CM Gallery's Photo of the Day: Mardi Gras at CM

Students in Mrs. Sittig's French classes celebrated Mardi Gras on February 24th with the construction of masks in their classes. View more photos in the CM galleries...

February poise brings March Madness

CM's five winter sports teams have made their way into the postseason due to individual and team efforts. A look at some of the results they've seen already and the outlook ahead:

Basketball: Coach Denis Tobin and his 8th seeded Knights look to defend their 2008 state championship as they face O'Bryant on Wednesday night in the first round of the Division II south brackets.

Hockey: After winning their 6th consecutive Catholic Conference Championship, CM's hockey team received a number one seed in the Division 1A "Super-8" tournament, which kicks off Sunday, March 1 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell. They will face the winner of the play-in game (Winchester/Springfield Cathedral) in the first of three games in the Super-8 tournament. Game times TBA.

Swimming: CM's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Sean Farrell '09, John Mackie '10, Ryan Clifford '11 and Matt Farrell '11 came in 9th place in the Division II State Swimming Championships on February 21. CM swimmers (including James Myers '09) also qualified and competed at the state meet in the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard breaststroke events.

Track: CM brought home two medals from the Division II State Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center on February 22nd. Nahed Lakkis '09 came in 2nd place in the 1000-meter event (2:36.85), while Ed Colvin '10 came in 3rd place in the 2-mile event (9:36:89). Both times were personal bests for the runners, who head to All-States on 2/27. Ryan Pai '09 also competed in the meet, coming in 12th (out of 23) in the 55-meter hurdle event with a time of 8.32 seconds.

Wrestling: Josh Boyd '09 earned a state championship title by defeating Beverly's Tom Cacciola in the Division II State Championship held at North Andover High School on February 21. Also earning honors at the state meet was Josh Rosario '09, who came in 6th place in his division. Both move on to the All-State meet on 2/28 at Salem High School.

Senior Service Heads to New Orleans: Michael Lombardi '09

Last summer, Michael Lombardi '09 attended the National Student Leadership Conference at New York University, a 10-day program for high school seniors in business and entrepreneurship.


"It was fun," he said, "We did a lot of simulations, building our own companies and we had a lot of guest speakers. And we got to stay in one of the dorms at NYU."

Lombardi liked the experience so much that he decided to devote his Senior Service Project to the organization's work. This winter, he signed up for the Alumni Service Program of the conference to spend a week in New Orleans over his February vacation.

"We’re going to be rebuilding family houses. There were some overseas opportunities, but they conflicted with school dates, so I picked this."

Unlike most seniors on their service projects, Lombardi chose to make an extra effort and include travel in his service plans. "I like helping people. Usually I go skiing over vacation, but I wanted to help. A lot of people are ignorant about the destruction that's still down there and I’ll be able to see what it's like."

Globe's Scholastic Art Awards Recognizes Six CM Artists

John Repucci, Brennan Williams, and Matthew Ferrick '09 have been named Silver Key winners in the annual Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards competition. With graphic design and art pieces they composed in Ms. Ann Malachowski's art studio classes at Catholic Memorial, the students competed against over 3,000 students in the state.

The contest recognizes the top artists as Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention recipients. The Silver Key awards go to "work demonstrating achievement worthy of recognition on the regional level." Also receiving recognition as Honorable Mention candidates for "work demonstrating artistic potential" were Joe Botcsh '11, Leo Stapleton '11, and Seungjin Park '11.

The three silver key winners were invited to receive their awards at a reception on Sunday, February 8th.

Thirteen CM Students Qualify for Forensics Nationals in May

Thirteen CM Students Qualify for Forensics Nationals in May

Catholic Memorial School’s Forensics team has had a record-setting year since September, earning top individual and team trophies at tournaments in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Last Saturday, February 7, the team earned ten spots for thirteen individuals to go to Nationals in May.

At the Boston Catholic Forensic League Qualifiers Tournament at Shrewsbury High School, thirteen individuals qualified for the Grand Tournament, which will be held in Albany, New York over Memorial Day Weekend. Those earning a spot at Nationals included Brian Murphy and Gregory Sabina '09 (Duo), Mark Macchi '09 and Ethan Madden '11(Duo), Patrick Simas and Chris Masterson '10 (Duo), Andrew Rogantino '12 (Declamation), Marcus Jackson '12 (Declamation), Kevin Donnelly '12 (Declamation), Dominic Montalbano '11 (Declamation), Ethan Madden '11 (Declamation), Sean Steinberg '10 (Original Oratory), and Joseph Botsch '11 (Debate).

Head coach Rob Croteau praised the team’s overall effort, from winning 5 of the 6 spots in Declamation to earning its first entries in Public Forum Debate. “In a year when our team was supposed to be in rebuilding phase,” said Croteau, “we have demonstrated again that hard work and commitment to this team reaps many rewards.”

Peer Ministry Hits the Road

Catholic Memorial’s Peer Ministry class has grown over the past few years to become a model for other schools in the area, and Mrs. Ramsdell’s class took its best practices on the road on January 29th to the 2nd annual GIFT retreat, hosted by Notre Dame Academy in Hingham.

Last year, Mrs. Ramsdell started GIFT—“Growing in Faith and Teamwork”—to get Catholic schools from the Boston area together once a year to talk about what they do well and what they could improve.

Above: James Schmidlein '09 speaks about CM's peer ministry
at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham on January 29th.

“I thought it was important for our kids to realize that we have a shared Catholic identity with these schools,” said Mrs. Ramsdell, “and that despite our rivalries, at our core we're all Catholic schools. It’s important for the kids from these schools to come together and recognize that.”

With the peer ministers from several Catholic high schools in the area giving talks on community, teamwork, faith and service, the leaders from all schools share one day of reflection with one another.

“The kids had a great time. They got a lot out of it,” said Mrs. Ramsdell.

From CM came David Falco ’10, Brendan McNabb ’10, and seniors James Schmidlein, Joe Cauteruccio, Steve Sullivan, Trevor Boyce, Kurtis Bucszynski, and Sean Mahoney.

“It's wonderful to see our kids grow as leaders and recognize the strength of our programs,” said Mrs. Ramsdell. “What they contribute to our lives…can spread to other schools and students too.”

The Peer Ministry course is a Theology elective which department chair Brian Scott and former campus minster Shivonne St. George began offering in 2006.

Steve Sullivan ’09, who enrolled in the class last year and re-enrolled this year, was impressed by how much the GIFT retreat has grown in just one year. “It’s so important, once in a while, to not go out of the textbook for a change, to get to know other people and learn from them,” Sullivan said.

Asked what best practices of peer ministry he learned from other schools, Sullivan cited creative ideas with the missions collections as one example of something that could improve.

Other schools, reported Sullivan, were impressed with CM’s leadership in citywide events like the Walk for Breast Cancer and benefit concerts.

“Thinking about what you do well and hearing about these great ideas from other schools,” Sullivan said, “there was definitely a lot to take in.”

Interview with CM Hockey Defenseman Phil Rossi '09--by Kevin Walsh '09

The 2009 Hockey season is in full swing and the varsity team (6-3-3) is looking to bring home the first state championship banner in that sport since 2004.

I posed a few questions to senior defenseman, #13 Phil Rossi and I asked him a couple questions about the season and what he thought about the Knights' chances.

Q: What were your expectations for the season this year?
A: We were looking for the same thing as we are every year we step onto the ice. To be the best and to bring back another state championship and win the Catholic Conference.

Q: How did the team look at the beginning of the season?
A: We looked good, judging from our scrimmages with Mt. St. Charles and Fairfield Prep. We move the puck well and we have a strong couple of lines. As long as everyone steps up and does their job, I think we should be good.

Q: How is this year's team different from last year's?
A: We need a lot of kids to step up on defense. Last year, we had a strong D with Pete [Starrett '08, Harvard '12]. We also have a lot more experience at forward with a lot of kids who returned from last year.

Q: Is having a lot of young talent helpful this year?
A: It can help and hurt us. There will be mistakes made, but it is how we learn from the mistakes that will help us become a strong and successful team.

Q: How does the Conference look this year?
A: It's up for grabs. There's no one team that is really dominating. Everyone has a chance to take first this year.

Photo courtesy Linda Rossi P'06 and '09. View more photos of the team by visiting the CM Photo Gallery.

Year of the Ox: Celebrating the Chinese New Year at CM

Catholic Memorial School's Mandarin Chinese language program took a day off from traditional studies on January 26th to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Students in Mr. Jia's Mandarin I and Mandarin II classes helped prepare and cook traditional Chinese cuisine.



Watch a video of the cooking/preparations for the New Year's lunch that Mr. Jia prepared by clicking on the video above.

Mr. Jia is one of two Mandarin Chinese teachers in residence at CM thanks to a partnership with the College Board and the Han Ban Chinese Bridge program. Now in its third year, the program provides U.S. schools with Chinese language teachers for one and two-year residencies. Mr. Zhengzhang Jia is joined this year by Mr. Changming Xu. Both teach introductory and advanced Chinese language courses to students in grades 7-12.

The Green Team's Kurtis Buczynski '09--by Anthony Jeannetti '09

Senior Kurtis Buczynski joined the Recycling Club at CM last year and continues to work for the club, which is moderated by Mr. Leo Peltier '91, on a weekly basis. At-large reporter Anthony Jeannetti talked with Kurtis recently about the "Green Team" and its efforts this year.

AJ: What's the main goal of the recycling club this year?
KB: To make sure CM students and faculty know what to do when they go to throw something away. We want them to know to put bottles and scrap paper in the recycling bins in each classroom, rather than just throwing them in the trash barrel. It's not a hard decision!

AJ: What steps has the Green Team taken since last year?
KB: We have a lot more people wanting to recycle and making the right decisions to help our environment at CM. Last year, we went to the Museum of Science and learned more about the importance of recycling. This year, I'm looking to spread what I have learned and get all the recyclable goods out of the trash can.

AJ: How would you estimate the success of the program?
KB: Since the beginning of the program, hundreds of pounds of recyclable goods are not sitting at the bottom of a junkyard and have been used to create new goods. Thanks to the Green Team, getting CM kids to take responsibility makes it a great success.

AJ: What does the future of the club look like?
KB: The future looks so much better. Knowing that all these recyclables can be used again, I believe this is the most rewarding club in the CM community. I also believe that soon enough everyone else will realize this and the program will keep expanding each year.

Interview with SADD member James Schmidlein '09--by James Griffin '09

James Griffin '09, reporter at large for the CM Blog, roved to find James Schmidlein '09 and ask him a few questions about the SADD Club this year, of which Schmidlein is a member.

JG: What type of activities is the SADD Club doing to make the community better this year?
JS: During midterms we have quiet zones which allow students to get an opportunity to focus on their studies. Also, on Valentine's Day we offer cards that remind students to buckle up while driving.

JG: Are these activities beneficial for students at CM?
JS: Of course! Especially the quiet zones because they offer a time for students to focus on their studies.

JG: What activities does the club have planned later in the year?
JS: There is going to be a 'black out day' where SADD members dress in all black and cannot talk to represent the amount of drunk driving accidents. This will show students the result of drunk driving.

JG: Do you plan on taking part?
JS: I believe it will be very effective and make students aware of what can happen if you drive drunk. It will improve our community.

JG: What has the SADD Club taught you about making the right decisions?
JS: It taught me about the severe consequences of alcohol and drugs, and I think if more students got involved it would make CM a better place.