The Cavalier

A Parent/Student Newsletter keeping you in touch with Archbishop Spalding High School

Engaging Faith & Learning

Archbishop SpaldingHigh School

8080 New Cut Road~ Severn, MD 21144Phone: (410) 969-9105Fax: (410) 969-1026

ADMINISTRATION

President

Dr. Michael E. Murphy

Principal

Mrs. Kathleen K. Mahar

Assistant Principal, Academic Affairs

Mr. Lewis R. Van Wambeke

Assistant Principal, Student Affairs

Mr. William M. Weber

Assistant Principal, Student Affairs

Ms. Kaycie S. Lomax

CFO / Business Manager

Mr. John C. Coppola

Director of Athletics

Mr. Lee R. Dove

Director of Development

Mrs. Katy A. Caruso

Director of Alumni and Media Relations

Ms. Kristen A. Koehler

Director of Admissions

Mr. Thomas E. Miller

Editor, Assistant to the President

Mrs. Heide C. Cornet-Hostelley

March 2010

IN THIS ISSUE...

Greetings from the President 1Principal/Student Affairs 2Academic Affairs 3Campus Ministry 4Ministry Contd/SHS/SSS Rafe Ticket 5Guidance Department 6Parents’ Association 7Athletics/Athletic Trainer Physicals 8Cavalier Club/Spalding Theatre 9At the Crossroads/National Science Bowl 10Education Technology 11Spalding Spring Sensation ~ Bella Italia! 12

Greetings from the President’s Ofce

When I started to write this letter, I was staring at a yard that was at least a little green and I could seethe sidewalks. I now nd myself looking at a wall of snow that is frankly depressing. I am certain thatmost of you are also sick of the snow and are anxious for some remote sign of spring. I always thoughtit would be fun to be part of something that was a record breaking event. I have quickly earned that it isnot that much fun. To be a part of the history books for living through the largest snowfall amount is notwhat I thought it would be.As the snow continued to pile up, I realized there was a silence that was somewhat unnatural. The carsand the sounds of everyday life had suddenly stopped in my neighborhood. No one ventured out into thestreets. There was a feeling that the world with all of its absurdities had somehow disappeared. I suddenlyfelt that I was living in a time and place far removed from my real life. Even when I went to the internet,it just did not seem real.Since my wife was out of town with the grandchildren, there was no one to talk to and nowhere to go. Iinitially thought that I could nd something on television but found myself watching news stories aboutthe snow. I did not want to watch or hear one more story about snow today, tomorrow, or until sometimein May.Looking around my ofce at home, I remembered that I recently bought a book by Mitch Albom. He is theauthor of one of my favorite books,

Tuesdays with Morrie

. His latest book is entitled

Have a Little

Faith

.I decided that a good use of my time alone would be to read Albom’s latest creation. Little did I know thatthis small book could force me to think about who I am and what I do.There is a line in the book that has resounded in my head: “Faith is about doing. You are how you act,not just how you believe.” The words are simple but powerful. So often, we talk about our faith and thefact that is at our core. We talk about faith in our God and in other people but do not always make theconnection with the real world in which we live. We might be able to recite line and verse from scripture but what do the words really mean. How do we put our faith into action and not simply keep it on a shelf to be viewed only in times of crisis?With the recent tragedy in Haiti, people from across the country and the world rallied to help those inneed. Millions of dollars were raised to provide food and shelter for those left homeless and hopeless.I thought about the words from Albom’s book as I remembered the $14,000 our students raised to helpthe Haitian relief effort. They were putting their faith into action. There are so many cases where I see people put their faith into action every day. I also see cases where people use their faith only when it isconvenient. They use it when they think other people are looking.At the end of Albom’s book, he is talking with a rabbi about what he would say if he had ve minuteswith God. In the last minute of his conversation with God, the rabbi says he would say the following:“Look, Lord, I have done X amount of good stuff on earth. I have tried to follow your teachings and pass them on. I have loved my family. I’ve been part of a community.And I have been, I think, fairly good to people.So, Heavenly Father, for all this, what is my reward?And what do you think God will say?He smiled.He’ll say, Reward? What reward? That’s what you were supposed to do?”As we begin the Lenten season, I pray that we take some time to think about our faith and how we put itinto action every day. Giving up something we like is only one part of the equation. We also need to putour faith into practice every day. The real test is not just during Lent. It is throughout our entire lifetime.I know that the snow will eventually melt and I pray that the melting extends to our hearts. May God grantus the strength and wisdom to make the journey of our lives true to our faith.

Engaging Faith & Learning

The Cavalier •

March 2010

Principal’s Desk ~ Mrs. Kathy MaharStudent Affairs ~ Mr. William M. Weber

The registration process for the 2010-2011 school year will becompleted by the time this newsletter is published. Guidancecounselors met with Homerooms and individual students tohelp guide the many choices involved in shaping each student’sschedule. Parents of rising Juniors and Seniors may have begun toimmerse themselves in the college application experience which isquite similar to various forms of torture. This application processis as anxiety producing as buying a home. As parents, we readevery scrap of information we can lay our hands on; we listento the many proffered horror stories of relatives and friends andwhat they experienced with their children; and we panic that our child may not have the proverbial mandatory Advanced Placement(AP)/Honors courses and corresponding 4.0 grade point averagefor admission to college.There is no doubt that the competition for admission to mostcolleges has increased. The standards for admission are high andcontinue to change. One year a college emphasizes the types andlevel of high school courses that a student has taken. Another year they focus on grade point average. And another year the collegesare looking at extracurricular activities and service of the student.The pressures on both student and parent can seem suffocating.Questions abound. For some, the question may be, “Should mychild take all Advanced Placement (AP) courses?” Or, “Willa few honors or college preparatory courses lessen the rigor of their transcript?” “Will a ‘C’ in an AP class ruin their acceptancechances?” “How many hours of service are competitive? 100?500?” Whatever happened to the ‘good old days’ when applying tocollege consisted of completing an application and writing a check for the admission fee?!The pace of our lives is already frenetic, so it sometimes seemsimpossible to take a step back, along with a deep breath, and notsuccumb to these pressures at the expense of the child. So oftena student registers for an upper level course because they think it is crucial to their college acceptance not because of a burningdesire to learn more about the subject. Yet, they struggle with both course content and workload. They get caught in a cycleof anxiety, frustration, and sometimes failure. As parents and aseducators, we must ask, “How much is too much?”Teachers, counselors, and administrators are always here to helpthroughout the year, not just during registration. However, youknow your child better than anyone. You know their work habits,their strengths and their weaknesses, and we ask that you keepfront and center this guiding educational principle:

The key is tochallenge

yet not overwhelm

The ofce of Student Affairs is proud to announce that the schoolyear has been a huge success thus far. With the winter monthsupon us and the start of the new semester there are several items Iwould like to bring to your attention:Attendance RequirementsI would like to reiterate the Attendance Requirements at ArchbishopSpalding. When a student has eight (8) or more absences in asemester course, or fteen (15) or more absences in a year course,an attendance review hearing will be convened. The hearingwill consider the circumstances of the absences, and determineappropriate consequences. Absences that are included in theattendance requirement consist of but are not limited to, vacations,illness not documented by a physician, and tardiness. Absencesnot included in the attendance requirement are the following:medical (with physician verication), court dates, funerals, collegevisits, sports early dismissals, eld trips, and retreats.We have recently sent two letters to let you know if your childhas missed a large number of days . There will be another letter generated around the second week of March. Please remember toget absent notes turned in to Mrs. Trumpler, so you do not receivean attendance letter. If you do receive an attendance letter makesure you fulll all of the attendance requirements so that your daughter/son does not lose academic credit. We thank you for your diligence in this matter.Late Arrival to SchoolI would also like to review the late arrival policy. Studentsare allowed 3 tardies per semester. A tardy includes, but is notlimited to: carpools, oversleeping, trafc, weather, not feelingwell, etc. The only tardies that are exempt from the policy are:medical appointments with a physician’s note or documented courtappearances. When a student has accrued his/her fourth (4) tardyin one semester, he/she will be issued a general detention. For each subsequent tardy a general detention will be issued.Students, tardies will add up quickly so please make sure you donot put yourself in a bad position early.Cell Phone PolicyCell phones may not be used from 7:30am – 3:30pm. Cell phonescannot be turned on during the school day, in addition the studentwho violates this policy will receive a general detention. Continuedviolations will result in suspension and/or guardian conference.Thank you for your efforts thus far, I cannot wait for the secondsemester to be even better!

Engaging Faith & Learning

The Cavalier •

March 2010

Academic Affairs ~ Mr. Lewis R. Van Wambeke

Improve How You Learn

How do students learn best? Learning can be unique to theindividual but there are some common practices that researchhas shown to be effective. Understanding, rather than merelymemorizing, is the ultimate goal. I often recount a story where Iasked one of our students a question as we passed in the hallway.She paused then apologized because she told me she was thinkingabout something she learned in class. She does very well in schooland is able to connect her classroom life with her experiences in personal life. When a student can make these connections it makeslearning so much more meaningful.I am always looking for better ways to help students learn andwas fortunate to come across an article published in

American Educator

entitled “What Will Improve a Student’s Memory?” byDaniel Willingham. This article espouses some known and newtruths about learning. How many times do we expect studentsto remember everything they read or everything they hear? Our own experience tells us that this is not the way it works. What dowe remember? This article stresses that “memories are formedas the residue of thought.” Thus, the things students think aboutand are truly interested in are learned easier. This, of course, isno surprise, and the author recommends that students attempt tomake meaning of the material rather than simply memorizing.The article also points to two items that research shows do notwork – copying notes and reading over the textbook. Of course,not everything students learn will have meaning to them. In thesecases it, is necessary to employ a mnemonic device, such as anacronym or visual associations. Visual associations are oftensuccessful because so many students are visual learners. Thereare a host of mnemonic devices that student’s can learn to suittheir learning style. We teach several of these in the summer studyskills course offered at Spalding.At the other end of learning is not forgetting! How many times dowe forget something that we thought we had locked in our mind?Or, how many times has your child known the material the night before only to forget on the next day’s test? This is human natureand students need to overcome this with a few simple steps. It isnormal to think that we will remember more than we actually do.Students should over-learn the material – keep studying even after they think they know it all! They should assess themselves with atest like the one they might have in class. Friends or parents canhelp by quizzing them. Lastly, and this is something we stressin the summer course, is for students to distribute their studyingat different times and in smaller intervals, what we call spurts.Willingham points out that this will allow students to retrieveinformation at different times of the day, rather than havingone time associated with studying. I will add that a focused,meaningful twenty minutes is much more valuable than havingthe book open for an hour of listless studying. I tell students thatthe goal is not just to “look like a good student,” but to actuallylearn the material. Research shows that the traditional methodof cramming only works for a handful of students and has beenshown to be ineffective in learning for the long-term.

Advanced Placement Exam Reminder and Schedule

Information for registering to take Advanced Placement examswas sent in February. If your son/daughter is planning on takingan exam but did not receive this packet, please call us at (410) 969-9105 x270. These were due to the Ofce of Academic Affairs (Mr.Van Wambeke’s ofce) by March 2, 2010.

Extended Absence

If you have a son/daughter out for an extended period of time(more than 4 days), please contact his/her guidance counselor tocoordinate an academic plan. The most direct way to keep upwith school work is to e-mail the teachers directly and check their websites.CALENDAR CHANGES DUE TO SNOW!!!!We have made some modications to the calendar in an effortto restore instruction time. Please note the following for your calendars:March 6 Incoming Freshman Registration;8:00 am – 12:30 pmMarch 12 Full day of school, dismissal 2:35 pmMarch 15 Change to Summer Uniform,P. 18-19 in handbook March 19-20 Spring Musical; 7:00 pmMarch 21 Spring Musical; 2:00 pmMarch 24 3rd Quarter EndsMarch 25 Senior Teach Day/PM – PepRallyMarch 26 9

Grade Plan Test 7:50 am – 11:00am, No Classes 10

, 11

, 12

March 27 Spring Sensation 6:00 pm – 11:00 pmMarch 31 FULL day of school, dismissal 2:35 pm - withLiturgy and Report Cards DistributedAny possible end of the year changes will be announced in mid-March.