News Worthy Events

A Triumphant History Day at ANS!

The theme of the 2007 History Day Fair was Triumph or Tragedy. These students from Archbishop Neale School were triumphant. All of them finished in first place with entries in each of four categories: individual exhibits, group exhibits, documentaries, and historical papers. There’s more history to be made at the Charles County History Day competition. Pictured from left to right are: Gustin Paras, Leighton Firnberg, Hannah Etter, Paige Knode, Joseph Laco, Savanna Giannotti, Nicole Kaminski, Lemuel Carpenter, Sydney Espejo, Kayla DeOca, McKenzie Olup, Emily Zito, Shane Bohn, Brian O’Neill, Katherine Murray, Kelsey Renner, and Samantha Burke. (Winners not pictured – Kevin Sherlock and Kevin Hartnett).

ANS Had a Cold ‘Boot’ in the Computer Bowl

Archbishop Neale School students entered SMECO’s Computer Bowl for the first time. Even though they didn’t place among the top finishers, they did have fun and learned some valuable lessons in teamwork. Pictured in front (l to r) are Anne-Marie Czyznik, Caroline Haddaway, Lucas Bayer, and Ivan Cheng, and in the back (l to r) Adrianne Turner, Reece Cushen, Alexys Gutrick, and Jack Hennessey. They’ll be back next year with an upgraded hard drive!!!

Snoopy Helps Spread Christmas Cheer

The students of Archbishop Neale School, with the help of a super sized Snoopy, helped bring some Christmas cheer to several people in the school’s affiliated parish communities. The school held a raffle raising $500.00! The proceeds were used to purchase numerous gifts. Good cheer was felt by all, especially Corey Bendebba who won the raffle. Corey is pictured above with Mrs. Peggy Howard, ANS Principal, and Sr. Greta Collins, IHM, Office Aide. Sr. Greta drew the winning entry.

A Thank You from Mrs. Renner…

Our Book Fair was the most successful fair yet, and we increased sales from our fair last December (2005) by 22%. As a result, we have earned $2,000.00 in cash, $280.00 in books, and $3,333.62 in vouchers to be redeemed in Scholastic’s Instructional Resource Catalog, not to mention the numerous books that were donated by our generous families. Many thanks to all the volunteers and the shoppers! Hope to see you again in March at the next Book Fair.

As part of their 50^TH anniversary celebration, the Charles County Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Town of La Plata, the La Plata Business Association and Civista Health Foundation to bring a “Scarecrow Festival” to town. Merchants, church groups, schools, clubs, organizations and families were invited to participate in constructing original, life-sized scarecrows, which were displayed throughout the town. The most creative scarecrows were recognized by the sponsors at the October 28 Scarecrow Festival kick-off where ANS was awarded the blue ribbon in the “Community Creative” category!

Saint Francis of Assisi was a saint who praised God for all of creation – the sun and the moon, the animals, and people. St. Francis saw the beauty of God’s love in everything He made. He believed that all God’s creatures were meant to live together in peace and reminded people of this by the kind and gentle way he treated them.

Although we celebrate the feast of St. Francis on October 4, few of us can boast that Saint Francis himself blessed our animals. Students in Ms. Grimm’s first grade class, however, welcomed an unexpected guest to their blessing of the “stuffed” animals ceremony -- Saint Francis himself (A.K.A Father Salvatore Jordan, SJ)! Clothed in period attire and accompanied by his canary, Fr. Sal embodied the true spirit of Saint Francis.

Each cuddling a beloved stuffed animal, the students greeted their special guest with the song, The Wonders I See. Together with Fr. Sal, they discussed the life of St. Francis and honored him with prayer. The class recognized some of their favorites of God’s creatures (eagles, guinea pigs, bears, frogs, catfish, dolphins and whales) before their animals were blessed.

On the fifth and sixth days of creation, you called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land.