On the weekend of September 28 – October 1, 2012, (next school year) students from Shukutoku Yono High School, an excellent all-girls school in Tokyo, will pay their annual visit to Valley Catholic. We will need 30 families to host two girls each for three nights: Friday, Sept. 28, Saturday, Sept. 29, and Sunday, Sept. 30. (Each family is given $60 to help defray their expenses.)
We are still in need of more families. Please do consider hosting two students for these three nights. The visits have always been enriching and memorable both for guest students and host families.
If you would like to host, or if you would like more information, please email Yoko Miwa, who is coordinating the visit, and leave a phone message for her via the high school office at (503) 644-3745.
Performers for "A Comedy Tonight": Front (kneeling): Richard Yates and Katrina Espey. Others, from left: Genie Genetiano, Jason Sage, JP Rivera, Evan Tait, Molly Hoffman, Monica Vinson, Lorene Berthelier, Anna Corazza, and Stephen Pierce. Katherine Kraemer is not pictured.
Submitted by Drama Director and English and Drama Teacher Ginnie Sutfin
Valley Catholic High School’s drama department closes out its most successful season ever with the annual drama showcase on May 30, which this year is titled “A Comedy Tonight.” The evening will feature scenes written by the drama students, as well as pieces from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the tradition of Commedia Dell Arte, and scenes from playwright Don Zolidis. The showcase will be performed by members of the drama class.
For seniors Evan Tait, Anna Corazza, Katherine Kraemer and Stephen Pierce, this will be their final performance on the Valley stage after being involved in productions since their freshman year. Seniors Jason Sage, Genie Genetiano, Molly Hoffman, Katrina Espey, JP Rivera, and Monica Vinson will join them, along with junior and French exchange student Lorene Berthelier and freshman Richard Yates. “A Comedy Tonight” is free to the public.
This one-time performance is on May 30 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. All are welcome for an evening of laughs and performances from our talented students.
Health & PE Teacher Herb Lommen holds the Safer Communities Award, joined by TVF&R Fire Chief Mike Duyck and VCMS Principal Jennifer Gfroerer. Photo courtesy of TVF&R.
On May 5, 2012, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) held its annual Meritorious Awards Ceremony at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. In addition to recognizing over 40 firefighters and staff, this year’s ceremony presented its first-ever Safer Communities Award to Valley Catholic Middle School. The Safer Communities Award goes to members or businesses whose actions are instrumental in protecting life, property, and the overall safety of our community.
Valley Catholic Middle School was recognized for their partnership with TVF&R to train the community in Hands-Only CPR. The partnership began last summer following a meeting between Valley Catholic Middle School Principal Jennifer Gfroerer, TVF&R Fire Chief Mike Duyck, and Valley Catholic Health and PE teacher Herb Lommen who, as a champion of CPR for decades, has trained thousands of students in traditional CPR.
Valley Catholic agreed to not only teach their eighth-grade students CPR, but also make them Hands-Only CPR instructors. Over the 2011 Thanksgiving weekend, 75 students used special CPR kits to teach approximately 600 friends and family members Hands-Only CPR. The students continue to seek opportunities within the community to train individuals—including Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle and his city council. To date, over 1,000 people have been trained in Hands Only CPR! Moreover, Principal Gfroerer and Mr. Lommen have also prepared curriculum and supporting materials to help other schools easily implement this program.
Fire Chief Mike Duyck stated, “This is Oregon’s first partnership between a fire department, a school, and the American Heart Association to teach Hands-Only CPR, and will undoubtedly save countless lives. The efforts of Valley Catholic Middle School embody the true spirit of our Safer Communities Award.”
Photo courtesy of TVF&R
VCMS students (in navy blue sweatshirts) help teach a Hands-Only CPR class at Beaverton City Hall. From left to right: Joshua Cheng (standing), Shivani Dhingra (wearing glasses), Ermina Lee (center), and Zaria Parvez (back to the camera).
To celebrate a new feature, our “Be an Advocate” program, we are offering a Friends and Family 20 percent discount. Please print the coupon code!
The “Be an Advocate” program offers incentives that reward the shoppers and your store!
Here’s how it works:
When you refer a friend or family member and they join our community, they receive 500 Reward Points-a $5 value, redeemable at checkout—and your organization receives 100 points.
When that friend or family member makes their first purchase, you receive 500 Reward Points and your organization receives another 900 points. Everyone wins—click on the Be an Advocate link on your main page to learn more and sign up.
Thank you to the students, parents, and guests who took part in the Music Jamboree Friday evening. It was a great evening of wonderful music. I also want to thank all who helped with the set up and the clean up afterwards. God bless you!
Photos by SSMO Ministries Communications Photographer Casey Braunger
First of all I want to send out a big congrats to all the players! What a great way to end the season with the effort and great sportsmanship shown out there on the course in both the girls’ and boys’ District Tourneys. I’m really proud of both teams for competing and representing their school well.
2012 Girls' Golf Team, from left: Lily D'Amico, Caroline Francis, Coach Aaron Harris, Lindsie LaBonte, Angela Dunham and Angel Zhang
Girls
The girls played their hearts out there at Mt. View Golf Course. A third-place finish at Districts is really a great finish for such a young team! Our four sophomores—Lindsie LaBonte, Caroline Francis, Angie Dunham, and Lily D’Amico—played hard on a very challenging course. Angie and Caroline improved tremendously from last season. This was Lily’s first season and she played great! I had a few coaches say to me, “That girl has a great swing!” I look forward to seeing this team grow and compete over the next few seasons. Great job girls!
I would like to congratulate Lindsie LaBonte on her performance. She finished tied for second place overall at Districts and qualified for State for the second year in a row. We all wish her luck next week in Redmond at the Eagle Crest golf course, the site for this year’s State Tourney.
2012 Boys' Golf Team: Back row, left to right: Jason Sage, Jeff Williams, Kristof Osswald, Coach Aaron Harris, Alex Baek, Conner Williams, and John Woodruff. Front row, left to right: Ryan Schmidlin, Greg Ong, Brandon Vennes, Nick Tomich, Nick Zhou and Jacob Kachmarek
Boys
The boys played a wonderful two days out at Quail Valley Golf Course. The sun was out, but on day two the wind really picked up. The true teeth of that course showed during the second round. I thought the boys really withstood a tremendous challenge. Congrats to them for taking second place at Districts and clinching a berth as a team to this year’s State Tourney.
Mitchell DeSantis (senior) and Jacob Kachmarek (sophomore) came back for a second Districts tourney and played some really good golf in that tough wind. Our two freshmen played great as well. Ryan Schmidlin finished sixth overall, and John Woodruff stepped up late in the year and played varsity, which is always a big accomplishment any year, but especially as a freshman. Special congrats go to Greg Ong (senior) who took second place overall at Districts.
Last week the Valley Catholic freshmen spent the day studying the macroinvertebrates in Johnson Creek behind our school. Macroinvertebrates are animals with no backbone that can be seen without the aid of a microscope. In addition to seeing some cool animals, there was a reason for this study. Macroinvertebrate sampling is used as a reliable tool for monitoring the health of streams and wetlands. Students, clad in boots or hip waders, used nets to sample animals from the muddy bottom as well as those clinging to the Reed Canary Grass.
The collected animals were analyzed for life history, feeding strategy and pollution tolerance. We also found quite a few adult and larval fish (vertebrates) throughout the day. The invertebrates found included worms, water beetles, water mites and snails. Also found were larvae of damselflies, dragonflies and caddisflies. Particularly of note were the caddisfly larvae, which are pollution sensitive. Although most of the animals we were found were pollution tolerant, these few sensitive individuals show us that our creek environment is not completely impacted by pollution. Other interesting finds were a few large crayfish, and egg masses from snails and salamanders.
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Submitted by Valley Catholic Music School Director Sr. Juliana Monti, SSMO
Valley Catholic Music School is looking to bring some additional independent contractors aboard to teach private lessons on the string bass and saxophone. If you know any professional music teachers who would like to increase their lesson load, please have them contact Sr. Juliana Monti.
Pictured are some members of the VCS Women Build Team for May 12. Standing, left to right: Monique Ierardi, Mary Donovan and Kristen Durbin. Seated: Allison Ierardi and Lauren Bartholomew.
Submitted by Director of Campus Life Mary Donovan
Valley Catholic School is sponsoring two mother/daughter build days at Beaverton’s first-ever Women Build. The first build day, Saturday, May 12, is full. The team from Valley will include two alums, three high school girls and one middle school girl and their mothers, Mary Donovan and VCHS Religion Teacher Mrs. Durbin.
The build day on Saturday, May 19th, the weekend after Mother’s Day, still has a few openings. Moms and daughters 14 and older, please contact Mary Donovan to sign up. See additional information here.
The house they are building is located in the Huntting Park neighborhood at SW Hall and Sussex Streets. Women Build, part of Willamette West Habitat for Humanity is, according to their website, “…not about excluding men; it is about including women. Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program enables women to discover for themselves that they can build Habitat for Humanity homes with NO construction experience necessary! Women Build brings together women from all walks of life to address the housing crisis facing millions of women and children worldwide. Women Build events have helped to construct more than 1,900 houses.”
Submitted by Communications Specialist Danielle Tomich
On Wednesday, May 2, new members were inducted into the Madonna Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) as well as three foreign language honor societies. In addition, seniors of each society were recognized and given a cord to wear at graduation. The current NHS officers each gave a short talk to the inductees to congratulate, advise and inspire them as they move through their high school careers. This year’s officers, all seniors, are: President Aidan McLeod; Vice President Mollie Henkelman, Secretary Erin Coffman; and Treasurer Madelyn Bernard. The high school’s NHS advisor is English Department Chair and Teacher Brenna Brown.
Congratulations to the following students who were inducted and/or honored during the evening ceremony: (please see slide show that follows)
Spanish Honor Society (Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica)
Advisor: Sra. Nenita Navarro
New Inductees:
Rebecca Baglai
Madelyn Bernard
Lorene Berthelier
Carmel Davis
Emily Gabourel
Bridgette Henningsen
Kaitlyn Lomartire
Aidan McLeod
Claire McLoughlin
Veronnica Pham
Senior Members:
Patrick Casale
Danika Douglas
Gregory Ong
French Honor Society (La Societe Honoraire de Francais)
Advisor: Mme. Susan Miller
New Inductees:
Lavanya Bakshi
Zoe LaHaie
Grace Mannen
Estefania Morales
Senior Member:
Victoria Kemper
Japanese Honor Society
Advisor: Yoko Miwa Sensei
New Inductees: Erin Cochran
Esai Morales
Sam Teague
Elizabeth Woodruff
Senior Members: Leah Klaas
Catherine Lo
Stephen Pierce, Jr.
Shawna Vrvilo
National Honor Society
Advisor: Mrs. Brenna Brown
New Inductees: Ryan Afranji
Lavanya Bakshi
Jessica Bedewi
Matthew Bemis
Mikaela Bernards
Torben Billow
Carter Buuck
Caroline Casale
Hyun Jun (Kevin) Cho
Megan Co
Emily Comstock
Allyza Concepcion
Joshua Curfman
Lillian D’Amico
Kimberly Duyck
Ashley Ferris
Addie Flemmer
Caroline Francis
Madeline Henningsen
Sean Hilken
Kelli Hoang
Katharine Jesse
Clara Kiss
Fanyi KongBenjamin Krueger
Lindsie LaBonte
Philip Lam
Annabelle Larson
Michael Leslie
Yuemeng (Lethe) Li
Rachel Liening
ZheYi (Joy) Lin
John Magenheimer
Grace Mannen
Morgan McDougal
Ashley Christine Melancon
Esai Morales
Grace Nepokroeff
Patricia Nguyen
Yurong (Becky) Peng
Collin Pierce
Cooper Roach
Taylor Roth
Lauren Shoemaker
Samuel Teague
Erin Weinbender
Christopher Wright
Jingyu (Angel) Zhang
Honorary Inductee: Yasuha Yamasaki
Senior Members: Anthony Alfieri
Rebecca Baglai
Madelyn Bernard
Patrick Casale
Erin Coffman
Shawna Cook
Alyssa Dale
Breanne Davis
Carmel Davis
Danika Douglas
Audrey Gard
Mollie Henkelman
Daniel Hernandez
Arthur Kim
Leah Klaas
Katherine Kraemer
Jihoon Lee
Aidan McLeod
Gregory Ong
Veronnica Pham
Connor Picken
Stephen Pierce, Jr.
Michael Prier
Elizabeth Shew
Lavanya Sridharan
Ben Stager
Madeleine Tomich
Alexander Vennes
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