Black Light Dance

By: Derrion Hodges

Like dancing, decorating a shirt, or hanging out with friends? Because here at Central Catholic we do! This years black light dance was a success with CCHS students dancing and having a great time with friends at our annual Black Light Dance. Money made from the dance is used to purchase toys for kid that are given to Brotherhood. Freshman Eli Davis said, " For my first year going I thought it was pretty cool. It was a great way to hang with friends and have fun with other students at the school." Black Light is a dance is hosted by student council and typically every student's favorite dance. Junior Jacob Bush said," Black Light has always been my favorite school dance since freshman year. It is usually the only dance I look forward to, besides TWIRP." This dance not only benefits us students, but the kids that the money goes toward to purchase toys.  

Books, Music, and Misc. What More Could You Want?

by Emily Swanson

 

On December 6th, our Music Saints put on an entertaining performance at Barnes & Noble. Everyone came in their holiday best, hoping to start spreading some cheer as the holiday season grows nearer.

The jazz choir kicked off the show at 10:00 a.m with a stunning performance. The concert choir followed up with a few songs, including Go Tell it on the Mountain, In the Bleak Midwinter, and Breath of Heaven. The Jazz Band performed at 11:00, and the Concert Band performed at noon.

Friends, family, and customers alike crowded around the young musicians to watch the performance. Their melodic tunes could be heard throughout the store, instantly putting smiles on everyones’ faces. The concert benefitted not only the audience, but the Music Saints, too: a percent of all purchases made at Barnes & Noble would be donated to the music department when a flyer was presented.

Overall, the performance was very entertaining. Unsuspecting customers received quite the treat when they came to the store. Our school has a fantastic and extremely talented music department that’s certain to put a little bit of happiness in anyone’s day.

Fun, Faith, Fiat

Food, dance parties, babies, and Jesus. What more could a girl want? The first Fiat Retreat was a huge success. For all of you that don’t know, Fiat was Mary’s yes to God. Mary is a role model to all women. We should all say yes to God. Over the course of the night we heard talks from Mrs. Sealy, Annie Rondone, and Miss. Kenney. All of the talks were extremely relatable and very inspirational. We also did lots of activities from running pictionary to cooking food. Towards the end of the night we had Mass, Adoration, and Confession. It was nice to have a serious moment where we could reflect on all the talks we had heard.

How could you end a slumber party without having ice cream? When we were going to bed, we all went to separate rooms. In one room Princess Diaries 2 was playing and in the other room Cinderella Story was playing. Although there was not much sleeping, there were giggles coming from all over the school.

The next morning we woke up to a surprise. Some of the Vita Christi boys made us breakfast! #GYH. The retreat was coming to a close so we came together one last time in the media center, where our lovely retreat leaders, Miss LaCoy and Miss Booth, gave us our last talk. The moral of the story is this retreat was so much fun; I haven’t heard one bad thing about the retreat. I highly recommend everyone take advantage of retreats if they have a chance. #snacksonsnacksonsnacks

“When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the

more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her." -Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

New NHS Inductees!

By: Faith Wieland

     Over 35 students from Central Catholic were recently inducted into the National Honor Society. NHS is a program that shows appreciation for students all over the United States who exemplify scholarship, leadership, service, and character. This is a great honor to have such a large group of students from our school to be recognized for their achievements.
     The students began the induction night by attending a celebratory mass led by Father Pilon and senior NHS members. Afterwards, multiple more senior members spoke on the four qualities mentioned above. At the end of the ceremony, each new member was called up to be recognized and receive their honorary pin.
     When asked about the new group, CCHS National Honor Society leader, Mrs. Garibay, said, "We had some very good essays that the students wrote (to be admitted to NHS) on their connection to their communities. The are a very strong, well-rounded group!"
     I would like to offer a big congratulations to all the new National Honor Society members, and good luck in all of your further success!

Singing Spirit (in the Christmas Format)

          This Christmas season the Central Catholic Family started off their celebration with a special holiday treat: a Choir Christmas Concert. Angelic tunes reigned through the auditorium as both the concert and the jazz choirs took the stage.
         The concert choir's Christmas repertoire include classic tunes such as Silent Night, Go Tell it on the Mountain, and We Need a Little Christmas. The jazz choir mastered jingles like Sending You a Little Christmas and We Three Kings. Parents and students alike rejoiced in the music. Christmas spirits were raised high.
        There were several different sets of duets, solos, and trios- each executed displaying the performer's full potential. Emily Reese and Gillian Bush were extremely successful in their duet and their solos. The same goes for Claire Boe and Michaela Cruise, the CCHS dynamic duo in all things choir.
        This was not the last event for for Central Catholic's choir! They have been hard at work. They will be singing at mass on January 5th when we return to school. They also are doing their fair share of philanthropy. They actively send encouraging cards to the sick people in our community, for added comfort. A both giving and artistic work of mercy. Don't forget to support your CCHS choir in the rest of their excursions this year!

'Do Your part"

“Do Your Part”

By Katherine Brady

Got done with your Christmas shopping early? Free time over break? Do some good for the community and get service hours, you’ll appreciate it come the end of third quarter! Not sure what to do? There are more ways to help out than you would think. Start by contacting your local parish and seeing what they have going on. Often times parishes need help cleaning the church and getting ready for big masses before the weekend. The ‘Heavenly Dusters’ are their name and cleaning is their game (Contact: Parish Office 662-7361 or Marilee Provost, 662-7361, ext. 216). They clean for one or two hours one Friday a month. Also, I’m sure your parish would love help setting up for Christmas! On Christmas Eve most parishes need assistance putting up trees for the Christmas mass!

Not in the mood for heavy lifting? No worries, you could ring light little bells, no problem. Raise money for the Salvation Army outside of multiple places near you. The Salvation Army needs people to fill up the rest of the days before Christmas. Call 309-829-9476  or email Angie Fulton at angie_fulton@usc.salvationarmy.org!

There are endless opportunities to serve food to the hungry. Home Sweet Home Ministry needs workers at their Food Pantry on Mondays from 12-3 pm and workers to prepare food on Saturday the 27th from 2-6 pm. To get involved at Home Sweet Home, submit an application at http://hshministries.org/get-involved/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities. Servers are needed at Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If you have free time, PLEASE try to help out and contact the coordinator, Connie at (309)829-9476 ext 219. Volunteers are welcome on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12-3 at Western Avenue Community Center Food Pantry. Contact Jackie Dunson at (309)829-4807 for more information.
Lastly, there are tons of different opportunities for service at OSF Hospital. They have a network of volunteers and you could be one of them! It's easy to get involved, just apply online for whatever you want at https://www.osfstjoseph.org/form/volunteer/.

Around the World in One High School

By: Patrick Perring

Another exciting Central Catholic tradition took place Friday, December 5th. From teachers, to parents, fellow students, and the local news station alike, everyone came out to see the Geography Fair. This fair provides an opportunity for the sophomores to present their findings about their fascinating countries they were assigned at the beginning of the year.

As most of us in the school know, preparation for the fair is no walk in the park. These projects take alot of time and hard work to pull off. When asked what she found to be the most challenging part of this big day, Maria Casablanca described, “The food was for sure the most perplexing. But by the time we were finished, we were really proud of what we had done.” Many of the other sophomores when asked the same question described how challenging the map’s and flags were as well. Brian Becker responded, “I’m not the most artistic, so doing a painted puzzle for our flag was pretty hard.”

Of course, everyone's favorite part of the fair is obviously food! Some personal favorites of mine included the marinated steak from Argentina, to the frosted cookie dessert from Portugal called bolacha. Another crowd favorite were the lamingtons, a chocolate coconut deliciousness you could only find over at the Australia display. As for overall display’s, the tented atmosphere over in the Saudi Arabia corner was quite impressive. Another awesome instance of creativity was the TV that was televising the previously recorded live footage of the response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nick Overby dressing up as Fidel Castro was a nice touch as well.

I think it’s safe to say the Sophomores definitely outdid themselves and provided another phenomenal fair that was both an exposure to culture yet entertaining!

And You Think What We Believe Is Crazy... By: Katie Naour

Do you support euthanasia, worship Satan, or think you’re a Jedi? If so, there is a church for you! These past couple weeks in theology we have been discussing other religions besides Catholicism, and writing papers on the strangest religions we could find. Let me assure you, we were not disappointed.

Our last theology unit before finals is all about different religions throughout the world, some boring and some extremely out there. To end the unit we had to research a religion that we hadn’t discussed yet in class and explain it in an essay. Multiple people I talked to throughout this assignment chose to write about the Church of Euthanasia. This church is built on the idea that to save the Earth we have to kill ourselves, hence their slogan, “Save the Planet- Kill Yourself.” They encourage any and all types of death- from abortion to suicide- and even have their own record label. Check out their website, www.churchofeuthanasia.org/index.html to read up on their marches, music, and beliefs.

Another religion commonly chosen to research was the Jedi Church, based off of the different religions you see throughout the Star Wars movies. There are two ways Jediism is practiced, philosophically and religiously. If you’re a Jedi, you believe in the force, which can be good or bad as the force has two sides- one light and one dark. Once you pick a side they see it very difficult to transfer to the other side, so you better hope your inner knowledge leads you to the light and not the darkness. If this interests you, you should take a trip on over to www.jedichurch.org/ to find more on how to be a Jedi.

This assignment was really great because we were able to take a look at different religions from a perspective other than from a theology class and we could pick them, so if you chose the right religion you had a pretty good time learning about them.

The Best of Them & the Worst of Them: Christmas Movies

By: Patrick Perring

I think everyone can agree that one of the greatest pastimes of the holiday season is Christmas movies! However, some are much better than others. Here’s an overview of movies to watch possibly numerous times, versus those you probably should avoid at all costs in order to keep your sanity.

My favorite category of the abundance of Christmas movies is the classics. The kind where there’s nothing quite like snuggling into your electric blankets and watching every year when the holiday season comes around. Movies like White Christmas, A Christmas Story, Home Alone, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Carol, and my personal favorite, It’s A Wonderful Life are all great examples of Christmas movies everyone must love.

Then you have the comedic Christmas movie category; those that make us laugh until tears are streaming down our faces but still shine light on that Christmas spirit everyone knows and loves. Examples of these movies like Christmas with the Kranks, ELF, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Be cautious of those movies that have a good first or second movie, but the rest are awful. The Santa Clause franchise with Tim Allen is a superb example of this. One could also argue the Home Alone movies are this way as well.

Now come the movies that will have tears streaming down your face for different reasons other than laughter. The Christmas movies that tug at your heart strings such as Miracle on 34th Street, The Polar Express (be careful, this one is borderline overrated), Jack Frost, and Christmas Shoes.

With all the awesome holiday movies like the ones listed above, it’s hard to believe there can be any bad Christmas movies… but trust me, there are. The Muppet Christmas Carol, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, Jingle All the Way, and Bad Santa are superior examples of these movies.

If you're like me and get a little like Scrooge after a while of seeing your stereotypical Christmas movies over and over again, try Christmas movies with a unique twist like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, or Gremlins.

If none of these holiday inspired movies float your fancy, I advise you to get more in tune with your Christmas spirit! Christmas movies are stellar ways to keep yourself entertained around the holiday season and there are so many to choose from even beyond this list that you can never get sick of. Just remember, for every It's a Wonderful Life or ELF on Santa's nice list, there's a dozen like Home Alone sequels or Jingle All the Way over on the naughty list.

Sophomores or Santa? By:Katie Clark

The sophomores are spreading all sorts of Christmas cheer this year by sending presents to kids at some of the Catholic elementary schools in town. For the past three years, Central Catholic sophomores have written and illustrated their own children’s books. These books are actually Christmas presents and the lucky recipients this year are first graders at St. Mary’s and Epiphany.

To get started, the authors are given the little boy or girl’s name and a list of two or three

of their favorite things.  Madison Restivo and Rachel McBeath are writing a book for a little girl named Elle. Some of Elle’s favorite things are dogs, the color black, and ice cream cake. Rachel and Madison then had the task of incorporating these things into a story.

“Elle’s book is about a dog who is framed by a cat for knocking over an ice cream cake. The dog has to prove his innocence to his owner,” Rachel explained.

Another first grader, Audra, will be receiving a story book written by Grace Herr and Leilani Hammel. Leilani and Grace were tasked with writing a book about swimming and alligators for Audra. Naturally, they wrote a book about a mermaid. This mermaid loses her alligator and searches the whole ocean looking for it. She searches the jiggly jellyfish, the silly seaweed, and the friendly fish before finally finding the alligator.

The sophomores have been working very hard on their books. By this time next week, the books will be “published,” and in the hands of some very excited first graders!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season By Shannon Lewis

The Christmas and holiday season brings many decorations and symbols, but what do all these things that we use really symbolize? We all love the decorating that goes along with Christmas but there is more meaning to them than just making everything look nice. The Christmas tree is one of the most common decorations that people all over the world use to symbolize it is Christmas time. The Christmas tree stands as a symbol of Christ so that we are reminded that Christ is who we are remembering during the Christmas season. The star or angel that goes on top of your tree symbolizes the star of Bethlehem, and the angel represents how the angels brought the news of the birth of Christ to the shepherds. The use of decorative, festive lighting during the Christmas holiday season has been apart of the Christmas tradition for many years. The brightly shining lights symbolize Jesus being the light of our world. The sweet and tasty candy canes symbolize the shepherd's staff. The traditional Christmas colors red and green have a special meaning too. The red symbolizes the blood shed by Christ during his crucifixion and the green represents the eternal life of Christ. Another popular decorative Christmas symbol are poinsettias. They are frequently used because of the story that tells of a few poor children from Mexico wanting to give Jesus a gift. They could not find any other gift so they picked up some weeds and presented them to Him. Miraculously, the bright red poinsettias bloomed out of these weeds and now the poinsettias are an important part of the Christmas tradition. The Christmas season is filled with so many beautiful decorations, but what is the point of them if we don’t know what they truly mean and stand for? Be sure to take the time this holiday to understand what each symbol really means.

Twas 19 Days Before Christmas By: Jane Kuebler

Twas 19 days before Christmas and all through the halls,

vendors set up to provide presents to all.  

Not a single person to be missed on your Christmas list (great cheer!),

for there were over 65 vendors at the Craft Show this year.

The crafters were set up all snug in their booths,

Oh how the holiday season brings out our inner youth!

One with scarves, another will yummy treats,

there sure were many options, as far as the eye could meet.

When buyers came in there arose such a clatter,

the halls of Central were filled with joy and laughter!

One with makeup, another with decorative wreaths,

The amount of spirit was more than you could believe.

As the ambassadors ran from table to table,

They fed every vendor to keep them stable.

Promoting the school never comes to an end,

Of course Mr. Vogel was around when you needed a friend.

The thirteenth annual Craft show was a blast,

It is always a day you wish would forever last.

But we heard crafters exclaim as we walked out of sight

Merry Christmas to all and to all a crafty night!

B

 

The Patron Saint of Our School By: Shannon Lewis

“The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.” Elizabeth Ann Seton lived a very holy life devoted to God and her feast day is on January 4. She is the patron saint of our school being the founder of the first Catholic school, and her statue is located right outside the auditorium. Elizabeth came from a high society background but lived a simple and lonely life. As she grew up the Bible became her constant instruction, support and comfort. She married a young wealthy man at age 20. She went through many family struggles and problems, which led her to join the Catholic Church in 1805. She established the first Catholic school in America, and also founded the Sisters of Charity. Elizabeth died on January 4, 1821 and was canonized on September 14, 1975, after only being a Catholic for 16 years. Elizabeth’s life was devoted to God, Mary, the Eucharist, and sacred scripture, and because of her devotions she accomplished many things through her constant devotion to her faith. Her holy life is a great example for us to model our lives after and can help us stay close and true to our faith. Remember St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the patron saint of our school, on her feast day for everything she has done and accomplished.

Swim Squad

   December 11th marks the official start of the swim season at Metamora. To know more about the swim team I asked coach Rhodes about the upcoming season. This is the swim team's third year and they have some intriguing facts you should know about.

   What is your expectation for the season?  In our 2nd season we broke every school record and we would like to repeat that again in our 3rd year.  We also believe we can beat just as many teams this year as last year which was 19. 

Who are the senior swimmers?  Andres Torres and PJ Baranek.

What meet is the team looking forward to the most? Springfield Milestone Invitational (we placed 3rd out of 10 last year).

How many swimmers are on the team? 11.

Where does the team practice at? We use the RePlex Health Club in LeRoy.

What are the practices like?  We practice about 5 days a week for one hour or an hour and half.  We concentrate on always going race pace or faster and covering short distances(25yards) with short rest.  We also work on the skills needed to race fast which include starts and turns.  

Who are the best swimmers? Billy Rhodes and PJ Baranek, they are also both captains.

Is anyone capable of qualifying for state time? There are qualifying times for each event and Billy and PJ have a chance at approaching those times. 

   As you can see the swimming saints have a lot to look forward this season. Coach Rhodes has a lot of optimism for the upcoming season and we are very excited for their third year of the swim team.