Brick by Brick

Well-Assembled From Top To Bottom

Tight, visually strong, well-acted, funny...you get the idea. Go tonight (7:30 PM) or Sunday (3:00 PM).

 
  

Noblesse Oblige

"To whom much is given, much is expected" was the message at Pope John Paul II High School this morning during the first-ever induction ceremony in the Our Lady, Star of the Sea Chapter of the National Honor Society. Thirteen juniors and sophomores were inducted into the prestigious society based on their demonstration of the virtues of scholarship, leadership, caracter, and service. On behalf of the entire faculty I congratulate the newly inducted and their families for this imporant accomplishment.

View Ceremony Program here:  NHS Induction program 2010

Mr. Keavy's remarks here: Remarks by Mr Keavy

 

What It Takes

Two events this past week at JPII have caused me to think about what it takes.

After a successful first season in football and in the midst of his second (successful) campaign in baseball, JPII coach Paul 'Spanky" Demanche announced his departure to assume new duties at Harwich High School. Later, officials of the newly formed Cape & Islands League selected the graphics package submitted by Emily Fenuccio as the league's official logo image. These occurrences help us see that JPII's graphic design, football, and baseball programs have achieved success at an early age.

From these, we get a glimpse of what it takes. Programs need the right combination of factors in order to "take off" -- a lesson we learn through successes such as these (as well as the occasional slightly-less-than-success!). It takes:

• Right materials and support (Have you seen the Mac lab?)
• Right leadership (expert knowledge and strong communication, traits Mrs. Lyons and Coach Demanche share)
• Right attitude ("This is something I want.")

No guarantee yet, though, because the 'actually doing it' of a new enterprise converts vaguely dreamy notions to the work it really is ("This isn't what I expected!"). So the critical fourth component:

• Right commitment. Starting from scratch takes a stick-to-it-iveness from all involved in order to get past inevitable early struggles.

So this week I've been looking at football, graphics, and baseball and seeing what it takes. Launching new programs provides a laboratory; and for JPII students, the hard-earned knowledge of what it takes gives wisdom for a lifetime.

"If You Think You Can Change the World...You're Wrong"

So began Dr. Jeremiah J. Lowney, President of the Haitian Health Foundation and 1954 graduate of Msgr. Coyle High School, to students at Coyle and Cassidy High School yesterday. He went on to add, however, that young people most certainly  can change a part of the world, as he has done in southern Haiti, and that it is our Christian call to do so. Dr. Lowney's witness was powerful, distressing, and worthy of our attention.

JPII students Matthew Laird and Elizabeth Rossi (representing the Christian prayer and service group CrossWalk), Zach Niedzwiecki (President,   Class of 2012), and John Milligan (President, Class of 2013) traveled to Taunton to hear Dr. Lowney's presentation and, on behalf of the entire students body and Parents Association, present a $1500 donation to the Haitian Health Foundation. It is gratifying to know that money raised will be so well spent.

At JPII, we don't believe in one-time gifts. Speaking with the student-leaders in the car yesterday, I'm confident that we'll be hearing about the Haitian Health Foundation again.

Parents with Spirit

Thanks to Kim Richard and a band of hearty parent volunteers, the JPII Spirit Store will soon have a permanent home -- Room 101, off the cafeteria. It's great to see parents once again "roll up their sleeves" to make a good thing happen.

Pictured below (l to r): Erin Kennedy, Julie Van Kleef, Kim Richard, Paula Murray

Vacation Additions

Good things happen, even during the (relatively) slow period of winter recess.

Thanks to the generosity of the All Cape Piano Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation, JPII received a beautiful 1986 Weber upright piano donation. It's handsome, high-gloss, ebony finish and good sound will look and sound great in Our Lady of Fatima Chapel. I am most grateful to the piano's private donor, Ms. Jennifer Avalon of Centerville, and the Cape Cod Foundation for making this gift possible.

On a similar note (pun intended), Ash Wednesday ushers in the penitential season of Lent. To assist the school community's focus on the Lenten season, JPII parent Mr. John Hufnagle fashioned an handsome, rugged cross which will be displayed in the auditorium lobby for the duration of the season. All of us need a visual reminder once and a while!

More evidence that, brick by brick, we are building the finest high school on Cape Cod.

Honorable Mention

This past marking period, 60% of JPII students achieved honor roll status, ranging from "Merit List," which recognizes a B average, to "Highest Honors," acknowledging straight A's. With a heavy emphasis on critical, higher-level thinking, this level of achievement testifies to some hard work and the strength of the school's academic culture.

See the Honor Rolls here: Download HonorRoll0910SecondQ.

Good Report Card

2009 PSAT and Iowa Tests resuts are in. Check out the school snapshot here.

Great Words

"The course of love never did run smooth...

If there were a sympathy in choice,

War, death , or sickness did lay siege to it,

Making it momentany as a sound,

Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,

Brief as the lightening in the collied night,

That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,

And, ere a man hath power to say "Behold!"

The jaws of darkness do devour it up.

So quick bright things come to confusion."

 

JPII Performing Arts has selected William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as it 2010 Spring production. It's a good choice and JPII thespians are excited.

Last year's production of Godspell was a huge success because of it's great music and the cast's obvious fun in presenting the show. This year, A Midsummer Night's Dream will showcase lots of zaniness and comedy -- but musical performance will take a back seat. Why, then?

Simple: It's the words. Shakespearean language is a treasure-trove JPII thespians will come to know intimately well. Theatre education requires worthy content, be it the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Godspell, or the Bard's timeless words. Mark your calendars for some great words, and some great fun: May 14, 15, 16.

So You Think You Know 120 High School Road?

Driven by UberParent Kim Richard, the JPII Spirit Store has grown by leaps and bounds. I'm especially pleased with the two new car stickers now available. The first, a circular sticker of the school seal, will be sent to parents in an upcoming mailing. The second, a collegiate-style, rear-windshield sticker, will be available for purchase.

Or perhaps you'd like to win one on us?

Below are some construction photos. All you have to do is correctly identify the 2009-2010 uses of the photographed spaces, e.g. "School Office." Go ahead, give it a shot. Leave your answers as a comment on this blog and the first five respondents will 70% correct answers win the bonus sticker.

(1)                              (2)

(3)                                (4)

(5)                                (6)

  

(7)                             (8)

    (9)                        (10)

 

Good luck...Okay, Okay, I know there are some doozies. So here's some hints. No answer, except the Chemistry Lab, should be used twice. #8 is a lower level space. #3 is a third floor space. Do your best!