Saint Leo the Great Students Promote Earth Day Message through Project-Based Learning
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CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Archbishop Mitty High School ’ s 50 th commencement exercises were held last week on May 27 . The school celebrated the many achievements of the Class of 2017 in a special ceremony that welcomed about 3,500 family members and friends to Father Jack Russi Field . During the event , AMHS recognized all 420 graduates including five who were recipients of special awards .
Senior Raymond So was named the valedictorian , an honor that recognizes a single graduate each year as the top academic student in the graduating class . Raymond ’ s achievements in the classroom were outstanding as he maintained an impressive 4.6 cumulative GPA , scored a perfect 2400 on the SAT , and – to date – has earned perfect scores on at least 10 different AP tests . He is also one of the finest violinists the school has ever produced . Raymond is committed to helping others and has organized benefit concerts that raised $ 10,000 for social causes . He has also arranged volunteer trips to Costa Rica , Korea , and China to teach music . Raymond will attend Harvard University in the fall .
Senior Brian Chan was named salutatorian , an honor that recognizes a graduate each year as an outstanding academic student with great facility in both written and oral expression . As a high school student , Brian maintained a 4.53 cumulative GPA and scored
Archbishop Mitty Celebrates Class of 2017
Archbishop Mitty award recipients , from left , Brian Chan , Paulina Thurmann , Lucas Kernan , Fiona Pestana and Raymond So gather at graduation .
perfect scores on eight AP tests . In addition to that , he was a two-sport athlete and served as the president of the student body . Last summer , he worked as a research intern at Stanford University ’ s Shriram Center for Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering . He also volunteers regularly at Kaiser Hospital and Sacred Heart Community Services . Brian will attend Stanford University in the fall .
Senior Paulina Thurmann was named the recipient of the Romero Award , which recognizes a graduating senior who shows a deep commitment to social justice and the school ’ s Campus Ministry program . The award is named after Archbishop Oscar Romero , who fought and died for the cause of social justice . Over the past four years , Paulina maintained a 4.1 GPA , served as a dynamic and service-orientated captain for the women ’ s swim team , participated in an immersion trip , and was a writer for the school ’ s newspaper . Paulina will be part of the honors program at Gonzaga University in the fall .
June 20 , 2017 | The Valley Catholic
• Male Regents ’ Award
The male recipient of the Regents ’ Award was Lucas Kernan . The Regents ’ awards recognize one young man and one young woman for outstanding overall achievement inside and outside of the classroom . Lucas maintained a 4.33 GPA . He served as the co-president of the Speech and Debate Team and participated in the ECJ : Native America immersion program . He has also appeared in almost every one of the school ’ s main performing arts shows and was a member of the school ’ s sketch comedy team . He will attend New York University in the fall .
• Female Regents ’ Award
The female recipient of the Regents ’ Award was Fiona Pestana . As an AMHS student , she maintained a 4.25 GPA while engaging in student government and taking the school ’ s stage as an accomplished singer , dancer , and actress . Over the years , she has embraced the roles of class president , class representative , and media coordinator for student government . She also embraced servant leadership and has been honored for completing more than 125 years of Christian service in a single school year . Fiona also participated in an immersion trip to San Francisco ’ s Tenderloin District and participated in ECJ : South Africa . She has been a member of the Speech and Debate Team . Fiona will attend the University of Southern California in the fall .
Saint Leo the Great Students Promote Earth Day Message through Project-Based Learning
Students at Saint Leo the Great are no strangers to Project-Based Learning ( PBL ). So when fifth graders were presented with an Earth Day challenge , they decided to educate their community by developing a school-wide Recycling Rally . Through weeks of collaboration , they used their creativity , knowledge , skills and talents to produce an informative short film called , “ The Water Bottle Story .” Their process included drafting storyboards , script writing , auditioning for lead roles , filming with green screens and editing footage on iMovie . Other groups of students created a music video , wrote catchy recycling jingles , or developed five interactive recycling games for the second part of the rally . “ I liked how creative we could be and that there were no limits ” shared Ben Clisbee .
Although PBL can create more logistical challenges and obstacles than a traditional classroom , it empowers students to take ownership of their own learning . Fifth grader Joaquin
Kindergarten-fourth graders watching the fifth graders ’ video before participating in the rally .
Hernandez stated , “ Everyone at least got to pitch two ideas in the final project . It was fun yet educational .” Ezekiel Dop-Willette , film editor , shared that “ The PBL learning process really helped us on our decision making and team working .”
Four weeks after the project start date , the Recycling Rally was well received by many participants . Each student received a Recycle wristband which the fifth graders ordered and purchased with their own money . One teacher commented that , “ I witnessed several second graders making better choices when recycling at lunch and throughout the afternoon .” Fifth grader Deyesa Rosa shared that , “ If we went to the beach I would love to pick up trash . It would be worth it because we are saving marine animals from dying .”
The process from start to finish was entirely student driven . The PBL approach gave them leadership opportunities , a creative outlet , and chance to apply their technology skills to better the world . According to fifth grader Elijah Garcia , “ Whenever I saw PBL on the agenda , I got excited . There is nothing I did not like about the PBL process . Doing future PBLs sounds very fun and I look forward to it .”