Newsletter April

“Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.” – Martin Luther

NC Newsletter April - 2006

Dear Parents,

What a full and splendid spring this is! We have so much to report about our March events as well as what’s coming up!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Sara Halter who received some very good news a few weeks ago. She applied to The Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsboro, Mass for high school, and was accepted. She scored in the 95th percentile on the high school entrance exams and was also awarded a $2000 scholarship for her freshman year tuition as a result of high test scores. In addition, if at the end of every year the average grade on her report card is a B or higher, she will receive the $2000 scholarship for the next year's tuition.

Congratulations to Noelle Bourquard and Ms. Deb Walz who will be spending two weeks this summer in Australia participating in a Johns Hopkins CTY Family Adventure!

Congratulations to Victoria Rapsis who placed 2^nd in the state for the Level 6 Gymnastics State Tournament!

Congratulations to Ms. Deb Allison who is now known as Mrs. Deb McCullough!  Mrs. McCullough’s email will remain dallisonnc@yahoo.com!

Spelling Bee

To prepare for this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee, sponsored in our state by the Manchester Union Leader, each Nashua Catholic student took a pen and paper spelling test in his or her English class. The student with the greatest number of those difficult words spelled correctly became his or her class's champion and participated in a school-wide spelling bee on February 9, 2006. The classroom champions for the 7th grade were Mary Commisso, Christine Fontaine, Allie Quinney, Matt Mahoney, Leslie Mei, Steve Negron, and Harry Wolcott. The classroom champions for 8th grade were Andy Dwarakanath, Matt Goddu, Alex Hennessey, James Horn, Patrick Queenan, and Kevin Schranz. After a challenging competition, Christine Fontaine won the right to represent Nashua Catholic at the city-wide bee on March 12, 2006. Andy Dwarakanath won a very close second place.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Nashua area spelling bee and cheer Christine on as she calmly and very competently represented our school. Well done, Christine! I also wish to thank all the students who participated in all levels of this competition.

B. Pinsonneault

Junior Statesmen Summer School Nominations

The following 8^th grade students were nominated by Mrs. Sevigny and Mr. Cloutier, for their outstanding interest in History and Government during the first half of the school year. In order to qualify for this nomination, one had to have had an average of 90 or above for both of the first two quarters of the year.

The Junior Statesmen Summer School program offers a challenging, dynamic, academic experience to students who enjoy history, politics, and government. During this four week summer program, 1500 students will gather on five college campuses to immerse themselves in politics and debate. Classes meet six days/week, stressing reading, writing, and research. The colleges involved are Georgetown University, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, and Northwestern University.

Admission to the program is competitive, based on academic achievement, leadership ability, maturity, and interest in politics and government. Each of the three or four week sessions is the equivalent of a one semester high school honors or AP course, for a total of 85 to 100 hours of class time.

Congratulations to all of these outstanding 8^th grade students.

Mei-Yee Chan Nikki Fernandes Tucker Gettel

Martine Knights Emily Lai Michael Plesac

Michael Morais Scott St. Lawrence Simone Veillette

Danielle Bower T.J. Bond Matthew Carbonneau

Natalie Dickson Isabelle Poulin Kara Skogsholm

Ann Lehto Sara Petry Angelina Spilios

Teresa Li T.J. Long Courtney Veilleux

Andrew Brink Samuel Howe Amanda Lajoie

Jaime Lavoie Aron Reynolds Connor Riley

Allison Hurley Megan Saunders Joseph Jourdain

Emily Chen Jillian Howe Amy Jenness

Carly Morin Anne Reilly Catherine Walter

National Leadership Conference

The Junior National Student Leadership Conference will take place in Washington, DC during the summer of 2006.

Among the Nashua Catholic, 7th grade students nominated by Mrs. Plouffe, who will be attending this year's conference are Tiffany Noury, Christian Ferlan, Mike Storace, and Harry Williams.

The JNSLC is an extraordinary, nationally recognized conference opportunity for outstanding junior high school students in leadership, academic exploration, government in action, diplomacy and the world, life science and forces and motions of the physical world including field trips and other activities and opportunities to meet national and world leaders in the area each student has chosen for him/herself.

Godspeed and congratulations to the four of you for a great experience.

Mrs. Plouffe

St. John Neumann’s Fast for Social Action Update

Dear Mrs. Hillyard,

     On behalf of the Planning Committee for St. John Neumann's Fast for Social

Action, I would like to extend my thanks to Nashua Catholic for all your help

collecting food and essentials for our food pantry, through donations to Project

Love.  Thanks to the generous gifts from students, faculty, and staff, Nashua

Catholic donated 542 pounds of non-perishable food and personal items, which are being distributed to the SJN Food Pantry as well as other Nashua-area food

pantries.  We are amazed at the tremendous response we get from Nashua Catholic each year we ask.

    In addition to all of the food pantry donations, we are pleased that a

number of Nashua Catholic students took part in our 10th Annual Fast this past

weekend.  These students fasted from solid food for over 29 hours, and collected

pledges from friends, relatives, fellow parishioners, teachers, and fellow

students, all of which will be donated to ten non-profit agencies in the Nashua

area.  Altogether, SJN had over 60 participants in the Fast, who collected over

$16,000 for the agencies.  We are so proud of these youth to give up part of

their weekend for such a good cause.   We know that they will remember this

weekend for a long time to come.

    Please let the entire Nashua Catholic "family" know how grateful we are to

them for their support in our Fast for Social Action.  We hope you'll join with

us again next year!

Sincerely,

Nancy Lavoie

St. John Neumann Fast for Social Action

Project Love Update - $1068.57 donation to Brazil

Dear Mrs. Hillyard and the NCRJHS Student Body,

Last year we had the opportunity to visit a small village in Brazil by the name of Sao Christaovo, (or St Christopher). Founded in 1590, it is one of Aracaju’s oldest cities, rich in history and tradition. Unfortunately, most of its residents live in extreme poverty. Their homes are made of sticks and mud; they have no running water, electricity or sewage. There were no signs of government assistance that we could see.

The ray of hope in this town is a school named Imaculada da Conceicao. (or Immaculate Conception). The school was founded in 1892 and operates today as it did 113 years ago – on a volunteer basis with the help of nuns, sisters and members of the community who tirelessly bring Christ’s Gospel of hope to these children and their families. They are fed 3 meals a day, by volunteers who bring and prepare the food. The school also offers weekend programs for the parents of students to teach them different trades so they can find work, since most of them have had no formal education or training.

The school currently enrolls 40 girls, ages 6-14 - our goal is to provide each student with a back pack full of school supplies to help them succeed and give them hope.

Thank you all so much for making our dream a reality, we really couldn't have done this without your help.

Blessings to you all,

Antonio and Colleen Coelho

Avon Walk Adventure Update

Dear families of NC!

Thank you all a thousand fold for your generosity and support for my Avon Walk Adventure. Many of you have sent money and notes on behalf of lost loved ones, personal experiences, or of “good luck”. I am overwhelmed with your words of inspiration. It makes me very proud of the students and to know that I teach within a great community. Not only did we all meet the $1800.00 minimum donation, we exceeded this! And continue to do so each day! (Money can still be accepted. J) Thank you very much!

J. Sheppard

Athletic Department Update

Our winter athletes had a great finish to their respective seasons. First, to follow up some loose ends, the four basketball teams competed in the annual CYO Catholic Schools Tournament, held here at Nashua Catholic this year, for the first time. Thank you to all the parents who helped make this a successful event. We had many positive comments about our school. Both varsity teams made it to the finals. The varsity girls took the runner up trophy, having to battle another strong team from St. Joseph of Manchester. The varsity boys, coming off a good Tri County Tourney effort, came in as a determined group to capture the CYO State title. The boys earned a bid to compete in the Regional tournament held in Milton, MA, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Boston. The boys lost a tough first round game to Msgr. Haddad School of Needham, the Boston entry.

The cheerleading team concluded their winter season with a second at The NH Winter Spirit Invitational. Great effort from the girls! They competed in a division comprised of the Nashua area public schools. The wrestling team also finished up in fine fashion with three Tri County Champions and two NH State Champions. The Tri County winners are Ryan Blecharczyk, Mitch Fokas and Jack Krzyston. Our NH State winners are Ryan Blecharczyk and Angelica Levesque. Angelica is a sixth grader attending Infant Jesus School and is a member of our Club Team. She is also the first female to win a NH Middle School title. Great effort from all our winter athletes!

Now for the spring teams; golf, baseball, softball, track and lacrosse. We’re exhausted already. Baseball and Softball open up the season in Peterborough against South Meadow School on Thursday, April 13. The girls play their home games at Greeley Park, field #3. The boys play their home games at the Atherton Ave. field. The track team also opens up on Thursday, April 13. They’ll travel to Fairgrounds Middle School, here in Nashua. The golf team gets swinging on Wednesday, May 3, against Cawley School of Hooksett. Golf moms and dads, please be sure to extend our thank you to Brian Doyle and Green Meadow Golf Course staff, next time you should play there. They graciously host our home matches. The boys and girls lacrosse teams get their seasons started Wednesday, April 19, at Auburn Village School. We are currently looking for a coach for the boys’ team. Please pass our request to any qualified parties. You can reach us at 603.882.7011, school and at ad.ncjh@comcast.net, thank you for assistance.

We hope to have all the spring schedules posted to the school web site very soon: www.ncrjhs.org and you can also keep track of the baseball and softball standings at the Tri County web site, www.tricountyathletics.com. We play in the Class I division. Parents - you can also get directions to most of our affiliated schools from this site.

Development Department News

Thank you to all those who attended the Broadway Show, Late Night Catechism. A great time was had by all, especially a couple of coaches. We still think they’re in afternoon detention for playing tic tac toe on the black board and leaving class without permission. The production company has other shows, Late Night Catechism II, Sister’s Christmas Catechism and a The Bingo Extravaganza. We’d be interested if you think we should do a show again next year. Same time of year or sometime else, late fall, spring, what about a dinner and show?

Fashion show update. Mrs. Hess, Mrs. Jacques and Mrs. Rucci, huge thank yous for an un-believable show. The best to date! We also need to say thanks to our committee chairs and their help; Mr. & Mrs. Parolin, Mr. and Mrs. Gratiano, Mrs. Gilchrist, Mrs. Lachiussa, Mrs. Doucette, Mrs. Prinz, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Callahan, Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Lovering, Mrs. Lavoie, Mrs. Sanborn, Mrs. Romero. Let’s not forget our office staff, Mrs. Urquhart, Mrs. Kirkwood, Mrs. Coker, Ms, Matson and the ‘voice’ of the show, Mr. Cloutier. Hey what about our ‘leprechaun’ (Mitch Fokas) and ‘fairy’(Annie Reilly). The writer and producer was Mrs. Philion assisted by Mrs. Reilly. All of the models did a fantastic job. Thank you your patience and all your efforts. One other person we need to acknowledge is our photographer, Mr. Fernandez, he took over a hundred ‘shots’ of our models. If you check out the attachment you can peruse the pix he took. Please email us with the picture number and we’ll gladly reproduce these pictures for your keep sake, (5x7 for $3 each.) We had over four hundred people attend the show and over eighty models, from students to teachers to alumnae. Please forgive us if we missed you on the runway! The silent auction was another huge success. Thank you to everyone who may have donated an item/s or folks who bid on our items. Your generosity was overwhelming. Let’s not forget our advertisers. We had over twenty-eight businesses contribute to our program book! Our net proceeds from the show is over $10,000.00. WOW!!!! We need to thank also the moms who planned our post show party, Mrs. Hurley, Mrs. Reilly and Mrs. Saunders. Please mention the show whenever you shop the stores who made the show possible and the beauty salons that helped make our models ‘glow’, Elizabeth Grady and Mirabella Salon & Day Spa.

So you may say ‘what’s next’. Funny you should ask. The Second Annual Nashua Catholic Golf Tournament will be held on Thursday, August 3, at Souhegan Golf Course. The golf day is open to the public but more importantly to our students and their parents, and our alumni. Come spend a great day of golf, food, and fun. Check out the entry form on our web site or call the school and we’ll gladly send/ mail one home.

Hannaford Helps Schools Update

Thank you to Mrs. Dumont who coordinated our Hannaford Helps Schools program at NC. In its fifth year, the Hannaford Helps Schools program had over

2100 participating schools and awarded over $650,000.

April Tuition Payment

Please remember April is your last tuition payment for Plan 3. Remember to deduct your $200 deposit! Thank you. D. Urquhart

Café and Extended Day Programs

Café (free, from 7:00-7:45 A.M. and 2:45-3:15 P.M. daily), Silent Study (free, from 2:45-3:30 P.M. daily) and the Extended Day (fee) programs are safe, supervised programs where your child can have a snack, socialize with friends, do homework, play outside, do arts and crafts, play games and more. Please consider these options for your child after school!

Now that the weather is warmer, we will be spending as much time as we can outside. If it is a nice day, please drive up along Columbia Avenue to see if we are playing on our small field before proceeding to Bartlett Avenue to pick up your child after 3:15 P.M.

Summer Enrichment Programs

This summer we have THREE great enrichment programs for your student to attend! Last year, our programs “sold out” with lengthy waiting lists. Each course is engaging, hands on, practical and fun. Each is a great way to make new friends and get a strong head start for the upcoming school year!

Learn to improve your grades in just one week! This course explores the basic, essential skills for excellence in academics. Topics include:

This course is open to any student attending Nashua Catholic in the 2006-2007 school year. (See Registration Form for dates, times and fee.)

If you enjoyed “Step Up Day”, you’ll like Day School even more! Here’s your chance to learn more about life at Nashua Catholic with a week of “step up days”, where you will participate in fun and interesting lessons including:

*Theology and Faith Development *Creative Writing *Math for Daily Use *Reading Historical Diaries *Art *Music *Cool Science Labs

This course is open to any incoming seventh grader for the 2006-2007 school year, or any NEW incoming eighth grader who did not attend Nashua Catholic in grade seven. (See Registration Form for dates, times and fee.)

Band School – T.B.A. If you are interested in Band School for 90 minutes each day following the Day School, please contact sandra.hillyard@comcast.net or jkoenignc@yahoo.com. Band School would be an additional fee and can be taken as a stand alone or in conjunction with Day School. This course may be taken by any NC student.

Become a pro at making friends, understanding your teachers’ expectations, and getting along with others! These social/life skills are as important as good academics in Junior High! This course is open to any student attending NCRJHS in 2006-2007.

This course is based on the nationally recognized, critically acclaimed “Top 20 Teens” Program presented to Nashua Catholic parents and staff this year. We are currently receiving special training and licensing to offer this program and its materials to our students!

Through fun and engaging activities, you will learn the skills to be your personal best, and how to be a leader/positive influence in the classroom, among friends, on teams, and more! (See Registration Form for dates, times and fee). Please join us!

*All programs include snack and/or lunch, and the option to register for pre and post course child care. If you have any questions, please call the school at 882-7011, or email me (Deb Matson) at dmatsonnc@yahoo.com.

SUMMER ENRICHMENT COURSE REGISTRATION FORM

Your child MUST be pre-registered for all courses! Pre-registration begins immediately.

We “sold out” last year, so please register early! A $40 non-refundable deposit per course is required, with the balance due one week prior to the start of the course. Please return the following form (may be copied) with your check to register. You will be contacted upon receipt of your registration.

***Students who register for BOTH Study Skills and Junior High Success during the same week may join us for lunch (provided) and activity time in between courses.

*** Additional child care/activities are available from 7:15-8:15am (breakfast included/ $10/day) and from the close of afternoon classes until 5pm (snack included/$10 per hour).

Registration forms for these programs will be available upon receipt of course registration.

BEAVER BROOK ASSOCIATION

Beaver Brook Association is an educational non-profit facility located in beautiful Hollis, N.H. on 2100 acres of forest, fields and wetlands with over 30 miles of trails. We offer quality educational programs that promote an understanding and appreciation of the natural world.

Walk on the Wild Side 4^th, 5^th & 6^th grade. A broad-based investigation of wildlife from microscopic water creatures to exploration of the skies.

WATER You Doing? 5^th, 6^th, & 7^th grade. Investigate river and stream habitats by wading through the water or canoeing on top of it.

NSI: Nature Scene Investigator 6^th, 7^th, & 8^th grade. Survey the scene, collect the evidence, and unravel the clues. Learn to see the forest in a whole new light!

Backwoods Backpacking 7^th, 8^th, & 9^th grade. Two nights of backpacking with opportunities to develop tracking skills, taste wild edibles, build a safe fire, and experience local ecology at it’s best.

Office for Adult Spirituality ? Diocese of Manchester

Mrs. Katherine Garon and Dr. Emmanuel Sogah are the retreat leaders. This retreat day will feature prayer, stories and activities for mothers and their children (at least grade one). The retreat will focus on and draw inspiration from the motherhood of our Blessed Mother Mary and contemporary mother-saints such as St. Gianna Molla, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Monica and Assunta Goretti (mother of St. Maria Goretti).

Where: Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 180 Loudon Road, Concord, NH 03301 Cost: $ 25.00 per family. (Lunch included)

Mother’s Name_______________________________________Day Phone_______________________

Calendar

Finally, thank you for reading this lengthy newsletter. Remember that REPORT PICK UP is Thursday, April 13 and the school will be closed on Friday, April 14 and Monday, April 17. Have a very Happy Easter!