First Quarter Recap

One Down.... Three to Go!

As the first quarter wraps up, Mr. Mark Matthews and Mrs. Julie Barthel reflect on the return to the Hill

BY CAROLINE SCHILLING

Many would say that this school year is the first “normal school year” that has occured since the impact of Covid. This could be seen in many places, but especially on the Hill, as students and staff are attempting to return to normal.

As the first quarter in the 2022/23 school year has come to a close, many are grateful for the many accomplishments that we have had thus far, and will continue to accomplish. This quarter alone, Cathedral was named a Blue Ribbon School for the fourth time, a new four-day rotating schedule has been implemented, Open House and Back to School Night returned, new staff members have joined us, and much more.

A notable change this year is the new four-day rotating schedule. This schedule is unlike any of the past, as it allows for students and staff to complete a full rotation during the week. Matthews said, “It seems that having more opportunities to meet with individual classes and teachers has been a good thing. I have not had a single teacher or student complain to me about the schedule.”

In September, Cathedral was named a Blue Ribbon School. Matthews noted this achievement as a “result of a lot of teachers and students working hard to achieve their goals.” He said, “Everything that we do is designed to continue to make Cathedral a better school. We are super proud of our National Blue Ribbon award.”

Another positive from this quarter is the addition of the College and Career Center, led by College and Career Director, Ms. Kathy Pivonka. This addition allows students to get individualized attention in their college application process. Barthel said, “Adding Ms. Pivonka as a college and Career Director is great for her to be able to focus solely on that process with the juniors and seniors and get individualized attention.” Last school year, the addition of a lab coordinator was implemented. Results from this addition show that this allowed lab usage to rise to 80% more last year. Barthel believes that the “labs are where we should be for our science classes.”

This year has also experienced a decline in Covid cases. While there is still a great focus on the issue, it has been much easier to continue without the great worry. They have not caused any major interruption during this quarter, but both Matthews and Barthel are still cautious and aware of the possibilities of the return. Barthel is proud of the success and our ability to thrive during the times of Covid.

She said, “We are off to a better start because we don’t have to focus on Covid. Mr. Matthews and I spent so much of our time focusing on that, and I am very proud of the way that we handled it.”

J-Term is returning this year, now with even more opportunities. Many students will be able to travel and have the ability to experience new activities. Some students will have the chance to travel to Florida, Rome, and other places. They received the sign up link in late October to choose their courses.

In recent school years, the start time has been adjusted to better help students. This late start time of 8:40 a.m. was implemented into this schedule as well, to allow for office hours and greater success of students. Barthel believes that the later start time is a positive change that has been implemented recently. Research has shown that a later start time allows students more success and flexibility, and she hopes to continue to start at a later time.

Barthel, Matthews and others are constantly looking for ways to improve the school. She said, “We are talking about how we can help our kids, how we can put different supports in place, especially our students since we come from over 100 schools here.”

Freshman friends happy to have succesfully finished up their first quarter as high schoolers. Photo Submitted

Anti-Bullying with Peer Mentors

How are peer mentors promoting anti-bullying?

BY KRYSTAL VEGUILLA

During the month of September, freshman and their peer mentors talked about mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Positive awareness posters were made, bracelets and World Without Suicide pins were given out too.The counselors also came in to talk to the students during their resource period. During the months of September and October, mental health and bullying awareness was spread, but even after these months the peer mentors won’t stop bringing light to these topics.

The anti-bullying campaign will be fairly similar to suicide prevention month. In this movement, all forms of bullying are being addressed. The forms include physical bullying, verbal bullying, relational bullying, cyber bullying, sexual bullying, and prejudicial bullying. As with most schools, bullying at Cathedral is most commonly found in freshman and sophomores.

Cyber bullying is the most common type found at the school, but the administrators aim to put an end to any and all types of bullying. The school is taking many steps to end bullying. These include a Google Form: Speak Up and Reach Out, an email form, having a guest speaker, and shutting down situations as fast as it started.

In the Google Form: Speak Up and Reach Out, students can report bullying/harassment, drugs/alcohol, suicide or self harm, theft/vandalism, threats/violence towards others, and other situations that need to be immediately addressed. In this form students will have to put their name, the person who the student is concerned about, and the student will have to explain the situation. Although the student's name will not be shared with whom the student is concerned for, the staff addressing the situation may need to contact the student who reported the situation in order to get more information. If a student has a related photo or a video then there is a spot to upload that as well. This form is confidential but it brings awareness to student’s fellow peers. The form is not monitored 24/7 but is checked daily and frequently, so the situation will still be addressed as soon as possible.

A junior is able to sign up to be a peer mentor for their senior year but there will be a lot expected from them. The school’s current peer mentors signed up in their junior year to help Cathedral and make an impact on current or future students. When the peer mentors signed up they learned how to promote anti-bullying and speak out about different topics for their job then as a mentor . Being a peer mentor is a big role to take on since freshmen will look up to them seeing as they are more familiar with Cathedral and having experience on how to go through tough times as a student. Treat others the way someone would want to be treated.

If you or a peer is in immediate danger call 911, (800) 273-8255, or text HELP to 741741. The link for the Google Form Speak Up and Reach Out is below:

https://docs.google.com/ forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxpYe9HZt J_98zd7ZA1QRx0BS-dw8paE2fkFww-sRYZCrEig/viewform

Peer mentors gathered to welcome the class of 2025 at the 3rd Annual "Lughnasa Freshman Orientation on August 7, 2022. Photo Submitted

Companions on the Road to Excellence

Student Innovation Team outlines new addition to the Hill which seeks to provide all students with a leadership opportunity BY DANIEL KENT

When President Dr. Rob Bridges asked each of the school’s departments to formulate a five year strategic plan, the Student Innovation Team (SIT) knew their plan would be based in leadership. After months of meeting and brainstorming the SIT created Companions on the Road to Excellence, more commonly known as “CORE”.

SIT member Mrs. Kathy Saum said, “All of (the SIT members) truly believe in leadership development, and (we) wanted to come up with a program where every single student has an opportunity to not just learn more about the leadership process, but actually have opportunities to lead.”

The SIT has looked into leadership programs around the country, and Saum said, “From what we can see, we’re the only school in the nation that offers a student-led leadership program and 100% of the student body is involved.” SIT member and history teacher Mr. Anthony Ernst saw student leadership present in the first CORE meeting on Sept. 22. “In my CORE (group), the senior leader of my group relied on two juniors because two of our seniors were absent” Ernst continued, “immediately, the process of leadership is already developing.”

With the absence of counties over the past few years, due to covid and other factors, the SIT sought to move away from the county system and saw room for improvement. Religion teacher and SIT member Mrs. Katie Lewis said, “We took a lot of the things that we loved about counties and built upon the framework of it. One of our criticisms of counties was the fact that students were in large groups and they could hide and never talk, and with CORE, we’ve broken that down.” As SIT member and history teacher Mr. Mark Noe put it, “It’s a recreation of counties, and it’s more enhanced for leadership.”

The county names themselves are one of few remaining aspects. Lewis said CORE is structured with “every student in a group of four, every group of four is in a town with three to four other ‘town groups’, there’s eight towns in every county and there’s ten counties in the entire school.” Additionally, each town is led by a mayor. Saum said, “(The mayor’s) role is to be organized prior to CORE meetings and to be the overall leader.”

Senior Erin Emmick is mayor of the town of Buncrana. After the first CORE meeting, Emmick said, “In my town, everyone did a really good job of participating as much as they could” she added, “I’ve talked to a lot of other mayors about how it went with them, and they (said) everyone seemed to participate a decent amount, which no one really expected because it’s kind of hard to interact with people outside of your grade.”

Noting the important role of senior leaders and mayors like Emmick, Ernst explained, “As a senior, (there will be) three levels of kids looking up to you, and (you) are going to have such a huge impact on them.” Emmick shared this sentiment, and she said, “I hope (students) are able to look up to leadership and be able to find leadership within themselves.”

Saum also noted the opportunities within Schoology regarding CORE. “We’re excited about the online part. Once it takes hold, students who have an interest in leadership will be able to continue to grow.” Students can access Youtube videos about leadership and also connect with fellow town members. The SIT hopes this will foster strong bonds that will last beyond students’ time on the Hill.

For future CORE meetings this school year, the SIT plans to focus on different themes and having more activities. Lewis reminded students, “You get out of (CORE) what you put into it. If you go into it with an open mind and willingness to learn and share, then you’re going to grow.”

SIT member Mr. Adam Barth said, “I don’t want (CORE) to be seen as a program. It’s an ongoing transformation of the individual to have the competence to see and the courage to act.”

Students take part in the first CORE meeting on the Hill on Sept. 22. Photo Submitted