Valentine’s Day Main Office Hours On Friday, February 14, Lancaster Catholic will have NO SCHOOL due to a Teacher In-Service. The Main Office will be open from 8 AM - 2 PM.
at 2 PM
Think! Energy Innovation Challenge Lancaster Catholic High School is proud to announce that two Crusaders placed in the Think! Energy Innovation Challenge sponsored by the National Energy Foundation and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Camryn Brommer and Chase Danielson received honorable mentions in the contest and are the winners of Beats by Dre wireless earbuds for their scrapbook entitled “Conserving Energy to Save our Environment!”
Upcoming Events Faculty In-Service No School
President’s Day No School
FPA Pops in the Round
Sadie Hawkins Dance
Ash Wednesday Mass
February 14
February 17
February 19
February 22
February 26
Shakes-Peers Crusaders The People’s Shakespeare Project hosted its first ever “annual” high school Shakespeare festival at The Ware Center on February 10, 2020. They welcomed high school students from 8 schools around our county to compete in Shakespeare monologues, learn and play in group acting workshops and rehearse their randomly assigned Shakespeare scenes – finally performing for the public. Five LCHS Crusaders took part in this Shakes-Peers theater social event. To learn more about the organization and the event, click here to read LNP’s covering of the day.
Peyton Walker Foundation Manheim Township High School is honored to partner with the Peyton Walker Foundation to provide FREE heart screenings for all students ages 12-19 on Saturday, February 22, 9:00am3:00pm at Manheim Township High School. Registration is required and each appointment will take about 45-60 minutes. Parents/ guardians must be on-site during the appointment. The screening includes a vitals check, a heart murmur check and an electrocardiogram (EKG). Based on the results of these initial tests, students may be provided additional free on-site testing. Register at https://www.peytonwalker.org/heartscreenings.html before February 15, 2020. More information can be found by clicking here or visiting the Peyton Walker Foundation website.
Scholastic Writing Competition Winner Luncheon
On Wednesday, February 12, Lancaster Catholic celebrated the Scholastic Writing Competition winners over lunch. Student also had the chance to read their award winning stories to their peers. This year, there were 14 Honorable Mentions, 10 Silver Keys and 2 Gold Keys in the Scholastic Writing Competition. The winners are: Gold Key Henry Greiner | Madison Lewis Silver Key Hope Abel | Ali Brewer | Cecilia Deel Xavier LeFevre | Maria Martin | Matthew Oleskowitz Riley Smith (2) | Zack Stauffer | Kaylie Vazquez Honorable Mention Ross Conway | Kevin Draeger | Hannah Eckerd Bedei Gbala | Marian Joseph | Aiden McShea (2) Angeline Rann | Sheridan Riva | Sabina Russoniello Leanna Smith | Lizbeth Stephan | Ian Witkowski Jillian Wnek
2020 LLMEA Private Music Teacher of the Year Congratulations to our very own Mr. Paul Murr for being selected as the recipient of the 2020 Lancaster- Lebanon Music Educators Association “Private Music Teacher of the Year” award. This is a well deserved award received by Mr. Murr, who not only teaches our students here at Lancaster Catholic, but also maintains a private studio, and is an adjunct Professor of Percussion Studies at Millersville University. The award was voted on by his peers in the LLMEA organization and will be officially presented in the Spring.
Sadies Dance- Saturday, February 22nd The Sir Valentine’s Sadies Dance will be held on Saturday, February 22nd in Lancaster Catholic’s Cafeteria from 7-10 PM. Tickets will be on sale for $10 on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 18th and 19th and then go to $12 for Thursday and Friday, February 20th and 21st. Guest forms are available in the Main Office.
Grandparent’s Day - Save the Date Our Annual Grandparent’s Day at Lancaster Catholic High School will be held on Thursday, March 19th. The event begins at 8 AM with a continental breakfast, Fine & Performing Arts entertainment and ends after the Feast of St. Joseph Mass around 11 AM.
Spring Blood Drive- Donors Wanted Blood is needed every 2 seconds. Your blood can give life to a cancer patient, a trauma victim or a burn patient, just to name a few who would benefit from your donation. It is a safe and easy process which takes approximately 45 minutes. The drive will be held Thursday, February 27 from 8:00 to 2:00 in the Old Gym. The Blood Drive is sponsored by our National Honor Society and Central Pennsylvania Blood Bank. Anyone age 16 or older, weighing at least 110 pounds and in good health on the day of the drive may donate. Pennsylvania law requires a parent consent form for students who are 16 years old. Permission forms are available in the Library and must be returned by Tuesday, February 25. Unfortunately, International students may not donate since they have not been in the U.S. for 1 complete year. All donors must present a photo ID at the time of donation. Beginning Monday, February 10 sign-up sheets for donating will be available in the Library. Please encourage your son or daughter to donate. If you would like to donate please email Miss Susan Martin at smatin@lchsyes.org with your preferred time.
Parent Referral Program! There is no better way to encourage prospective students and their families to consider all that Lancaster Catholic has to offer than to extend a personal invitation! We know first hand that your recommendation moves people to take the first step in exploring Lancaster Catholic for their family. Our Referral Program is meant to thank families who have added new members to the Crusader family. For each new family that enrolls, the referring family will receive a $500 discount on tuition! Please contact Kyla Hockley, Admissions Director, for more information on this new program at 717-509-0313 or by emailing khockley@lchsyes.org.
Lancaster Catholic Mini-THON (February 29-March 1) Lancaster Catholic’s Mini-THON is right around the corner and we need your help! If you are unfamiliar with Mini-THON, it’s a 12hour event held at our school from 6 pm February 29, to 6 am March 1st where we will all stand in solidarity for the many kids who fight childhood cancer every day. Lancaster Catholic’s Mini-THON started about nine years ago and has raised thousands of dollars for the Four Diamonds Fund, which allows families fighting pediatric cancer to never see a bill of the medical expenses. Last year, our total was over $46,000. This money allows Four Diamonds families to designate all of their time and attention to their child in the fight to beat this dreadful disease. Mini-THON’s all around Pennsylvania and neighboring states are in conjunction to Penn State’s THON—the stem of all Mini-THONs. We are all united in this fight, and someday we will find a cure for cancer! Your child has heard about the event throughout the year; now is the time that we really need to have one final push for signups and fundraising. We are asking you to please help us to remind your child to sign up for this event. Students can easily sign up here! Every student who wishes to stay for the full 12-hour event must raise a minimum of $80, but we always encourage them not to limit themselves to that. Please check in with your child and see if they are interested in signing up, and please help support him/her in their efforts. In the coming weeks we will hold meetings in school for dancers in order for them to prepare for this commitment and confirm that they receive a permission form—which will need to be signed by parents/guardians, so please be on the lookout for that. While the entire night is extremely enjoyable, it does get very challenging to stay awake and stay standing once we hit the early hours of the morning.
Mini-THON Care Packages To help make the night even better, we ask the parents to create a care package for their child. This care package should be personalized and full of fun items. Here are some ideas for what to include: • Gatorade • Candy/Granola Bars • Bouncy Balls
• Bubbles • Socks • Letters of Encouragement
The care packages can be composed of boxes or gift bags, and they can be as large or as small as you see fit. Please do not include any medications or health items- all of those items should be checked in with the dancer at registration, and-moderator--Miss Newill should be informed that the student needs such items with them at the event prior to February 29th. We also ask that you do not include “messy” items such as silly string or slime. These items will be confiscated if seen, as they have the potential to ruin school property which we aim to avoid at all costs. The dancers do not know when they will be receiving their care packages during the night, and we encourage you to keep the contents of their care package a secret to maintain the surprise factor. Please send in the package to school with your child or personally drop it off in the main office no later than Thursday, February 27th. Make sure to mark the package clearly with your students’ name so we can ensure they receive the gift. This year we are offering a care package that you can pre-order. This package will cost $20, and must be ordered by Friday the 21st. Send a check (made payable to LCHS) or cash to school with your son or daughter for $20 to the main office. The care packages will include things like: • Water/ Gatorade • Sweet snack - rice crispy/ cookies • Chips
• Stress ball/bouncy ball • Bubbles • Socks
Mini-THON Community Hour Each year we hold a Community Hour portion of the night in which we welcome all families and community members to come in and get a look into our event to get a first-hand experience as to what it involves and support the cause. This will be held from 6-11pm on February 29th with Mass being held before, at 5pm, which everyone is encouraged to join us for. All dancers will be required to attend Mass prior to the event. If you would like to come experience our event and are willing to help us as a parent volunteer we would be very thankful for any amount of help you’re willing to offer. Below is a link to a sign-up genius which will be used to sign up as a volunteer for however long you’re willing to stay during the night. Please consider giving of your time, we cannot do this without you! If you have a diocesan clearance please include that when you sign up. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c48aeaf2ca7f94-minithon Lastly, if you would still like to support our Mini-THON, and are looking for other ways of doing so here are some other options: • Donate money directly through the link above that dancers use to sign up. Simply hit the “Donate To This Event” button. • Purchase a luminary to remember or honor a loved one which will be used during our Midnight Luminaria Ceremony. Simply fill out the form attached and send it to the school with the money ($10 per luminary). They can be returned to the main office, Mrs. Hamer or Ms. Newill. If you have any questions or would like to donate in a way not mentioned above, feel free to reach out to us at minithonlchs@gmail.com . To volunteer, submit your child’s medical release form or submit a luminary form, click here. To donate to Lancaster Catholic’s Mini-THON, click here.
Amazon Smile We have a reason to smile today! You can now shop on Amazon and with just a click of a button, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to support Lancaster Catholic! Just be sure to use the www.smile.amazon.com website when you are checking out to make sure your donation counts!
Alumni Citation Established in conjunction with our 75th Anniversary in 2003, the Alumni Citation Award was created to recognize exceptional alumni and is the most prestigious honor to be bestowed upon a Lancaster Catholic alum. The Alumni Citation Committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020 Alumni Citation Awards: Sam Kirchner ‘69 Service to LCHS Stephen Smith ‘64 Professional Achievement / Service to Catholic Education Claire Seguin Storm ‘57 Service to Humanity Brenda Weaver ‘70 Service to Catholic Education This year’ s presentation luncheon will be Saturday, April 4th at the Hamilton Club. Please feel free to nominate any graduate who has made an impact in the following areas: • • • •
Outstanding Professional Achievement Service to Humanity Service to LCHS Service to Catholic Education. Nomination forms are available from the Alumni section of the LCHS website.
Online Raffle Baskets Tickets - End Date Extended Lancaster Catholic is hosting an online raffle for 7 themed raffle baskets donated by the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior classes. The profits from the baskets support Lancaster Catholic’s mission. The themes for the seven baskets are Happy Hour, Gift Cards Galore, Oh, Those Summer Nights, Road Trip, Crusader Tailgate, All Around the World and Hostess with the Mostest! The value of the baskets range from $500-800! Take a chance or share the link below with your family and friends! Tickets are 1 for $5, 5 for $10, 10 for $20, 25 for $50 & 50 for $100. Tickets can be purchased at www.accelevents.com/e/2020PurpleGoldGalaRaffle. Winners will be drawn on Friday, February 21st, 2020 and notified via email. As always, Lancaster Catholic appreciates your support. Any questions, please reach out to Lori Wagner at lwagner@lchsyes.org or Kevin Carver at kcarver@lchsyes.org.
Important Business Office Updates! With changes in the Financial Aid Application and the Neumann Scholarship, it is crucial that if you wish to re-register your child at Lancaster Catholic High School for the 2020-21 school year, a Registration Fee of $150 is due by March 1st. Also, the Financial Aid Applications are due March 1st. This is an earlier date than last year. You may use your 1040 form from 2018 to complete this application. If you have any questions, please contact the Business Office at 717-509-0307. For more information about the changes, see page 10 of this Crusader Connection.
STEM Sisters- Black History, Women’s History Join us at the North Museum for an exciting and informative evening to learn about Women’s and Black History. We will show a series of short films and do some related activities. Dinner will be provided. February 17th | 5 pm - 8 pm The North Museum | 400 College Ave, Lancaster, PA Registration is required so sign up today!
A Palette-able Affair Art Show & Auction
Click here for more information!
School Counseling Corner Attention all Seniors! Millersville University is offering an Instant Decision Day for any senior who wishes to apply to Millersville. So, if you would like to apply risk free and get a decision right away, visit https://www.millersville.edu/admissions/undergrad/apply/indexphp and use the fee waiver code FR2020! Ms. Naydia Bonner, Admissions Counselor from Millersville will be at LCHS on February 21 at 11:00 a.m.
Course Selection Meeting for Parents All parents of rising sophomores, juniors and seniors for Academic Year 2020-21 are invited to join the Academic Department Team in the Library on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. After a brief overview of academic levels, courses, special certificate programs, parents may ask specific questions directly to teachers representing specific departments.
Juniors- There are two programs that you may wish to involved with: Villanova University offers a “Discover Nursing Program” for students interested in Nursing on March 27, 2020. Interested students must have a 3.5 GPA or better. See you School Counselor before March 10, 2020! Lancaster General Hospital continues to offer excellent volunteer opportunities this summer for students who show a genuine interest in Health Care. This program is competitive as there are scholarships available after a student completes their hours. Please visit: www.LancasterGeneralHealth.org and download the current application. Hurry, applications are only accepted from March 2-March 11th!
Attention all students and parents- Naviance Naviance is asking that all users change their passwords. Next time you login, you will be required to change your password. Your user name (although it says “email”) is still your year of graduation followed by your first name initial followed by your last name i.e. 20jgrosh. The old password, your nine digit ID number should generate an email to change the password. If you have questions, please ask your School Counselor.
Registering for the SAT this Spring? Please note that the Prom is the day before the May, 2020 SAT date! Other testing dates include June 6, 2020 and August 29, 2020 and Naviance has a direct link to those websites for registration from the student home page.
PUBLIC SERVICE CAREER EXPLORATION DAY FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020 8:30-11:30AM HACC LANCASTER CAMPUS 1641 OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE LANCASTER, PA 17602 EAST BUILDING, ROOM 203
This event includes demonstrations and activities to showcase careers in: - Criminal Justice: careers include law enforcement, correctional rehabilitation, juvenile and adult probation and parole, private security and investigations, forensic science, and criminology. - Human Services: provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work, and they help clients find benefits or community services. - Paralegal Studies: prepares students to perform a variety of tasks to support lawyers, including maintaining and organizing files, conducting legal research, and drafting documents. - Police Officer: protect lives and property and gather facts and collect evidence of possible crimes. - Psychology: study cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people relate to one another and to their environments. - Social Work: help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives and diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues. AND MORE!!
Attending this event, students will also have the opportunity to meet with local public service employers.
IF INTERESTED IN ATTENDING, RSVP TO YOUR COUNSELOR BY APRIL 3RD.
Lancaster Catholic High School
Teacher Spotlight
Patricia D’Elia
Enthusiastic, Welcoming, Diligent
Mathematics Teacher B.A. in Math, B.S. in Visual Science and O.D. (Doctor of Optometry) from Pennsylvania College of Optometry
What is an item on your bucket list? See the Northern Lights, Italy and Ireland
What would be your super power? Always knowing when my students need help.
If you could have any other career, what would it be? Travel Agent
Favorite hobby? Being with the grandkids and traveling
Tell us about your family! I have a husband, Dan, who is an optometrist in Lancaster and we have two children, Patrick and Catherine. Both Lancaster Catholic alumni. Patrick is a mining engineer (PSU) and resides in North Carolina with his wife Becky and their children Louise and Charlie. Catherine is a Physician Assistant (King’s College) and resides in Bernville, PA with her husband Scott.
When did you realize you wanted to become an educator? About five years into my optometry career.
How long have you been a teacher at Lancaster Catholic? The 2019-20 school year is my 20th year at Catholic High!