The Valley Catholic
Catholic Schools
CATHOLIC EDUCATION INSPIRES
Presentation High School faculty members
take service trip to New Orleans
Twelve faculty and staff members
from Presentation High School, San
Jose, traveled to New Orleans over
Easter break, to do service projects
alongside the Presentation Sisters who
run a ministry there.
The first days were spent working with Habitat for Humanity, doing
construction on a house that will go
to a low-income resident of New Orleans. Teachers accustomed to working
with laptops and whiteboards instead
wielded shovels as they dug a driveway
and hammers and power tools while
installing baffles, soffit and siding.
Presentation Sisters in New Orleans
run a ministry called Lantern Light,
which serves the homeless and working
poor, many of whom are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane
Katrina in 2005.
The ministry works to provide
nutritious meals, financial assistance,
emergency groceries and low-income
housing, and they help clients obtain
medication, ID cards and birth certificates. Local citizens can take a shower
and receive mail there.
The San Jose visitors went to work,
providing spring cleaning to the facility
by scrubbing benches, doors and win-
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Saint Francis High School students
bring hope with paintbrushes
Two portraits created by Saint Francis students for the Memory Project.
Presentation High School Principal Mary
Miller takes a breather while working with
her staff on a Habitat for Humanity project
in New Orleans. (Photo by Dan Meyers)
dows. They also worked in the garden
and helped prepare the day’s lunch.
“We were lucky to have time to talk
to some of the clients who were waiting
in line for lunch,” said Dan Meyers, director of the school’s speech and debate
program. “The clients really opened up
and shared inspiring stories. By the time
we left, each of us had been touched by
them, as well as the selfless time the
Sisters give.”
Bellarmine College Prep takes
top state Speech and Debate honors
A team of 32 students from Bellarmine College Preparatory competed
among 160 schools and 17 events at
the California High School Speech
Association State Tournament held
April 25-27 at Enochs High School in
Modesto, and for the ninth consecutive
year brought home the top prize.
Bellarmine has won the California
State Speech and Debate Championship 18 times in the past 26 years.
“’Men for Others’ isn’t just rhetoric;
the guys share every bit of their work
with each other, knowing full well they
are likely to debate against each other,”
said Bellarmine’s head Speech and
Debate coach Kim Jones. “They truly
believe that any win is a win for the
team. It’s team above self every time.”
In addition to Jones, Bellarmine’s
Speech and Debate coaches include
Dan Baxter, DeeDee Sullivan, Chris
Wolf, Mikael Meyer and Bill Healy who
is retiring from the program this year
after a career that included coaching of
26 state champions, 17 national finalists
and six national champions.
“This year’s unprecedented ninth
consecutive state championship in
Speech and Debate is truly remarkable,” said Bellarmine principal Chris
Meyercord. “Our debaters, in particular
this year, really shined and competed
at an extremely high level.
“I know this year’s championship
was particularly special because it was
the last state tournament for Bill Healy,
community .
May 27, 2014
Art students at Saint Francis High
School embarked on a personal service
project, using their talents to paint portraits of children in Nicaragua who are
disadvantaged or neglected.
Painting 1 students joined the Memory Project, a nationwide initiative that
partners art students with youth around
the world who live in orphanages or
similar homes. Each student receives
a photo of a child and paints a portrai