the
January 2015 PRESENTATION HIGH SCHOOL PARENT NEWSLETTER
LANTERN
Service Success!
From November through December, our Presentation students, faculty, sta, parents, alumni, and neighbors were hard at work bringing in donations of food, pennies, and toys in order to ensure that all families in San Jose had a joyful holiday season. This was one of our most successful Holiday Drives seasons yet! We brought in 16,555 items of food, more than 700 coats and blankets, 21,085 diapers, 1,053 turkeys, more than $10,000, and more than 1,500 toys. These donations were given to Sacred Heart Community Service and given out during their Thanksgiving and Christmas food and toy programs. During each holiday, they provide food, clothing, and toys for 4,000 families. Donations from Presentation make up about 10% of what Sacred Heart gives out during the holidays and 25% of the turkeys they distribute. Without the dedication and heart of our Presentation community, none of this would have been possible. Thank you to all of those who contributed to our drives!
Not only were our students busy bringing in donations, but they were also out in the community getting their hands dirty through service. Since the start of school year, our students have served more than 2,000 hours. This community service has been done at local parishes, non-profits, and here at Presentation. Some students spent their time tutoring low-income students or teaching senior citizens computer literacy, while others helped coach middle school sports teams or prepare meals for the homeless. One student in particular, Sakthi Ponnuswamy, founded a program at A.J. Dorsa Elementary School to teach students about public speaking and help them with their career goals. She has been working there for the past three years and impressed the Principal of A.J. Dorsa so much that she nominated Sakthi for the Young Leader award given by the San Jose City Council. The City Council has choose Sakthi as the winner of the Young Leader award and presented her the award at the City Council meeting in December. Congratulations to Sakthi and all of the other inspiring Presentation students changing our community.
Inside this issue LETTERS From the Parent Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 DEPARTMENT UPDATES Campus Ministry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dance Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . College Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Counseling OďŹƒce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Athletics: Varsity home games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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ADVANCEMENT Fashion Show 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Fashion Show Program - Senior Photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Balloon & Starbucks Order Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 JANUARY CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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January 2015
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From the Parent Board
Campus Ministry
On behalf of the entire Parent Board, I would like to wish each of you a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2015!
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare [her] room, and heaven and nature sing!”
The Parent Board has planned many wonderful festivities this year starting with Mary Miller’s State of the School Address on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Valenzuela Theater. Mary’s insight and wisdom are enormously enlightening and attending this presentation always brings to life the vision and future direction of our school. In February, the Parent Board’s biggest party of the school year, the annual Crab and Pasta Feed, rocks the gym. Be prepared on Saturday, Feb. 7, to have a fun-filled night with our theme, The Sporting Life. This event sells out quickly, so purchase your tickets early. Fun-loving volunteers who’ve always harbored a desire to trick-out the gym with other like-minded volunteers are needed, so contact Chris Kelly if interested: ktkwalldance@comcast.net. The pageantry and energy of Presentation’s Vintage & Vogue Fashion Show happens on Friday, April 24. Committees are still in need volunteers. If interested, contact Anne Naragon: anaragon234@yahoo.com. Please register all your credit and club cards on eScrip. Our goal is to bring more than $30,000 back to Presentation this year through this program and every little bit helps. It’s easy to sign up, register your cards at www.escrip.com. As always, Presentation parents are welcome to join the Parent Board meetings. Our next meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. in the library.
For Campus Ministry, this traditional Christmas carol reminds us of our call to help your daughters prepare room in their hearts for God’s joy. Through the many retreats and liturgies of this spring semester, our goal is to provide prayer experiences that encourage your daughters to open their hearts to God. We begin our semester with senior retreat, which will take 56 seniors to the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos on Jan.15-16. This overnight retreat is devoted to coming to know God’s call – in yourself, through others, in prayer, through challenge, and in acts of service. Seniors will have a chance to build community and learn more about each other before they graduate. We will celebrate a New Year’s Liturgy on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. in the gym. Junior Meg Blach will share her experiences at the Ignatian Family Teach-in this past November and we will also commission all of our newly trained liturgical ministers. All parents, alumnae, board members, and supports at Pres are welcome to attend any of our liturgies – so if you’re free, please join us! We hope the Christmas season continues to bring great joy to you and your family. Happy New Year!
Lisa Allen, President lisaallen@pacbell.net
Dance Team For the past few years, the Dance Team has become a force to be reckoned with in the high school dance circuit. At U.S.A. Regional Competitions, the team garnered its fair share of first, second, and third place rankings as well as superior rankings for both work ethic and performance. This pursuit of excellence has pushed it to even further heights, gaining National Champion titles in Extra-Small Modern, Hip Hop, Officers, and Character/Novelty when traveling to Florida for the Contest of Champions National Competition. The team hopes to continue this tradition of excellence in the future and to make itself, its family, its friends, and its school proud. Come experience our National Championship Dance Team at one of their local competitions beginning this month. But remember; be careful when you come because you too may catch “dance fever.” Homestead High School- January 31 Bella Vista High School – February 7 Monta Vista High School- February 14 Valley Christian High School- February 21
Please join us for the
State of the School Address Thursday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m. | Valenzuela Theater All parents are welcome to join us for an interesting and informative evening during which Principal Mary Miller will speak to the current state of the school, its future plans and exciting changes. There will also be time for questions and answers. Refreshments will follow.
January 2015
Performing Arts
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December Performing Arts in Photos
We begin January looking forward to auditions for our spring production of Kaufman and Ferber’s Stage Door. Our audition workshop is on Thursday, Jan. 8 from 3-5 p.m. This workshop is open to all students and is guaranteed to improve your student’s self-presentation skills. On Thursday, Jan. 22, from 3-6 p.m. in the theater, we will hold the acting audition for this 1940’s period piece about struggling actresses who live in a boarding house in New York City. Performances are March 14-22. Consider this opportunity for your student to work on a team, to speak in front of an audience and to polish those cooperation and discipline skills. And, do mark your calendars to see this classic show.
Dance Cabaret
Winter Concert
And now for something completely different: On January 14-18 we will be premiering a brand new show: #HeadCase, a new musical written by Mr. Houle and former Pres parent Dave Coldren. This musical about teen stress and life on the internet will be unlike anything you are used to, as we reference such teen issues as bullying, college app stress, prescription drug addiction and peer pressure. Due to some mature subject matter, no one under the age of 13 will be admitted. Come show your cultural curiosity and check out this show! This is a special engagement limited to five performances only, so do not get locked out and make your reservations now! Tickets to all events in the Valenzuela Theater are available at our online store Panther’s Den. Look for it on our homepage or visit www. presentationhs.org/panthersden.
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Your one-stop shop for Panthers on-the-go!
www.presentationhs.org/panthersden
I.T.S. Christmas
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January 2015
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College Counseling Happy New Year from the College Counseling office! This semester brings much in the way of college happenings for our seniors, juniors and sophomores. For seniors, January is a key month for the financial aid part of the college process. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) becomes available to complete on Thursday, Jan. 1. All colleges and universities require the submission of the FAFSA for a student to be eligible for financial aid. Some colleges require the CSS Profile form, which is found on the College Board website, in addition to the FAFSA. Other important tasks for the seniors this semester include completing a CalGrant GPA verification form and submitting it to the College Counseling office (if applying for financial aid), meeting any deadlines that individual colleges have for financial aid applications, and updating their Naviance accounts as they submit applications and receive decisions. Juniors have lots going on this semester regarding college counseling. The College Counselors will hold a mandatory collaboration with each junior mentor group as part of our college guidance. The school calendar shows three dates; each mentor group will attend one meeting and the assignments are below. We will also host four evenings for parents throughout the semester, kicking off with the College Information evening on Wednesday, Jan. 28, featuring Dr. Renate Crawford, a professor from the University of Notre Dame who has dual roles in the Physics and Admissions departments.
From the Counseling Office Happy New Year! For those of us who work in an academic setting -- no matter the age of the students, preschool to college -- the “new year” is commonly considered the start of the school year. Every year, in her comments to the student body at our opening school Liturgy, Mary Miller will note the fresh beginning: the blank white page that each August brings to the Presentation students. There is the prospect for an annual do-over, in terms of student and faculty resolutions and intentions. Although January represents a new calendar year, it is very much a continuation of the learning and objectives begun in the first semester. For sure, it is a new semester with perhaps new classes and activities for students to participate in and get excited about, but it is still the 2014-
Although sophomores do not meet individually with a college counselor until the fall of their junior year, there are two events that we host for them, and their parents. On Thursday, Feb. 12, there will be a Joint Sophomore Parent Night, with Bellarmine and Notre Dame San Jose, at which representatives from UC and CSU campus, as well as from an out of state public university and a private university, present information on their particular system. We will also be discussing the new SAT. On Thursday, March 26, we will host our Sophomore College Information Night. More information on both of these evenings will be emailed to sophomore families. We look forward to seeing you at these events!
Key dates from college counseling MONDAY THURSDAY
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Thursday, Jan. 8, 1 - 2 p.m. Mandatory College Counseling Collaboration Mentor groups Buell, Edson, Garbo
MONDAY Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1 - 2 p.m. WEDNESDAY Mandatory College Counseling Collaboration Mentor groups Foley, Mikacich
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MONDAY Wednesday, Jan. 21, 1 - 2 p.m. WEDNESDAY Mandatory College Counseling Collaboration Mentor groups Taylor, Wang
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MONDAY Wednesday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY College Information Night for Juniors featuring Dr. Renate Crawford; Director, Engagement for Academic Recruiting, University of Notre Dame, in the Valenzuela Theatre
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2015 school year. One of the things I love about my position as a College Counselor is the opportunity to be a part of both kinds of a “Happy New Year” for our seniors: a new calendar year as well as a new start with new academic surroundings. As much of a renewal or revitalization a new high school year can bring for a student, her new start at college can present the opportunity to reinvent, repurpose and/or refocus. Our seniors have engaged in an experience that, on an individual level, is transitional and transformational as each one approaches the college process with her own priorities and wishes. The “new year”, which brings them back down to the bottom of the totem pole as freshman students again, is the chance to begin a new chapter, writing their future essentially, and that is truly a “Happy New Year.”
January 2015
From the Athletic Department
Varsity home games | January Soccer
Happy 2015 to all! Our winter teams were hard at work over the Christmas break preparing for the grueling WCAL season that is happening right now. Check the schedule and come support your Panthers!
Saturday, Jan. 3 Alumnae Game, 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10 vs. Capuchino High School, 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14 vs. Saint Francis High School, 3:15 p.m.
Our basketball program hosted 2 tournaments over break and our soccer program hosted the alumnae game. Both programs will be busy for the next few weeks as they are in full swing in league play! We also have a freshman wrestler, Sophia Mercado, who is off to a great start; she took 1st place in the 101-pound division of the 48th Annual Peninsula Invitational.
Saturday, Jan. 17 vs. Saint Ignatius College Prep, 11 a.m.
Basketball Tuesday, Jan. 6 vs. Saint Ignatius College Prep, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 vs. Saint Francis High School, 7:30 p.m.
I am excited to report that the new Athletic Offices are complete and we are officially open for business! We have moved into our new offices, which are located in the Gym Foyer, nearest to the Mani Hernandez field (we are located where Room 32 used to be). Please stop by and say hello and see our new offices! The construction on the Weight Room is also complete – we added 500 square feet to the room and it looks phenomenal! Our Strength and Conditioning coach has been busy putting our studentathletes to work in all that space. Next time you’re on campus, take a look at how nice the Weight Room looks. Did you know that the one-and-only fundraising event for the Athletic Department is on Saturday, March 28? Please save the date and join us for a great event! The fundraiser is a Baggo tournament, which is called “Game of Throws.” Game of Throws will be held in the Presentation Gym and costs $75 to play (includes playing Baggo, delicious BBQ food, beer/wine). All of the proceeds go directly to the Athletic Department to provide our student-athletes with the resources (top-notch coaches, equipment, uniforms) they need to be successful. Don’t forget that Presentation Athletics is now on Twitter and Instagram: @PresPanthers. Follow us and keep up-todate on news and results of Presentation Athletics!
Pres Athletics is now on Instagram! Follow 'PresPanthers' to check out our Pres athletes!
Game OF hrows
Baggo Athletic Fundraiser
A tournament fit for a king or a queen! E N TAT I O N
PR
ES
Go Panthers! Stacey Mallison Athletic Director
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Save The Date March 28, 2015
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January 2015
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Friday, April 24 Santa Clara Convention Center www.presentationhs.org/fashionshow
Vintage & Vogue Fashion Show Needs You! One of the biggest Presentation events of the year, the Vintage & Vogue Fashion Show, is happening Friday, April 24 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This magnificent production highlights the senior class and raises funds to support the endowment for financial aid at Presentation. Here’s your chance to make a difference and be part of the event. There are many great opportunities to get involved.
Be a Sponsor of the Show Support this fundraising event by being a sponsor. Each sponsor level features various perks for the show.
Donate to the Benefit Drawing Wish List The fashion show committee is hoping for donations such as: • Weekend or weeklong stays at condos, cabins, beach houses, desert hideaways, or any exciting destination • Sports memorabilia, golf foursomes, athletic gear • Tech gadgets, including: iPhones, iPods, iPads, and computer gear
Advertise your Business Purchase a program ad to promote your business to the Pres community!
Support Your Daughter’s Team, Club or Feeder School with a Tribute Ad Every student loves to have her picture in the annual Fashion Show program. Make sure your daughter’s photo is included in our program by donating towards either a sports team, club or feeder school photo.
Volunteer Exciting volunteer jobs are available before, during and after the show. Check out further information and see how you can get more involved by visiting the Fashion Show webpage: www.presentationhs.org/fashionshow. Reservations available in early March.
January 2015
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Balloon Order Form Fundraiser
Senior Memories
Name of student: ______________________________________________________________
Senior days will quickly pass, but memories will last a lifetime. Capture today’s memories with a commemorative Senior Photo!
Delivery date: ________________________________________________________________ Locker number: ___________ Your name: ___________________________________________________________________ Phone number: ________________________________________________________________ Sender’s name (as you want it on the card): __________________________________________ Packages available (check one): Package A: $12 - Includes 3 solid color 11-inch latex balloons and 1 mylar balloon Package B: $15 - Includes 6 solid color 11-inch latex balloons and 1 mylar balloon Package C: $20 - Includes 8 solid color 11-inch latex balloons and 1 mylar balloon $10 - Add a Starbucks card to your balloon bouquet $12 - Starbucks card only ($10 value on card) Occasion (check one): Birthday
Your $40 donation will help cover printing costs to ensure this senior photo is featured in the Fashion Show program. With every donation, you will receive a commemorative professionally printed 17” x 11” photo of the Senior Class of 2015 to give to your daughter. Donors will be named in the program along with other contributing senior families.
Cheer up
Congratulations
Good luck
Delivery is not available during or on the following dates: Nov. 21, Apr. 24, May 15, May 19, May 29.
Orders must be placed and paid for in full at least 24 hours in advance. of Advancement. This order form must be returned to the Make checks payable to Presentation High School. Balloons will be delivered to locker by 11 a.m.
To make a donation, please visit www.presentationhs.org/ fashionshow. All proceeds go to the Vintage & Vogue Fashion Show 2015, which benefits the endowment for financial aid at Presentation.
Starbucks Gift Cards Wouldn’t it be nice if Pres made money ơ ǫ
Starbucks cards make great gifts for: ƥ Ƭ Ǩ
Want a snapshot of life on campus? Pres is now on Instagram! Follow 'MyLifeIsPlaid' to see what our Pres girls are up to!
Buy a $10 Starbucks card and support Pres!
Cards can be purchased in the ƥ (house with white picket fence across the street from Pres) OR Ǧ Ǩ ƥ Ǥ
Starbucks Gift Card Order Form Ǥ ̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴ ͕͔͂ ί ̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴͂ ̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴ ̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴ ̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴̴ Checks should be made out to Presentation High School.
January 2015
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January 2015 MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
H TION IGH S TA CH N SE
L O O
PR E
SUNDAY
For complete calendar visit www.presentationhs.org/calendar
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THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
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7 Classes Resume
1st Semester Grades Available
Parent Board Meeting 7 p.m., library
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14 “#HeadCase” Performance 7 p.m., theater
18 “#HeadCase” Performance 2 p.m., theater
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19 Martin Luther King Jr. School Holiday
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Parent Scheduling Night 7 p.m., library and classrooms
28 Liturgy of the Holy Spirit 11:05 a.m.
“#HeadCase” Performance 7 p.m., theater
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Fashion Show General Meeting 7 p.m., library
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Career Day
College Information Night for Junior Parents 7 p.m., theater Graceful Giving 5:30 p.m., library
17 “#HeadCase” Performance 7 p.m., theater
“#HeadCase” Performance 7 p.m., theater
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Math & Science Colloquium 7 p.m., theater
29 State of the School 7 p.m., theater
ASB Winter Dance, 7:30 p.m., Miller Athletic Complex
January 2015 Campbell, CA Permit No. 332
PA I D
U.S. POSTAGE Non-Profit Organization