Harvest Time for Saint Catherine School ’ s Garden
Our Littlest of Holy Family School Bears
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CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
September 25 , 2018 | The Valley Catholic
Saint Martin of Tours School Lego Robotics from a Student ’ s Perspective : Engineering Fun
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By Adriana Anderson and Marie Ryan , Eighth Grade students
It is not unusual to hear the sounds of laughter , music , and chatter coming from the eighth grade classroom on a Monday or Wednesday afternoon . Classes are out , but students are welcome to stay . These students are part of the Saint Martin of Tours School robotics team – a group of seventh and eighth graders focused on Science , Technology , Engineering and Math ( STEM ) and programming .
With the guidance of Notre Dame
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High School students , the team competes in the First Lego League , or FLL . The FLL ’ s mission is to encourage children and teens to be innovators and learn science , engineering , and technology skills , as well as gain valuable life experience in areas such as leadership and communication .
The members of robotics make sure to mix learning , building , and coding with fun , food , and a little bit of crazy . Building a robot from scratch is no small task , and it can take hours to code the robots to complete just one mission . Coding it to be exact can be difficult , and a rhythm is repeated over and over again . The process requires the team
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Students collaborate on their Lego robot .
to place the robot at its starting point , run the existing code , find the fault , fix it slightly , update the code , and repeat . With Legos scattered around the room ,
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the student engineers are busy finding the pieces they need for their robot or are glancing at a computer scre en hoping it will give them the answers they need .
Creating a robot to complete missions is not the only aspect of the competition . The teams are also required to find a problem existing in the world relating to the mission , find a possible way to solve it , and create a presentation .
Overall , the Saint Martin ’ s robotics team is an exciting , challenging , and fun opportunity to explore the world of STEM and programming for seventh and eighth grade students .
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Harvest Time for Saint Catherine School ’ s Garden
It ’ s harvest time at Saint Catherine School . Students are always eager to get into the garden when they return to school . Currently , students are harvesting fruits and vegetables they planted last spring . Some of the crops this year include sunflower seeds , pumpkins , gourds , popcorn , peanuts , tomatoes and a huge variety of melons .
In addition to summer crops , students grow wheat , rye , garlic , onions , brussel sprouts , potatoes , sweet potatoes , cauliflower and broccoli during the winter . Between season crops include peas , beans and lettuce . Any food not used for class projects in donated to Reach Out , the food pantry on parish grounds .
The garden is used to teach science concepts , inspire poetry and learn about where foods come from . Students enjoy harvesting grains and grinding them into flour , expelling oil from the sunflower seeds and using it to pop their popcorn , making salsa , preparing soups , making peanut butter , and eating delicious melons .
The Saint Catherine School garden was established in 2008 and has been an integral part of the school curriculum . It covers a 50 ’ X 100 ’ space with one section having raised bins and the other with open area for scatter crops and trees . The garden also has a tool shed for storing equipment , a sink for washing veggies to each right in the garden and a small shrine to Saint Fiacre , the patron saint of gardeners .
The Valley Catholic Young Journalists Group
The Valley Catholic Young Journalists Group is a team of high school journalists who are passionate about retelling such stories through priests , ordinary people and religious events . If you enjoy writing , telling stories , and are active in your parish , come join this group ! For more information or to share a story , please contact Justin Chung at justinjchung4 @ gmail . com .
SAN DAMIANO RETREAT
Transitus of St . Francis ( free ): a beautiful evening celebrating how St . Francis of Assisi made death his sister , 10 / 3
Feast of St . Francis Mass ( free ), 10 / 4 at 10 AM St . Francis / Pope Francis Retreat with Fr . Charles Talley OFM , 10 / 5-7 Blessing of the Animals Fair ( free ), 10 / 6 Embodied Prayer with Steve Harms and Kaleo & Elise Ching , 10 / 6 Free ! Working Retreat with Fr . Rusty Shaughnessy 10 / 7-11
Join us for Sunday Pasta Dinner 10 / 21 / 18 at 4:30 PM
More information or register 710 Highland Dr ., Danville 925 837 9141 Visit us at sandamiano . org & on Facebook
Our Littlest of Holy Family School Bears
The Holy Family School community is complete !
Our littlest bears have arrived on campus and begin their adventure as Preschoolers . As many of our Prekindergarteners return for their second year in our Preschool program , many begin their first year of school with us and we are so honored to have them all .
Although they are the youngest of our students , these preschoolers are ready to conquer a year of new friendships , exploring and knowledge .
In Preschool , they will begin each week with a new letter , number , color and theme of the week . They will begin their weekly co-circular classes having PE with Coach Hashimoto , visiting the Occupational Therapy clinic with Ms . Davied and visits to our school library with our librarian , Mrs . Lanoie .
Ms . JoAnn , Ms . Natasha and Ms . Nancy will guide them through this academic year with faith ; they will
( Pictured above ) Preschool teachers , Ms . JoAnn , Ms . Natasha and Ms . Nancy , and students at Holy Family School .
love the students for the individuals that they are and help them gain experiences through activities such as cooking a feast for Thanksgiving and mimicking the washing of feet as Jesus did in the Bible , just to name a few . There is so much to learn , so much to see and so many things to do in Preschool .