Sunday Evening News 2.21.2021
February 21, 2021
Lent 2021
A time to reflect and pray for the grace to know ourselves better so that we might grow to become the best version of oneself.
Peace & Greetings,
EVENING REFLECTION & PRAYER
“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
Repentance and belief are at the heart of discipleship in Jesus Christ. May our Lenten journey reflect and live out repentance from sin and believe in God’s mercy and transformative love.
Let us pray,
Grant, almighty God, through the yearly observances of holy Lent, that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ and by worthy conduct pursue their effects. Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Fr. Glen, Chaplain
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Week of February, 22 – 26, 2021
Monday (Day 1), Tuesday (Day 2), Wednesday (Day 3), Thursday (Day 1) and Friday (Day 2).
REMOTE LEARNING – IMPORTANT STUDENT HANDBOOK REMINDERS
One last time this week, let me remind students electing to attend school remotely during COVID-19 that they are required to conform to all expectations for proper student behavior as set forth in the 2020-2021 St. Paul Student Handbook. We are encouraging consistent compliance and cooperation.
- Students must have their video feed on at all times in Zoom and their face must be completely visible on camera unless they have sought and received permission from their teacher to leave the screen.
- Students may choose to leave their Zoom audio on mute, but must unmute themselves to answer a teacher’s question, respond to a comment in class or ask a question.
- Students are expected to be in St. Paul uniform during all Zoom sessions. Students are encouraged to find a quiet setting in their home to attend class.
- Regular attendance is a necessity for achievement in school. Excessive absence, indicating a lack of interest and application, is a hindrance to the learning process and will not be tolerated. For the purposes of official school attendance, each time a remote learner is absent from school, a parent must notify the Main Office between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. to explain the nature of the student’s absence.
- To be recorded as present for a school day, a remote learner must arrive on time to the Zoom session for their homeroom/A period as well as attend at a minimum an additional two full academic class sessions. Attendance in each Zoom class will be taken, and a student who misses more than 15 remote learning classes, will be in danger of not receiving credit for that course.
A reminder that in-person learners are required to take all assessments in-person and not over Zoom. If absent on the day of an assessment, students should be prepared to take their quiz/test on the day they return to school.
WEEKDAY MASS – SCHEDULE CHANGE
This week Mass will be held on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:15 am at St. Gregory the Great Church for the special intentions of the Boys’ Basketball team. As always, any students and faculty are welcome to attend. Please enter by the side parking lot entrance.
LENT 2021
- Mondays Confessions in the Chapel from 1:00 – 2:00 pm
- Tuesdays Bible Study based on the discipleship program from Franciscan University in Stubenville with Fr. Glen in Campus Ministry from 2:20 – 2:45 pm ***
- Wednesdays Weekly Mass at 7:15 am
- Fridays Divine Mercy Chaplet in the Chapel at 7:30 am
Baby Bottle Boomerang fundraiser for Carolyn’s Place bottles are being voluntarily distributed to students in religion classes if you wish to participate in collecting loose change during Lent.
*** All are invited to attend a short but reflective bible study this Tuesday after school in campus ministry. The bible study will focus on the theme of Jesus as way, truth, and life – living out discipleship this Lent.
MEALS FOR NEIGHBORS PROGRAM – LAST CALL
Corinthians House is sponsoring Mission Club’s February Lenten initiative to provide beverages and
macaroni & cheese to Zion Lutheran’s Meals for Neighbors program. Donations can be placed in the blue collection box outside the Main Office. Tomorrow (2/22) is the last collection day. Please consider donating!
List of requested items: Tea (instant or bags); Coffee (ground or instant); Hot chocolate; Macaroni & cheese (any shelf-stable type, but especially gluten free).
2021 – 2022 RE-REGISTRATION
A reminder that re-registration forms for the Class of 2023 were due in the Guidance Office by Friday, February 19. Recognizing that Friday became a remote learning day due to the weather, please turn your forms in tomorrow, Monday, February 22, if you haven’t already. Class of 2024 forms are due this Friday, February 26.
GUIDANCE NEWS
PERRY VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE
We’re very excited to announce upcoming sessions of the Perry Virtual Experience in March 2021. The Perry Virtual Experience is a free, 2.5-hour, interactive online experience for high school and college- aged women who are interested in pursuing careers in orthopedic surgery and engineering. Participants will hear from women leaders in these fields and dive into online orthopedic simulations and biomechanics experiments. Additional information can be found on our
website: https://perryinitiative.org/pve/.
SAT PREP CLASS – CLASS OF 2022
A reminder that the Lentz & Lentz SAT Prep course will be offered this March/April at St. Paul in preparation for the May 8 SAT. Students have a choice of taking the course in-person at St. Paul or virtually with live interactive classes hosted through Zoom. In-person classes begin Saturday, March 6 from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm and virtual classes begin the week of March 14.
The cost of the program is $385 for twenty-four hours of preparation. A minimum of 10 students is needed to offer the in-person option. If there are not enough students to offer the in-person option, all classes will be conducted virtually.
The verbal part consists of reading comprehension, vocabulary, speed-reading techniques, grammatical skills, optional essay writing, all applicable to the SAT. The mathematical part covers a myriad of problems, including: arithmetical skills, advanced algebra, basic geometry, functions, trigonometry, exponents and modern mathematic concepts.
Register online at www.LentzSATprep.com
ALUMNI – SENIOR ZOOM
Attention Class of 2021, on Tuesday February 23 at 7:00 pm we will be hosting an Alumni – Senior Zoom panel. This will be an informal question and answer format about transitioning from high school to college. Zoom codes were emailed out last Wednesday but if you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Glynn or Mrs. Kendrick
PERFORMING ARTS
St. Paul Performing Arts, under the direction of Mr. Mazzarella, is proud to present BROADWAY SRO an original musical theatre revue, which features 20 outstanding performers and an assortment of Broadway’s most memorable moments, past and present. Dan Satter is this year’s musical director and dance numbers will be choreographed by Mark Simpson.
St. Paul Performing Arts will be showcasing the bright lights and shining stars of the Broadway stage in a musical celebration featuring dozens of classic hits like Les Misérables, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Beautiful, The Wizard of Oz, Wicked, Kinky Boots and Dear Evan Hansen are just a few of the titles from which we will reminisce our return to the theatre. More information will be provided in future updates.
ATHLETICS
GYM SCHEDULE – Week of February 22
Monday: Wrestling 2:30 – 3:30 pm; Fr. Girls BB 3:45 – 5:00 pm; Girls Home Basketball Game vs Watertown – Varsity @ 6:00 pm
Tuesday: Fr. Boys BB 2:30 – 3:30 pm; Cheer & Wrestling 3:45 – 4:45 pm; JV/V Girls BB 5:00
– 6:30 pm; JV/V Boys BB 6:45 – 8:15 pm
Wednesday: Fr. Girls BB 2:30 – 4:00 pm; Girls Home Basketball Games vs Torrington –
JV @ 4:30 pm & Varsity @ 6:15 pm
Thursday: Fr. Boys BB 2:30 – 3:30 pm; Cheer & Wrestling 3:45 – 4:45 pm; JV/V Girls BB 5:00
– 6:30 pm; JV/V Boys BB 6:45 – 8:15 pm
Friday: Fr. Boys & Girls BB 2:30 – 3:30 pm; Boys Home Basketball Games vs Wolcott – JV @ 4:30 pm & Varsity @ 6:15 pm
Saturday: Indoor Track 8:00 – 9:30 am Sunday: BB – TBA
WEIGHT TRAINING & CONDITIONING SESSIONS
Coach Joe will begin organizing weight room training sessions for student athletes this week. See him or Mr. Dennehy for details.
ST. PAUL WINTER SPORTS – FAN POLICY UPDATE
A reminder that the NVL has established a league policy restricting fan attendance for visiting schools. Visit the Athletic Section of the school website for broadcast information on away basketball games.
While the focus of the St. Paul athletic department continues to be managing COVID-19 mitigation protocols for the safety of all the student-athletes and coaches, starting this Monday, February 22 we will phase-in fan attendance allowing two family members per basketball player at home games. We will evaluate and confirm the next phase regarding attendance of cheerleading parents next week. These decisions are being made in compliance with state and local health department guidelines. All fans will need to sign-in, be temperature checked and hand sanitize upon entrance and required to follow social distancing guidelines (maintaining a distance of 6’) in the athletic lobby and bleachers. Once the contest is over, we ask that you leave the gymnasium. We emphasize that you should NOT attend any games if you are experiencing any COVID-19 related symptoms.
We also ask that our home fans place an extra emphasis on sportsmanship when cheering at games recognizing the uniqueness of the current situation and that no fans will be present to support the visiting student-athletes.
A reminder that all levels of our home basketball games will continue to be live streamed (and taped for later viewing) via the NFHS Network. Information for registering for the Network can be found in the Athletic Section of the school website or visit: https://spchs.com/watch-athletic-contests-on-nhsf-network/
Please contact Mr. Dennehy, ddennehy@spchs.com, with any questions regarding Winter Sports.
TEAM FALCON FORCE – eCYBERMISSION CONTEST
“Team Falcon Force,” a team of four freshmen, Matteus Abastillas, Nicholas Lowell, Angela Ragaini, and Brianna Wood along with Mrs. Clarke, as advisor, are participating in the eCybermission Contest, https://www.ecybermission.com, as a part of the St. Paul Data Analytics Team. The team meets every Tuesday and Thursday evening over zoom investigating the impact of blue light on the eyes and well- being of young students.
Per a recent conversation with Brianna and Angela, the team had to identify a problem in our community, plan and build a prototype to solve the problem, and then test it out. The team’s problem statement is “We want to monitor and reduce the exposure of artificial blue light on the school aged population by developing a safe, affordable, and efficient wearable device. Currently, our prototype plan is to create a sensor that attaches to an artificial blue light filter built into a face shield. This sensor is connected to an Arduino circuit, which is then connected to a breadboard, with LED color coded lights that signify the level of blue light exposure. We plan to have the sensor collect data of the radiation and energy levels to determine the blue light and then furthermore use that information to create the color coded artificial blue light sensing system.”
Wow, that’s impressive … good luck!
EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT
In an earlier newsletter, I shared that Joe Conroy ‘21 recently completed his Eagle Scout project, constructing a new sand/salt box for St. Paul. One of the requirements is that the scout fundraises to cover the costs of the project. Initially, Joe sold Falcon masks but is still short of reaching his goal. He has set- up a GoFundMe page for the balance https://gofund.me/d6fbf48d, if you are interested in helping out.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (February 22 – 28)
Happy Birthday to: Matthew Bishop, Nathan DeFranco, Bryndle Kroll, Ryan McKenna, Devin Rinaldini, Frank Wankerl, Kirsten Ward, Mr. Dennehy, Mrs. Fazzuoli, Mrs. Mancini and Mr. Mazzarella
FINAL WORD
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
After a long-anticipated start to the winter athletic season, it was heartwarming to see that our student- athletes began interscholastic competition last Saturday with the Freshmen girls’ basketball team and the Bristol tri-op (Bristol Eastern, Bristol Central and St. Paul) boys’ swimming team in action, followed by varsity and junior varsity boys’ and varsity girls’ basketball games mid-week.
Congratulations to the varsity boys’ basketball team in their thrilling 70 – 63 matinee win yesterday at home over Naugatuck, the defending NVL champions. It took a total team effort! Good luck this week as all of our teams are back in action.
SACRED HEART HIGH SCHOOL
You may have heard the heartbreaking news that Sacred Heart High School, Waterbury announced last week that due to declining enrollment and the adverse effects of a global pandemic, it will be closing its doors at the end of this school year. Established in 1922, Sacred Heart has a long history, tradition and legacy of providing a beloved Catholic education to generations of families within the greater Waterbury region. Our prayers go out to their students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni during this time.
Yesterday, we held our first Open House for SHHS families to get to know St. Paul as a potential Catholic high school alternative for next fall. We were impressed with the several families we met from Cheshire, Litchfield, Middlebury, Oakville, Torrington, Watertown and Waterbury. Their overwhelming desire to belong to a faith-based school “family” was consistent throughout all our conversations.
I firmly believe, and say it often, all of us, whether students, parents, faculty or staff are blessed to have been called by God to be at St. Paul Catholic High School at this respective time in our lives. In the coming weeks and months, I ask our St. Paul community to open our hearts and doors welcoming the SHHS families, during this upsetting and unsettling time, in their lives, as valued and respected new classmates and friends to our home … their home. May the individual gifts and experiences they bring enhance the vitality of our community.
THANK YOU to those students, faculty and parents who gave so generously of their time at yesterday’s Open House on short notice. We will be hosting another Open House on this Saturday, February 27.
Keep it up … stay vigilant.
It takes all of us, all of the time!
MASK UP
Make sure your mask is covering BOTH your nose and mouth at all times.
WASH HANDS
Wash hands more frequently throughout the day whether that be with soap and water or sanitizing before entering each class and at lunch.
KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
Keep your 6’ distance whenever possible, that includes in the classrooms, study halls, lunch line, and after school.
Hard to believe this is the last week of February. While the weather has played havoc with our academic schedule, let’s remain focused and finish the month #spstrong!
Be KIND … take care of yourself and take care of each other this week! Take a quiet moment tonight to reflect upon what this really means to you.
St. Paul, pray for us!
Cary M. Dupont ‘72 President/Chief Administrator
