School Notes

Posted

Elementary Schools

 

Students at The Ursuline School in New Rochelle like to play games on their smartphones and tablets, but now they know how much work goes into those games. Ursuline students completed the “Hour of Code” campaign during Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 9-15. The school’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were able to choose to write code for the popular games Angry Birds or Plants vs. Zombies. The initiative was sponsored by Code.org, which aimed to have millions of students try one hour of computer science during the week.

 

Generally students wouldn’t volunteer for a school-related event on a day off, but in the spirit of Catholic charity, second-graders at Our Lady Queen of Peace School on Staten Island did just that. The students visited Carmel Richmond Nursing Home Dec. 20. Before the visit, the students collected and filled 60 shoeboxes with gifts for those on the home’s sixth floor. The Advent service project was the idea of two second-grade teachers, ToniAnn Tobin and Eileen Mohr.

 

The fund-raising committee of Nora Cronin Presentation Academy in Newburgh was hard at work, holding its second annual pre-Christmas mixer at the Newburgh Brewing Company. The event raised $3,500 for the school. Susan Crocker of The Backyard Bistro did a celebrity chef demonstration and Domingo Ampil, aka DJ Ming, served as spin master and master of ceremonies.

 

           

High Schools

 

How’s the weather? Students at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle will know the answer to that question unequivocally. The school received a grant allowing the school to install WeatherBug, an application for PCs and Macs that features weather updates and forecasts from the upper school campus. In addition to its classroom use, Iona Prep’s partnership with WeatherBug will allow local, regional and national television and radio outlets to link to the feed from Iona. “Our science courses will now be more interactive,” said Brother Thomas Leto, C.F.C., president of Iona Prep. “Our students will be able to tap into the WeatherBug and take advantage of the research, resources and information the application has to offer, and the school community will have another weather forecasting feather!” The grant was secured by principal Maureen Kiers.

 

Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers didn’t let the cold winter stop them from doing a good deed. Students participated in a Polar Plunge Dec. 14 in the waters off Glen Island. Their efforts raised $2,400 for the Special Olympics.

 

Natalie Vestergom, a student of Loyola School in Manhattan, will be heading to London in March to compete in the 2014 World Irish Dancing Championships. She recently competed in Philadelphia in the Mid-Atlantic Oireachtas, a qualifying competition, for the slot in the international finals.

 

Students of Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx lived out their school motto of “Serviam” by taking part in an annual service day at Bronx locations. The students and teachers prepared meals at a local soup kitchen, spent time at a home for the elderly and assisted teachers in kindergarten. The students also participated in a “Holiday Cards for Heroes” project. More than 150 students made 300 Christmas cards for veterans and deployed soldiers. The cards were sent to the Red Cross for distribution.

 

Preston High School in the Bronx held its fifth annual Young Artists Exhibition Art Show and Competition for girls Dec. 4. The competition had 14 entries from local grammar schools on the theme “Holiday Traditions.” The following students earned awards: Renee Villarama, Santa Maria School in the Bronx, first place; Valerie Valentin of Santa Maria School, second place; and Indiana Gonzalez of Holy Rosary School in the Bronx, third place.

 

Send school-related news to Juliann DosSantos by fax to (212) 688-2642 or jdossantos@cny.org.