What's Happening

By Cara Hansen

December 15, 2016, West Palm Beach, Florida – Rosarian Academy elementary and middle school students were recognized during an awards ceremony December 9, honoring those with exceptional academic performance and for athletic achievements during the first trimester of the school year.

Four students – seventh-grader Mercedes Cassidy and eighth-graders Hope Diffenderfer, Devyn Dyett, and Lorenzo Escobar – were recognized for achieving Highest Academic Honors. To qualify, they received all “As” in the first trimester and on all exams. 

Two students received Accelerated Reader awards for reading 300,000 words or more since the start of the school year: Elise Lanahan read more than 500,000 words and Blair Haft more than 1 million words. Both are in the seventh grade. Eighth-grade students selected as Kiwanis Students of the Month were Bettina Johnston, October; Marlowe Dunn Flom, November; and Sophia Mendez, December. 

Stephen Hall, sixth grade, shakes hands with Rosarian Academy Head of School Stephen Rubenacker as he receives the award for Most Valuable Player on the boys cross country team.

Fourteen seventh-grade students earned at least a 95 percentile on an acceptable composite or subset area from a previous standardized test and qualified as Duke University Talent Identification Program Scholars. Receiving this honor were Maggie Acosta, Spencer Bernstein, Jamis Bornschein, Wilder Breckenridge, Mercedes Cassidy, Joseph Coates, Grace Colangelo, Madison Fabbri, Macarena Gonzalez, Blair Haft, Emma Hardyman, Jack Keogh, Elise Lanahan, and Finn Throop.

Sixth- through eighth-grade students who received no less than a “B-” in all academic subjects and no grade less than “Satisfactory” in all co-curricular classes qualified for Honor Roll.

Sixth-grade Honor Roll students were Jackson Bachman, Sabrina Bernstein, Katarina Bessenroth, Sabrina Bessenroth, Bobby Brown, Thomas Coates, Matthew Cohen, Lily Guari, Stephen Hall, MJ Hanlon, Ava Iuliani, Sabrina Keough, Olivia Klein, Jack Mischke, Alina Morrison, Mia Pariseleti, Matthew Rancic, Victoria Reynolds, Trace Scuderi, and Parker Ward.

Rosarian Academy eighth-grader Aidan Griffiths is recognized at the school’s First Trimester Honors Assembly.

Honor Roll students in the seventh grade are Maggie Acosta, Christian Azqueta, Jamis Bornschein, Wilder Breckenridge, Caleb Curtis, Brandon Dorsey, Madison Fabbri, Zachary German, Macarena Gonzalez, Blair Haft, Emma Hardyman, Jack Keogh, and Logan McGruder.

Students in the eighth grade who made Honor Roll were Remi Beaud, Gemma Conroy, Marlowe Dunn Flom, Gabriela Faber, Aidan Griffiths, Van Gronberg, Alana Marchese, Sophia Mendez, Drew O’Brien, Max Sanderson, Jack Shepherd, Isabella Vega Dadurian, Hannah Wilson, and Mckenzie Wilson.

All students who participated in a fall sport – flag football, volleyball, swimming, and cross country – were also acknowledged. The following student-athletes received awards: 

• Boys’ Varsity Flag Football: Max Sanderson, Most Valuable Player; Aidan Griffiths, Sportsmanship; and John Molina, Most Improved. All are in the eighth grade. 
• Boys’ Junior Varsity Flag Football: Gavin Marchese, Most Valuable Player; Johnny Cassidy, Sportsmanship; and Andrew Vargas, Most Improved. All are in the fifth grade.
• Girls’ Varsity Volleyball: Eighth graders Isabella Fiorentino, Most Valuable Player; Kate Hamilton, Sportsmanship; and Sofia Mendez, Most Improved. 
• Girls’ Junior Varsity Volleyball: Lily Guari, sixth grade, Most Valuable Player; Parker Ward, sixth grade, Sportsmanship; and Sara Gil, seventh grade, Most Improved; 
• Swimming: Nellie Miller, fourth grade, Most Valuable Player; Marlowe Dunn Flom, eighth grade, Sportsmanship; and Annabelle Damiano, second grade, Most Improved. 
• Boys’ Cross Country: Stephen Hall, sixth grade, Most Valuable Player; Robby Vargas, seventh grade, Heart Award; and Teddy Duncker, fourth grade, Most Improved.
• Girls’ Cross Country: Eleanor Hall, fourth grade, Most Valuable Player; Lacey Steele, eighth grade, Heart Award; and Luciana Hernandez, fifth grade, Most Improved.

Rosarian Academy, founded in 1925, educates students from early childhood through eighth grade and offers an exceptionally strong academic program enriched by athletics, visual and performing arts, and community service opportunities. The independent, Catholic school is located in downtown West Palm Beach and is sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. For more information, visit www.rosarian.org or call 561-345-3106.

December 15, 2016, Wilmette, Illinois – Students at Regina Dominican High School hosted the second annual Ugandan Fair Trade Market December 12 during lunch. All proceeds benefited Noté Karacel, an organization that supports the people of Alenga, Uganda. Noté Karacel means "Unite Together" in the local language of Alenga. 

One of the main goals of Noté Karacel is to provide tuition assistance for Ugandan girls and young women so that they are able to receive a quality education. Visit www.notekaracel.org to learn more about the work being done in Alenga, Uganda. Regina Dominican sponsors two girls in Alenga through the proceeds from notecards designed by National Art Honor Society students.

The same day as the market, Regina Dominican began its "Random Acts of Kindness Week." Students, faculty, and staff have been challenged to complete 701 random acts of kindness this week in recognition of the school’s address, 701 Locust Road. Random acts include buying lunch for a friend, helping someone with homework, shoveling snow for a neighbor, leaving a quarter in the vending machine, and complimenting someone. 

Members of the school community will fill out ornaments with a description of their acts; the ornaments will be placed on the "Kindness Tree" in the cafeteria. 

Feature photo: From left, Summer Rocha, Emily Becker, Rebecca Richards, Jenna Rozhon, and Mary Grace Stanton.

Article submitted by Sister Mary Jean Williams, OP