Rosarian Academy E-News

Volume 3: Issue 8                                                                                                              March 1-31, 2016
Alumni Connect

Dear Rosarian Community, 

Each day as I watch the Rosarian children, I see how they engage with one another by talking, listening, giving, sharing, and including. I see them seeking to create a community where each student may bring his or her whole self to school and feel respected and accepted. I also see tremendous teamwork and peer support taking place beyond the classroom. This was evident through the Glocalizers' social-betterment plan to eradicate youth homelessness and students rallying behind their classmates during Lower School Field Day.
As we begin our final trimester for 2015-2016, let us continue to support our children and the importance of our Rosarian values in their experiences. Academic preparedness combined with our focus on the development of the whole person--their character, integrity and spiritual being--remain paramount to who we are as a school. 

I hope you see the foundation we are laying for our children's bright future through the news stories highlighted below from the month of March.

In peace,

Steve Rubenacker, Head of School
Lower School Field Day

On Friday, March 4 excitement filled Rosarian Academy's Garvy Gym and Jake Rubin Field as Lower School students participated in their annual Field Day competitions. PE teachers Jon Payne and Lindsey Beylo organized a fun-filled morning. Divided by team colors---Red, Green, Yellow, Blue--kindergarten-through-fourth-grade students competed with their grade level in soccer, tug of war, sack races, bean bag toss, basketball, scooter relays, flag pull and lion tail tag. 

The Green Team won with 2,440 points. The other three teams weren't far behind with 2,110, 2,100 and 2,010 points.
Glocalizers Selected as Top Recipient in Philanthropy Tank Challenge: Win $18,000 to Fight Youth Homelessness

A team of 18 seventh- and eighth-grade Rosarian Academy students, the Glocalizers, was selected as the top recipient and voted audience favorite, winning $18,000, in the Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank challenge on Thursday, March 17.  The Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank offered local middle and high school students an opportunity to create and implement innovative solutions to community issues and social problems in Palm Beach County. More than 35 submissions were received, and Rosarian's Glocalizers team was selected as one of nine finalists.

For this challenge, the Glocalizers are partnering locally with The Lord's Place to fight youth homelessness in our cities through promoting awareness, making policy recommendations and active participation.

The Glocalizers "pitched" their idea live, on stage on March 17 at the Harriet Himmel Theater at CityPlace in front of four judges/ philanthropist-investors who each personally committed $25,000--William Meyer, Julie Fisher Cummings, Danielle H. Moore, and Eric Becker. Finalists had the opportunity to receive up to $15,000 for their idea and will receive a year of mentoring by a contributing philanthropist.

Seventh-graders Devyn Dyett, Javier Keogh, and Jack Shepherd led the Glocalizers' four-minute pitch to eliminate homelessness for Palm Beach County youth by developing a "Hexa Village" made out of recycled shipping containers that would serve as temporary housing units. They outlined their goal to build a cost-effective, safe, inclusive, and sustainable community. The team also presented a model of the village--built by seventh-grader Jack Fields--and a computerized model of the container home.

After the nine finalists presented their community-betterment projects, the philanthropists deliberated and then presented the results to the competing teams. 

Judge Danielle Moore addressed the Glocalizers, "I love this program. It's going to be a monumental task to make this work, but I'm in. I'm all in. And I'm going to give you $13,000 and I'm going to mentor you and the rest of the Rosarian group." 

Julie Cummings and Eric Becker each awarded $1,000 to the Glocalizers. An added component to the competition was an audience vote. The audience chose the Glocalizers as "Audience Favorite," awarding the team an additional $3,000 for a grand total of $18,000.

Rosarian Academy students participating in the Philanthropy Tank challenge included: Meredith Anderson, Gemma Conroy, Bella Vega-Dadurian, Hope Diffenderfer, Devyn Dyett, Gabriela Faber, Jack Fields, Isabella Fiorentino, Marlowe Flom, Liam Groth, Bettina Johnston, Javier Keough, Sofia Mendez, Johnny Molina, Drew O'Brien, Thomas Raymond, Jack Shepherd, Lacey Steele, and Van Gronberg.

The Glocalizers, led by teacher moderator Blene Betemariam, are also competing in the Global Change Challenge. In this challenge, the team is partnering with seventh- and eighth-grade students from a Catholic school in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia-Nazareth School-to address youth homelessness. 
Happy 112th Birthday Dr. Seuss

In celebration of Read Across America Day and what would have been Dr. Seuss's 112th Birthday on March 2, Director of Lower School Terry Kent read Green Eggs and Ham to Rosarian kindergarten students in the Media Center. Dressed as 'The Cat in the Hat,' religion teacher Francesca Coniglio Finck surprised the children with a special appearance and entertained them as she climbed up on tables and stealthily moved around Ms. Kent. Following the story, the kindergartners enjoyed eating green eggs and ham cooked by parent volunteers.

Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually on March 2--Dr. Seuss's birthday. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate in bringing together kids and books.
MS Students Participate in Poetry Opportunity with Children's Book Author, Robert Forbes

Nine Rosarian middle school students have been selected to participate in a poetry opportunity with the Center for Creative Education (CCE). With assistance from local children's author, Bob Forbes, and professional teaching artist, Craig McInnis, the students are integrating poetry and visual arts and participating in a class project with other local middle school students. Attending weekly classes March 7 - May 5, the students are creating a collection of original poetry and illustrations that will be published in an anthology. 

Rosarian students participating include: Sailor Kate Ashley, Peter Fields, Marlow Flom, Natalie Goffe, Van Gronberg, Blair Haft, Bettina Johnston, Liam Landers, and Ci Ci Zhaou.

This summer, the students will represent Rosarian in an exhibit of their work at the Gallery at CCE and at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County.
Raising a Healthier Generation of Kids

Throughout the month of March, the Lower School students participated in the Let's Move! Commit to Change Physical Activity Challenge for the second year in a row. Despite a 10-day spring break in March, the kindergarten-through-fourth students moved a total of 278,502 minutes! Rosarian placed 8th in Palm Beach County. 

The children love moving; so, teachers tracked their classes' exercise done during school, including activity in class and during recess, PE, breaks, intramurals, and field day. The campaign, sponsored by Palm Healthcare Foundation and CBS 12 News, promotes physical activity, nutrition, and healthy behaviors.
Mason Adams Honored as March Student of the Month

Eighth-grader Mason Adams was honored as Rosarian's March Kiwanis Club Student of the Month on March 1 at The Chesterfield Palm Beach.

In his speech delivered at the luncheon, Mason stated a quote that often motivates him,"Good, better, best, never let is rest until your good is better and better is best." He emphasized his dedication to academics, athletics and serving others and when things don't turn out the way they should, he perseveres and keeps trying. He thanked his parents, sister and Ms. Moormann and Mrs. Ayres who both accompanied him to the luncheon. Mason concluded, "My family and my school truly support me and help make my better best, and I am very grateful."

Mason is a member of Rosarian's basketball team, a Student Ambassador, and an officer in Student Council. He hopes to attend either The King's Academy or Oxbridge Academy next year. 
8th Graders Dissect Pigs in Science Lab

8th-grade science students took a hands-on look at a fetal pig during science lab. Assisted by parent Dr. Jean Mullen, they began with the anatomy of the pig to review the relationship between all of the systems and relate them to their own bodies. They then looked closely at the heart and the circulatory system, highlighting the interdependent relationship the heart and lungs hold--the respiratory and circulatory systems work together to circulate oxygen rich blood throughout the body. Dr. Mullen highlighted all of the important anatomy of the pig heart, followed by students working together in small lab groups to dissect their own 2-3 pound pig heart specimen. 
Students Paint Their Hearts Out to Help Local Family Afflicted with MS and ALS

Led by Rosarian Academy's National Junior Honor Society, 15 students spent Saturday, March 12 painting the Palm Beach Gardens home of a family of four with the mother suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and the father from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). 

As part of its sponsorship of Paint Your Heart Out, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County provided the recycled paint and painting supplies at no cost to the homeowner. In addition to painting, the students also helped with landscaping provided by Rosarian parent Serena Wilson.

"It was a great event because the students had an opportunity to serve a local family in need while also learning valuable life skills," said Mr. Patrick Hansen, Rosarian teacher and NJHS moderator. "The students donated their entire Saturday morning which really reflects their character and commitment to service."

Paint Your Heart Out Palm Beach County is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that offers assistance to the elderly, disabled and low-income families with children. Through Paint Your Heart Out, more than 80 homes are painted or repaired yearly. The Solid Waste Authority donates more than 7,000 gallons of recycled paint a year to non-profit and governmental agencies. For more information on Palm Beach County's solid waste, recycling programs and their dedication to improving our community, visit www.swa.org. 
Website to Become Mobile-Friendly and Responsive

Given that 65% of all consumer decisions start on a mobile device--including a family's search for a school for their child--Rosarian recognizes the need to overhaul our digital presence and create artistic continuity between its website and all print and electronic materials. With this in mind, the school is undergoing a significant re-branding campaign.
 
JCW Productions (based in Baton Rouge, LA) is helping build a state-of-the-art, responsive website and other promotional and admissions materials to assist in telling Rosarian's compelling story. A team of eight members from JCW spent March 8-11 on campus photographing and videoing the school and conducting various focus groups. As story tellers, JCW will bring out Rosarian's current brand that has existed for the last 90 years.

We look forward to unveiling this new visual identity with our community in the coming months.
Singapore Math Coming to Rosarian

Singapore Math is coming to Rosarian Kindergarten at the start of the 2016-2017 school year. Singapore Math is known for encouraging algebraic thinking among early learners; promoting deeper understanding of essential math concepts; and enhancing problem-solving skills. We will grow this methodology into the other Lower School grades with each subsequent academic year. 

Eight members of the Rosarian faculty are beginning training this spring through an online course that will provide them with the pedagogy and principles of Singapore Math as it relates to developing children's number sense and numerical computation strategies. This summer, these teachers will travel to the National Singapore Math conference in Las Vegas to continue their training in Singapore methods.

In addition to fully implementing Singapore Math into the kindergarten curriculum, the Singapore Math strategies will enhance our current math curriculum in the first-through-fourth grades until the program is fully implemented in each grade level.
The Rosarian Fund: Give Online Through May 6

In 1925, the Adrian Dominican Sisters stepped forward to fill a need in this community for a school steeped in spiritual values, strong academics and extracurricular activities. Their personal conviction and their financial commitment to an ideal produced what we value today as Rosarian Academy. 
  • Every student, every day, benefits from this heritage.
  • Every student, every day, benefits from the continued goodwill and annual financial support of hundreds of Rosarian's parents, past parents, grandparents, friends and alumni through gifts to The Rosarian Fund.
The Rosarian Fund is an essential fundraising effort and involves all members of the community. The Rosarian Fund ensures that Rosarian, like other independent schools, has the resources it needs to provide a rich and robust academic program--from the classroom to the library, from technology instruction to the playing field, from the theatre stage to the art studio, from Toddler House to the eighth grade. The Rosarian Fund supports the resources essential to our school and has a direct and positive impact on every student, faculty and staff--enriching the experience for all.
Summer 2016: Registration Now Open
Rosarian Academy, founded in 1925, is an independent, 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. 

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Rosarian Academy | 807 N. Flagler Dr. | West Palm Beach, FL 33401 | 561.832.5131 | www.Rosarian.org