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Students of all ages on campus are having a great time finding creative ways to celebrate Catholic Schools Week — the annual celebration that focuses attention on the good work done by the nation’s Catholic schools. The annual celebration is a joint project of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The NCEA observes this year’s week Jan. 31 to Feb. 6 with the theme “Catholic Schools - Dividends for Life.”

According to Karen Ristau, NCEA president, “Catholic schools provide good things for students and families—high expectations and daily experience of faith. In these challenging times, the theme also reminds parents that the dividends of a Catholic school education—students prepared in faith, knowledge, morals and discipline—last a lifetime. There is no better way to invest in a child’s future—or the future of our world.”

Students are holding special dress days like wearing clothes from a certain decade, pajama and Snuggie Day, Hawaiian day, dress like a teacher day, patriotic themed and heritage dress. Students are also collecting Pennies for Peace and cans of food to help the needy. Several spirit assemblies will be held and an all school Mass takes place in the Valiant Gym Wednesday, Feb. 3 at 9:25 a.m.

With Student Reflection by Audrey Osswald

In a first-time school event, Valley Catholic guided 7th – 10th graders in a set of Respect Rallies this past fall. The Rally is an interactive experience that allows students to work together in order to learn how to make self-respecting choices, create healthy relationships, set and strive for goals, and end cycles of disrespect in their world. This program was designed for girls but has recently been modified to reach out to boys as well. As a result, a group of teachers and students from Valley were trained to be leaders and piloted the co-ed program.

Respect Rx is a social venture that coaches teens, young adults, advocates and organizations to boost self-respect, respect in relationships and respect for all (see www.respectrx.com). Courtney Macavinta is author of the book on which the rallies are based called Respect by Free Spirit Publishing. Macavinta wrote to Mary Donovan, Campus Life Director, to tell her about her visit to the White House to speak to the President’s special advisor on violence against women, Lynn Rosenthal. Macavinta reports, “The first thing I shared with her was all about: YOU! I told her about the trainings and the Rallies you were leading. She was so excited about the co-ed program and your work in Portland!”

Below is a reflection from one of the student leaders sophomore Audrey Osswald who helped lead the school’s first annual Respect Rally.

I am a sophomore at Valley Catholic High School and have been attending school on campus since first grade. The Respect Rally was a time for all of us to bond with our classmates, tell them about ourselves, talk about the disrespect we see every day, and learn about how we can change for the better. Most importantly, it was about opening up our minds and learning about ourselves. Accepting disrespect in our life, and choosing how to deal with it, was such an eye-opening concept.

The leaders took us through so many amazing activities that were fun, taught us lessons, and made us think all at once. I realized that many people are impacted or affected by negative things, just as much as the positive. “It made me realize that what I am going through, others have also gone through so even if I don’t think people understand my pain, some people really do understand,” said one of the leaders.

We also learned about setting healthy boundaries and how to listen and communicate with others. The video with photos and statistics about abuse, teen pregnancy and suicide got everyone’s attention. These are real-life issues that people face, and I think it opened many people’s eyes. These rallies are meant to teach students awareness. There is disrespect all around us and we have the power to put a stop to it. As Respect Rally leaders, we want students to notice what goes on in the world and motivate them to change it. Attending the Rally meant so much to me, but being chosen to help lead meant even more. We can all make a difference.

Fun, excitement, teamwork, science motivates VCS students to participate in Lego Robotics

Priyanka Mathur and Rhea Kukkal, with Ms. Rabe (VCES Math Teacher), winners of the First Place Young Team Award at Oregon State Championship.

FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a global program created to get children excited about science and technology. A hands-on program for ages 9 to 14, FLL uses challenges based on real world scientific problems to engage children in research, problem solving, and engineering. Kids compete at Regional level tournaments and then qualifying teams compete at the Oregon State Championships, followed by National & International tournaments.

The FLL Oregon Championship Tournament was held Jan. 16-17, 2010 at Liberty High School in Hillsboro, where over 100 qualified teams competed in the categories of Lego Robotics Design and Performance, Teamwork, Project Research and Presentation.

Valley Catholic students once again demonstrated their aptitude for science, technology, critical thinking and teamwork via their outstanding performance at 2009-10 FLL Championships.

VCS Students and Lego Robotics Awards:

1. Lego Lites Team: Tanvi Yeccaluri (4F), Kirstin Lovely(4F), Rachael Lovely (6C), Rachel Orchard (4P), Preetha Velu (6C), Divya Jeyasingh (4F)
   Awards: Runners Up Championship Award (Regional Tournament) & First Place Young Team Award (Oregon State Championships)
2. Girls Go Green Team: Priyanka Mathur (5W) & Rhea Kukkal (4F)
   Awards: First Place Young Team Award (Regional Tournament) & First Place Young Team Award (Oregon State Championships)
3. Bethany Legions Team: Hiya Banerjee 5W & Rikhia Chaterjee 5W
   Awards: First Place Young Team Award (Regional Tournament) & Third Place Young Team Award (Oregon State Championships)
4. Valley Catholic G4s: Neha Iyer & Naren Gaurav (4F), Divya Amritraj (3S), Brandon Lam, Alex Wan, Aditya Shroff (4P)
   Awards: Junior Team Award (Regional Tournament) & Rookie Team Award (Oregon State Championships)
5. BiB Batteries in Black Team: Sagar Trika 6H
   Awards: Runners Up Championship Award (Regional)

The Kids’ Experience - “Fun” is the most oft used descriptor of their Lego experience by the Valley Catholic students. Lego Robotics makes the challenges of science and engineering fun. “Robot technical design was my one of my favorite parts,” says Priyanka Mathur about her recent experience. “I learned how to program a robot,” says Naren Gaurav. Rikhia Chaterjee agrees that she learned a lot about robot programming concepts by participating in this year’s Lego challenge.

The Lego Robotics project provides kids an opportunity to hone their critical analysis skills “I liked to gather statistical information which helped form our problem, and therefore, our solution,” says Sagar Trika.

A key component of the challenge is the ability to demonstrate strong teamwork and problem solving skills. “My favorite part of the tournament was doing the teamwork challenge,” says Rhea Kukkal, and Neha Iyer chimes in “We learned to work with each other as a team.”

The Coaches’ Perspective - The VCS parent and coach of the Girls Go Green Punneet Kukkal says “Though it was hectic at times with all the sessions over a four-month period, it was tremendously rewarding to see the girls really grow as a team and achieve this honor at the state level.” Amit Kumar co-coach and VCS parent concurs “It is incredibly rewarding to coach kids of this age, this experience ignites their interest in science and technology at the same time developing their research and presentation skills.”

About 2009-10 Challenge and Resources - The 2009-10 FLL challenge was ”Smart Move: Transforming Transportation, wherein the participating teams consider many modes of transportation beyond their daily routine and streamline their options by making smart moves that enables accessing people, places, goods and services in the safest, most efficient way possible.

Parents and students interested in learning more about Lego Robotics see the below links.

• First Lego League
• Oregon Robotics and Outreach Program (ORTOP)
• Lego Challenge

Story submitted by Kirti Devi, Valley Catholic Parent

Join us this February 19th through the 28th at Valley Catholic School’s Kelly Auditorium for our production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Reserve your tickets today!

Valley Catholic Drama brings one of the world’s most popular musicals to Beaverton — the biggest production in campus history! Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat features high school and middle school students playing the iconic roles of Joseph, the Narrator, the Pharaoh, Joseph’s brothers, and many others. Joining them on the stage for the first time will be the Valley Catholic Elementary School chorus, bringing together students of all ages on the VCS campus in a fresh and exciting production. Featuring popular music styles and songs like “Any Dream Will Do,” “Close Every Door,” and “Song of the King,” Joseph is sure to delight audiences of all ages! Be sure not to miss this all-singing, all-dancing musical extravaganza!

PERFORMED BY:

• SENIORS: Sophia Brady, Claire Lender, Abbie McLean, Nick Mannen, Bryn Nelson, Emily Walsh
• JUNIORS: Veronika Kiss, Daniel Lin, Allie Pierce, Marcela Ramirez
• SOPHOMORES: Erin Coffman, Mary Margaret Kelly, Arthur Kim, Katherine Kraemer, Aparna Parthasarathy, Stephen Pierce, Jana Purcell, J.P. Rivera, Lavanya Sridharan, Evan Tait
• FRESHMEN: Kelsey Baker, Ria Dela Rosa, Elizabeth Woodruff
• MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS: Sannah Braun, Jordan Lacandazo, Connell Morantte, Collin Pierce, Megan Piggott, Hannah Wilson.
• The show also features the Valley Catholic Elementary School chorus, directed by Sister Denise Klaas. Stage manager is junior Evangel McVicker, and assistant stage manager is Katey McLean.

Valley Catholic’s reputation for turning out well-rounded students is more than just lip-service:  How many schools do you know that can boast of an Artist-in-Residence?  Valley Catholic High School English teacher Marty Karlin took on the art classes at Valley this school year. She recently arranged for an ALA Notable Book winner, Nancy Coffelt, to bring her unique gifts to our school for a three-day workshop.

Nancy is a writer and illustrator of children’s and young adult books and has been honored with awards from Kirkus Starred Reviews, School Library Journal Starred Review, and a 2008 Mom’s Choice Award.  Her art is primarily oil pastels on black paper.  She has works in galleries nationwide and her clients include Starbucks, The Nature Company, Second Nature Software, Harcourt, Mud Puppy Press, Gango Editions, The Canvas Company and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

Valley Catholic High and Junior High students attended lectures on design and composition, as well as working on their own drawings under Nancy’s supervision.  The workshop also focused on color and texture, as well as the layout of the students’ own work and using the border as a visual narrative.

Nancy spoke to students about the steps needed to create characters, stories and illustrations for picture books. She also shared a drawing presentation with students, making sure each class got an original drawing to keep.

-Story Submitted by Jill Pruitt, VCES Parent

Watch Valley students make a personal delivery of food and toys on our school-wide Web channel valleycatholictv.com

Beaverton, Ore. – December 17, 2009 — Valley Catholic School held its annual food drive Friday, Dec. 18. More than a hundred students left campus the Friday before Winter break to deliver two week’s worth of meals and Christmas toys to 25 local homes.

Since mid-November, students in grades 7-12 have been collecting food and holding several grass roots fundraisers in hopes of making as big a difference as possible in the lives of the 25 families. Each homeroom adopts a family whose names are given to the school from LifeWorks Northwest located in the Beaverton Community Center. Students make personal contact with the family to learn their needs as well as find out what kinds of toys for which their children are wishing. The benefiting households range from a single parent with one child to five adults with six children.

Students found many creative ways to bring in cash to maximize their ability to purchase more food and toys for the families. All the proceeds from the fall, semi-formal dance, more than $1,600, were donated to the effort. They even borrowed a beloved history teacher who owns a Santa suit to pose for Santa photos and charged everyone a sitting fee. Excitement for the annual food drive has also spawned an annual tradition of VC students spearheading a mini-auction that brings in nearly $1,000. Student Body Officers entice their friends to bid and purchase great items like monthly deliveries of home-made pie or cookies, reserved parking spots, dinner for four prepared by the Student Body Officers, and offering their time to be someone’s personal assistant for the day.

With the money raised, the Valley Catholic Food Drive is able to provide three meals a day for two weeks to 25 families, purchase ingredients for a special Christmas dinner (turkey, ham, potatoes, pumpkin pie, vegetables, margarine and gravy), as well buy eggs, milk, bread, apples and oranges for each family. Students also provide all recipients with toys for each child in the family and give a $90 gift certificate to Fred Meyer for the parents.

WatchValleystudents make a personal delivery of food and toys on our school-wide Web channel valleycatholictv.com

Thank you to Barbara Phillips, Kimberly White and all the amazing volunteers who helped put on a lovely Wine Tasting event Nov. 21!

Thank you to the following supporters for their generous donations and contributions:
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At a recent middle and high school faculty meeting, a challenge was made to the teachers present. It was simple enough: tell each other about an interesting project that students were doing at the time. Computer teacher Colette Cassinelli had something great to share.

Some of the things that Colette talks about in her classes are good and proper ways of communicating in the digital age. Digital etiquette can seem lost in the haze of the internet, from Facebook and Twitter, to people commenting on stories on your local news stations’ Web pages. One of the goals in Colette’s class is to show students how technology can be used for good and to counter a lot of the negative news in the media about teens and the internet.
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