen,  Rosarian middle school teacher and NJHS moderator, "We love continuing to build our relationship with The Lord's Place and serve their families...This is meaningful community service and a tradition that we want to continue for many years to come." The children and parents of The Lord's Place were so grateful that the Rosarian students helped make this Halloween treat possible for them.

The Lord's Place Housing Programs provide shelter for homeless men, women and children and help residents identify the issues that led to their homelessness. The Lord's Place gives their residents the tools they need to stabilize their lives, while providing safe homes so they can thrive. Currently, 39 families with over 45 children reside at the Family Campus. In addition to the Family Campus, The Lord's Place has two other campuses-one for homeless men and one for single homeless women. For more information, visit: www.thelordsplace.org.

Rosarian won its 24th Rosarian Academy Invitational Swim Meet held at Lake Lytal on October 25, 2014. Coached by Mrs. Jan Wallace and Mrs. Ginny Downes, the first through eighth grade swimmers came out strong and fought hard against the four other schools competing. The team finished with a 47 point victory over Palm Beach Day Academy who placed second. In third, fourth, and fifth places were St. Clare, All Saints and St. Ann, respectively. The final scores were Rosarian: 625, Palm Beach Day: 578, St. Clare: 195, All Saints: 162 and St. Ann: 123.

Prior to introducing the Seven Sacraments and as a way to better understand their relationship with God throughout their lifetime, the fifth graders made time capsules filled with five signs of God's love for them. After filling their capsules with items such as a family picture, baptismal certificate, gift from their First Holy Communion, favorite prayer, sand from the beach, etc, each student fully explained how each of the items represent God's love for them. 

In sixth grade, each class created its own version of a news segment based on the days of creation. The news segment, "Genesis News," broke up the days by accurately portraying the information found in Genesis 1. Click on the image below to view one of the sixth grade class' production of Genesis News.

The seventh and eighth grade classes focused on preparing for All Saints Day. The seventh graders created and presented "Saint Cubes" and the eight graders researched questions related to becoming a saint and then made saint biography cards on the computer.

Rosarian celebrated Red Ribbon Week the last week in October. This year's national theme was "LOVE YOURSELF, BE DRUG FREE." Students were encouraged to dress according to various themes throughout the week to promote positive choices and a healthy lifestyle, including: sock it to drugs; twin day/team up against drugs; hats off to our health; and say "boo" to drugs. 

Throughout the week, 7th and 8th grade Health classes participated in wholesome activities in the classroom as a strategy to resist pressure to experiment with harmful drugs.  Activities included students juicing apples, carrots, ginger and beets and playing Twister and other interactive games to encourage wholesome social activity.

 Red Ribbon Week is celebrated by tens of thousands of schools, government agencies, and social service organizations and touches the lives of 80 million young people and adults in the United States each year.

In a fitting and touching tribute, the Meta Peace Team (MPT) inaugurated its Mary Pat Dewey, OP, Heart of MPT Award and bestowed it on the Adrian Dominican Congregation, the first recipient.

The award presentation took place during the MPT's 2014 Signature Event, held the evening of October 26 at Byblos Banquets in Dearborn, Michigan. During this annual event, the MPT and supporters celebrate the work that has been done toward peacemaking, honor those who have made outstanding contributions, raise funds for MPT, challenge one another to continue the work, and enjoy a festive dinner together.

In tribute to Sister Mary Pat, nearly 30 Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and friends attended the MPT Signature Event. The event also drew hundreds of MPT supporters and friends.

"It is a privilege and an honor to receive in the name of our Adrian Dominican Congregation and our Prioress, Sister Attracta Kelly, this wonderful award," said Sister Jo Gaugier, Chapter Prioress of Holy Rosary Mission Chapter in Adrian. "It's also kind of a mixed blessing of sadness at our loss of Mary Pat and our joy in knowing she accomplished so much in her work with the Meta Peace Team." Sister Mary Pat died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 6, 2014.

 Sister Jo spoke from years of experience of working directly with Sister Mary Pat, who had been the administrative assistant of Holy Rosary Chapter until her retirement in October 2013. "I'm sure every Dominican Sister who is here and who knew her and loved her so joins with me in attesting to her love and her dedication to [the MPT]. She worked tirelessly, and she got after us to work tirelessly, to be contributors and workers and assist in this work."

Sister Jo presented the MPT with a check for $1,200 and cash donations by members of Sister Mary Pat's entrance crowd, as well as Sisters from the Dominican Life Center who were unable to attend the event. "It is their wish that they could be part of honoring Sister Mary Pat," Sister Jo said, adding that the Congregation would "continue to work in her memory to seek truth and make peace."

 The kindergarten through eighth grade Spanish classes spent the last week of October learning about and celebrating Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Not to be confused with the American holiday, Halloween,  Día de los Muertos is an annual holiday with rituals and celebrations originating from the indigenous cultures of Mexico. On Dia de los Muertos, people decorate altars and grave sites of family members who have passed away with elaborate and colorful decorations. It is much more a celebration of life than death--a time full of happiness, color, food, family and fun. Each class made a decoration.

Halloween was much more than ghosts, goblins and jack-o-lanterns. The Early Childhood program held its annual "Orange Day." From the Toddler House to the Children's House, the children had a great morning celebrating Halloween with fun arts and crafts, outside games on the playground, pumpkin stories and lunch consisting of mostly orange foods. 

The kindergarten and third grade classes used real pumpkins for math and science lessons. The kindergarteners expanded on their study of plants and fruits and vegetables by carving various size pumpkins. They discovered that a pumpkin carries the same number of seeds inside from infancy to being a large mature pumpkin. The third graders also took an up-close, hands-on look at pumpkins in their "Pumpkinology" lesson. Not only did the third-grade pumpkinologists use many math and science skills used in the Core Knowledge Curriculum (measurement, circumference, making predictions, brainstorming, testing/analyzing results of predictions), but they also had a lot of fun and got messy doing it. 

The Halloween fun continued into the afternoon with class parties followed by the annual traditional Lower School Halloween Parade. The Children's House and middle school classes gathered with parents and grandparents in the Garvy Gym to watch the kindergarten through fourth grade classes parade and dance around the gym in their Halloween costumes.

Thank you to all of the parents who contributed to this special day!

Rosarian Academy, founded in 1925, is a private, coeducational, Catholic school sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Its mission is to educate the whole person for life in a global community in the light of Gospel values.