Sunday Evening News 11.08.2020
November 8, 2020
SUNDAY EVENING NEWS
“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared to death.”
Gen. Omar Bradley
Peace & Greetings:
Trust you got out and enjoyed this glorious late autumn weather this weekend. Looks like we’ll get a few more unusually warm days this week. We’ll take it this time of year!
This Wednesday, November 11 we celebrate Veteran’s Day allowing us the opportunity to reflect upon our appreciation for the military men and women who have served our country to protect our freedom. They are the true heroes in giving their life to something bigger than oneself. That’s the ultimate definition of our core value of service.
The Bristol Veteran’s Day Ceremony will be virtual this year shown on Nutmeg TV (Channel 5 and 1070 on Comcast and 6060 on Frontier and Nutmeg’s YouTube Channel) at 9:00 am, 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Special thanks to Maddie Hooks ‘21 and Ben Speaker ‘21 who represented St. Paul at the ceremony taping, reading names of local veterans who have died since last year. A sincere THANK YOU to all our veterans.
EVENING REFLECTION & PRAYER
“Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
This Sunday we heard in the Gospel the command of Jesus for us to stay awake – for we do not know the day or hour when he will return. This should not cause us to be fearful or nervous but on the contrary it should allow ourselves to know that Jesus is always ready to love us. The question for us is do we love the Lord in the same way? Are we always striving to make our relationship with Jesus the number one priority in our lives, so that when he returns we will be more than ready?
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the true light that shines on our world. May we always have hearts that are prepared and ready to welcome you. Inspire and stir up in our hearts the fire of your love, that we may reflect it to the rest of the world. Jesus, we trust in you.
Have a blessed week everyone! Fr. Glen, Chaplain
SCHOOL CALENDAR (Week of November 9 – 13)
Monday, (Day 1); Tuesday, (Day 2); Wednesday, (No school); Thursday, (Day 3) and Friday, (Day 1)
ADMISSIONS NEWS
We had 60 prospective Class of 2025 students take our first Placement Exam yesterday. It’s a good start in these uncertain times but we need to continue to be active ambassadors for St. Paul in our feeder parochial and public feeder schools and in the regional communities we serve.
Our next Open House is scheduled for Saturday, November 21 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Advanced appointments can be made by contacting our Admissions Office. The next Placement Exam is Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 am. We hope to have another good showing before the Christmas holidays.
Signs are still available. Would you be willing to have a Placement Exam lawn sign in your yard or at your place of business? If so, please email cmone@spchs.com and we will have your child come pick it up from the Admissions Office. Thank you … we need and appreciate your partnership.
GUIDANCE NEWS
COLLEGE REP VIRTUAL VISITS
| Monday | 11/9 | B period | Western Connecticut State University |
| Friday | 11/13 | B period | Louisiana State University |
A reminder that seniors who have a December 1st deadline need to fill out the transcript request form by November 16th at the latest: https://forms.gle/43H4x3FCF7JgrrMK6
UNDERSTANDING, COPING WITH AND MANAGING STRESS & ANXIETY
The St. Paul Counseling Department is excited to announce our first group counseling opportunity! Mrs. Glynn & Mrs. Mancini will be leading a student group on Understanding, Coping with and Managing Stress and Anxiety.
This group will meet once a week on Wednesday or Thursday afternoon via Zoom. We will be meeting for five sessions starting either November 18 or 19. Over the course of five weeks we will discuss understanding anxiety and stress, developing and strengthening coping strategies, replacing negative thinking, how to apply coping strategies and the importance of self-care.
We are looking for students who are willing to participate in the group counseling setting and who can commit to attending all five sessions. If you are interested please fill out this google form by this Friday November 13: https://forms.gle/Giixp8CgLjHdV3nA6. If you have any questions, contact your counselor!
ATHLETIC NEWS
NVL POST SEASON – FAN POLICY
Given the current COVID-19 situation, there will be NO FANS allowed at any NVL post-season events. The NVL and St. Paul appreciates everyone’s adherence to this policy as we continue to try to provide safe and productive playoff experiences for our fall student athletes. The league will work to provide live streamed video access to as many events as possible.
NVL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Boys Soccer – 1/4 final NVL Iron Division game – St. Paul @ Torrington at 5:00pm on Monday. This game will be broadcasted on the NFHS network.
Volleyball – 1/4 final NVL Iron Division game – St. Paul hosting Holy Cross @ 5:00pm on Monday. This game will be broadcasted on the NFHS network.
Girls Soccer – NVL Semi-final Iron Division game – St. Paul hosting Wolcott at 5:00pm on Tuesday. This game will be broadcasted on the NFHS network.
Boys & Girls XC – NVL Iron Division Championship on Wednesday at Veterans Park in Watertown @ 9:30am. Broadcast details will be shared with the team prior to the event.
Girls Diving – NVL Girls Divisional Championship at 6:00pm on Tuesday @ Watertown HS. Broadcast details will be shared with the team prior to the event.
Girls Swimming – NVL Divisional Championship meet vs Sacred Heart on Friday @ 7:00pm. Broadcast details will be shared with the team prior to the event.
WINTER SEASON INFORMATION
The CIAC has announced the postponement of November 21 as the beginning of the winter sports
season. The CIAC Board of Control is scheduled to meet on November 17 at which time a new start date for the season will be established. We will keep you posted with winter sports information as we receive it.
Starting at the end of this week Mr. Dennehy will have sign-ups during lunch waves for students who plan to participate in winter sports.
TRAVELER’S ACTUARIAL DAY
Nicholas Couilard ‘21, Gabe Duncan ‘22, Adam Houle ‘22, Sarah Lindquist ’22, Gillian Smith ‘22 and Miles Jennings Jr. ‘23 were nominated to attend the 19th Annual Travelers High School Actuarial and Analytics Event on Friday, November 6. Due to COVID-19, this year’s event was held virtually.
Chaperoned by Mrs. Clarke, these students joined other top math and statistics students from high schools across the states of Connecticut and Minnesota to learn about the field of Actuary Science and Analytics. The full day event commenced with an introduction and discussion by various representatives within these professions at Travelers. Each presenter provided a wealth of knowledge for students to consider as they navigate through high school and into college.
The most exciting components of the day were the individual and team challenges. Students competed in a knowledge quiz bowl in which Sarah Lindquist and Adam Houle took 1st and 3rd places, respectively, out of the nearly 90 students participating.
Each high school also competed in a “high-stakes, fast-paced” simulated actuarial game, requiring strategic risk analysis and smart business decisions. Students analyzed the data provided and determined the appropriate amount of insurance coverage to mitigate risk exposure on each element of their assigned business unit. Then the computer model would generate a series of random risks both catastrophic and non- catastrophic. The St. Paul team successfully held the lead by retaining their capital through investing and insuring wisely to cover their risk exposure until the unthinkable happened…a fire hit creating major losses in our industry ultimately dropping us to finish in third place out of the ten competing teams.
HMMT COMPETITION
Founded in 1998, HMMT is one of the largest and most prestigious high school competitions in the world. Each tournament draws close to 1000 students from around the globe, including top scorers at national and international Olympiads. HMMT is entirely student-organized, by students at Harvard, MIT, and nearby schools, many of whom are HMMT alumni themselves.
St. Paul’s team consist of seniors: Alecia Barbieri, Sophia Gerst, Martina Joung, Jon Passander, Emma Schatz and Kevin (Zixuan) Sun.
This year’s annual Harvard/MIT Competition will be virtual. The contest opens on Saturday, November 14 and closes on Sunday, November 22. More details can be found via this link. https://www.hmmt.org/
STUDENT GOVERNMENT THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE
The United Way Youth Board and Student Government will be sponsoring a Thanksgiving Food drive on Friday, November 13. If you bring in 3 cans or nonperishable food items and $3, you can dress down that day. The food collected will go to the United Way of West Central CT to support our local communities during the holidays and to the Little Sisters of the Poor with their continuous efforts to support the elderly. The $3 donation will go to support our Mission Club to create meal kits for the Zion Lutheran Soup Kitchen throughout the year.
This event is a Falcon point event. The class that brings in the most cans as a percentage of their overall class size will receive 8 points, second place 6 points, third place 4 points and fourth place 2 points. So bring in as many nonperishable food items that you can to help your class get those Falcon points and our community to have a nice holiday.
THANKSGIVING BINGO
On Friday, November 13 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm Student Government will be sponsoring bingo night in the dining hall. This is a limited event of 75 people and sign-ups will be through a google form sent on Monday. The event is also a food drive so for every 3 nonperishable food items you will receive one (1) bingo card to play for exciting prizes. Any questions, see Mrs. Kendrick.
The Spirit of the Franciscan Christmas Fair
November 21-December 20, 2020
This year, because of the pandemic, the Franciscan Christmas Fair, benefitting the Franciscan Life Center and Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care will be online. We invite you to join us for The Spirit of the Franciscan Christmas Fair November 21 – December 20, 2020. We will share the spirit of Christmas with you through our Living Crèche, selling fair items online including Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces, pottery, handmade miniature reindeer, handmade candles, Merry Miscellaneous items, Holy Land pieces and more. There is a Basket Raffle and Santa and Mrs. Claus will be live from the North Pole. Please join us in supporting The Spirit of the Franciscan Christmas Fair by visiting franciscanchristmasfair.org.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (November 9 – 15)
Happy Birthday wishes go to: Thomas Burgess, Cameron Dutil, Jayla Johnson, Hunter Pickering, Jude Rak, Teresa Strasser, Nina Yang and Mrs. Kelly.
FINAL WORD
Last Tuesday, I sent an email to all current remote learners confirming your decision to stay in remote learning or transition to in-person as we begin the Second Marking Period tomorrow, Monday, November 9.
In an effort to be flexible and work with our families during this fluid COVID-19 time, I shared a modified policy change indicating remote learners will be allowed to request permission to change to in-person learning at any later date during the academic quarter by simply having their parent/guardian email/call me. Each student request will be reviewed on a case by case basis depending on in-person availability in the classrooms.
Students who wanted to transition back to in-person learning on Monday, November 9 were asked to send me a request at cdupont@spchs.com by last Friday, November 6. In order to ensure a smooth transition, students should NOT show up to St. Paul tomorrow or any later date unless your in-person learning request is confirmed by me, in advance.
Let me know if you have any questions.
As COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the country and in our state, please adhere to the following
MANDATORY PRACTICES to help keep our St. Paul community healthy and safe.
- Every student, faculty and staff member must complete the Bristol-Burlington Health District (BBHD) Daily Health Check before arriving at St. Paul each morning. The link is on the website homepage and attached here: https://forms.gle/v9mNDN8abHEYBk8G6.
- REMAIN HOME IF YOU ARE NOT FEELING WELL. Students can take advantage of live stream remote learning for most of their classes while out of school.
- Wear a mask, covering both your nose and mouth at all times.
- Wash your hands or sanitize frequently throughout the day.
- Watch your distance keeping at least two arm lengths whenever possible.
- Only two (2) people in a restroom at a time.
- Practice these mitigation health strategies beyond the normal school day (i.e. evenings and weekends) to leave the virus outside our borders.
Stay well … take care of yourself and take care of each other.
St. Paul, pray for us!
Cary M. Dupont ‘72 President/Chief Administrator
