SMV Ponderings

St. Mary's Visitation School - Spring Concert, May Crowning, Quiz Bowl and Tech updates

Posted by Amy Merrick on April 30, 2012

Our Junior High Quiz Bowl team, represented by Will P, Paul G, Noah P, Molly C, and Tim C, was invited to attend the Middle School National Championship Tournament (MSNCT) for the top 72 teams in the United States.  St Mary's Visitation is the only junior high school in the state of Wisconsin to compete in Quiz Bowls sponsored by National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT).

Our team played in eight round-robin competitions of twenty-four toss-up questions each.  For each toss-up question answered correctly, three additional bonus questions were asked.  We finished with a four and four record which moved us into a three-way tie-breaker.  With the pressure on, our team won both tie-breakers on the last question of each round.
    
We went into day two of the tournament as the #31 seed out of 32.  We played the #2 seed, Longfellow A (from Falls Church, VA; the eventual national runner up) in the first game.  Despite strong performances by our team,  we couldn't stop them from going on a long offensive run beating us 570-175.  In the second round-- the elimination game if we lost-- we played Ben Franklin (from Ridgewood, NJ), who jumped out to a 175 to -5 lead.  We rattled off four tossups in a row and put up 110 unanswered points.  They built another lead, but we fought back to within 40 points at 295-255.     

In March, the seventh and eighth graders of St. Mary's Visitation Parish School participated in the National Spanish Exam. This test provides St. Mary's students with the opportunity to see how they compare to other students of their own age and ability in the Spanish language across the United States.

St. Mary's is very proud to announce that 13 junior high students have finished above the national average in 2012.

Finishing with a Silver Award for outstanding achievement is 7th grader Elizabeth J.

Finishing with a Bronze Award for outstanding achievement is 8th grader Molly C.  

Honored as finishing above the national average in 7th grade is Madeline T.

Honored as finishing above the national average in the 8th grade are:  Alexandra A, Jessa H, Maureen L, Meghan M, Neil M, Katy O, William P, Frankie R, Heather W, and Emme W.

Finishing above the national average is a tremendous accomplishment and our students have much in which to be proud.

Do you know that every classroom in our school has an interactive whiteboard?

Interactive whiteboards have now become commonplace in schools, often replacing chalkboards and even whiteboards as a teaching tool. Combined with other technology such as media projectors, laptops, document cameras and even graphing calculators, interactive whiteboards create a touch screen surface where students can interact more tactilely with the material. We have two different products at our school, SmartBoard and Mimeo. To have a better understanding of how this technology is used, there is a LINK on this classpage with some good information. A large body of research now exists to support advancements in student learning due to the meaningful use of interactive whiteboards. 

Nook Simple Touch E-Readers in the SMV Library

One of the goals of our library media program at SMV is to develop lifelong leisure readers. We are well on our way with over 12,000 print materials in our library, but now technology gives us another equally effective method of delivery. The availability of e-readers in a school library provides another means of motivating and encouraging students to read for pleasure.

Through a recently obtained, very generous donation, SMV is acquiring 25 Nook Simple Touch e-readers to lend to our students. These will be loaded with e-books addressing a wide range of interests, age groups and reading levels. There are several reasons why a student might choose to read from an e-reader:

·          Adjusting print size will allow a student to read with ease.

·          A built in dictionary can help a struggling reader feel more secure with the content.

·          Highlighting and bookmarking features can allow a student to refer back in the story, dig deeper, or keep track of ideas.

·          Having multiple titles on one device can make an entire series available, rather than having to wait each time to check out the next book in the series.

·          E-ink is easier on the eyes for long stretches of time, simulating paper rather than the eye strain that may occur with a backlit device.

·          The novelty of reading books on an e-reader is a great motivator for students who may be reluctant to read for recreation.

Do you know that Jr. High students have the opportunity to participate in Media Crew, an after school technology activity? 

Jr. High students are invited to be part of Media Crew. This group meets on the first Monday of every month. 2:45-3:30 p.m.  The task of this crew is to become confident in learning to use all of the technology in the school: Smart Boards, Mimeos, document cameras, media projectors, etc. The purpose is so that teachers, especially in the younger grades, can have some assistance when using technology with their students.

Media Crew members must commit to one quarter and can renew each quarter.  Attending after school Media Crew sessions will be considered service to our school and will result in service hours.

St. Mary's Visitation Website:  stmaryeg.org/school