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St. Saviour High School				Spring 2006

Operation Rice Bowl

This year at St. Saviour’s, students took part in Operation Rice Bowl, a project of the Catholic Relief Services. Since 1975, ORB has raised more than $155 million to provide development projects for the less fortunate around the world, as well as in dioceses around the United States. This project joins us all, through prayer and action, with the deprived and vulnerable people around the world. Simply adding any extra change, or making a small donation can help make a difference in the lives of others. By placing the “bowl” on the kitchen table, or any other prominent area, soon enough, it will overflow.
Given that the project begins during Lent, the Lenten Prayer should be recited while engaging in this mission. Anna Akinyi, who lives with her husband in Homa Bay, Kenya is just one example of the millions of people that ORB has aided. Anna and her husband were not making enough money in their shop to support their own household expenses. When she heard that Catholic Relief Services was helping people in her town receive loans to support businesses and families, she wondered if the CRS could help her too. CRS is a supporter of the Umola Bengi Investment Group, a community bank that gives small loans and training so that the people in Homa Bay can start their own businesses. Anna states, “My shop is successful, I paid back my loan, and now we are able to provide for our family’s basic needs.” Such fortunate stories make it worthwhile to donate and give back to those who need it.

Enrichment Day

On Wednesday, March 15, 2006, St. Saviour High School participated in a special event, Enrichment Day. All students at St. Saviour were able to choose one trip, out of about a dozen. Some of the trip choices were: the United Nations, Methodist Hospital, the Museum of Television and Radio, the Bones Exhibit, the Greenwich Village Vintage Tour, and the Transit Museum. Students who visited the United Nations had a great time and learned a lot! Students were able to see things like the Economic and Social Council Chamber, and the Disarmament Exhibit. The flags in front of the United Nations were quite very fascinating!

Those students who visited Methodist Hospital also had an interesting experience! They were able to visit the Nursery and the Radiology Department, as well as the Rehabilitation Center. They also got to see the labs where blood is tested. Everyone seemed to have had a fantastic time, even the teachers!

The school assembly took place on March 8, 2006. This time around it was to honor Women’s and Black History Month. The assembly was filled with poetic writing and the sound of music. The Gospel Choir, led by Mr. Huie, sang “Hush, Hush Someone Is Callin’ My Name” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. These powerful performances gave much encouragement. Vanessa Mera sang Mariah Carey’s “Hero”, and Christina Ventura sang Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman”. These two songs were perfect for the theme of the assembly. There were also poems read that talked about the struggles of life, and the need to unify as people.
The assembly was exhilarating and exciting; everyone was up on their feet, having a good time. It gave an opportunity to young women at St. Saviour High School to showcase their talents and express themselves. All in all, this get-together was a great success.

Sit-Down with Ms. McGuire

Our new Campus Minister, Ms. McGuire, has had an enviable career in education. For six years she was a pastoral associate at Saint Francis of Assisi in Astoria. She served as a director of religious education for 22 years, and was a teacher. Ms. McGuire is a graduate of St. Saviour.

Justine: Can you describe your position as the head of Campus Ministry and what your role here at S.S.H.S.is?
Ms. McGuire: My position as Campus Minister is to work with the girls to
provide opportunities for all of us, the students s well as the faculty, to grow closer to God and to one another through
prayer and spiritual experiences.
Justine: You’ve just begun this position, do you have any short or long
term plans?
Ms. McGuire: The short term plans I believe we have already started by
setting up committees and assigning leaders of prayer and Eucharistic ministers. In the long term, I’d like to see the girls get more involved in volunteering for Outreach programs. I
have to do a little more organizing and publicizing for those events.
Justine: What do you view as your biggest challenge?
Ms. McGuire: My biggest challenge is having just enough time to do everything that I want to do! I think that once I get used to being back in school full time, things will be a little bit easier for
me. Right now I just find that I don’t have as much time as I would like to have- which is probably everyone’s biggest problem!
Justine: Any special words of advice or encouragement you’d like to offer to our readers?

Ms. McGuire: Everyone has been very helpful, cooperative, and responsible.
If I ask for anything- they’re there for me. And I really appreciate that. So, I’d like everyone to just keep doing what
they’ve been doing!

On March 16th, our school doors opened at 7 A.M. to allow early birds to wait in the lobby until exactly 7:30, when they were permitted to go up to their lockers and homerooms. However, not all of the students remained upstairs. This was the day of the Freshman-Sophomore Breakfast, a time for the freshmen to get involved in the St. Saviour H. S. social scene. It was also a time for the sophomores to get together, chat with friends they don’t get to see during the day, and to show off their freshman sisters. After checking in with the homeroom teachers, and snatching the few available chairs that could be found, our breakfast began. There was more joking and playing than actual eating; if anyone was eating anything, it was definitely a type of candy.

Rainbow colored treats covered entire tables, as a result of being shared or spilled out of goody bags. Speaking of rainbow colors, the theme for the breakfast was, “Mix-and-Match Outfits”. This meant that every girl was wearing a burst of colors, from orange to hot pink, from lavender to ice blue. The colors weren’t the only things that made us think of the ’70s tie dye craze. Even the outfits we wore were mixed and matched. Orange shirts were worn over
red tights, pink and white striped socks with different colored shoes on each foot, black, yellow, and blue shirt combinations, and an assortment of other outfits, made St. Saviour look like
the inside of a bag of Skittles.
Everyone was disappointment that the breakfast had to end. With the sharp sound of the first period bell, ringing in our ears, we hurriedly gathered our things, and ran off to our respective
classes.

Putting on a SSHS drama production is no mean feat, in fact, it seems to require superhuman efforts. For months, the stage crew performs tasks that put Hercules quite to shame. Parents call their local police precincts to report missing daughters. Worse yet, the police begin to ignore the calls recognizing the routine!! Ok, Ok.. so that’s not entirely true. Still, the stage crew labors for months creating elaborate sets and costumes, as well as perfecting the execution of the sound system. While the stage crew nearly kill themselves working beyond ordinary human capacity, the cast frantically memorizes reams of lines and lyrics. The cast has to learn to recognize and work with the rhythms of every other member—not to mention hammering down that elusive comic timing! Yet, all this hard work, and all the sacrifice that went with it, seemed to melt away, to fade and become a mere memory on the performance nights, March 24^th and 25^th. The entire audience was absolutely swept into the world the cast and crew so realistically created and portrayed. It was so difficult to remember that we really were in the gym! Each cast member seemed to work flawlessly with the others, as did the crew. Everything seemed absolutely perfect, making the WIZARD OF OZ one of the best plays that SSHS has ever seen!

May Crowning 2006

On Wednesday, May3, 2006, the Saint Saviour student body and faculty joined together once again to honor our Holy Mother in our annual May Crowning. The stage, as usual, was adorned with a gorgeous arrangement of flowers all surrounding the statue of the Blessed Mother. As is custom, we opened the ceremony with the traditional hymn, “Immaculate Mary” and continued wit the utmost spiritual manner. We were also given the opportunity to hear the researched information that Junior, Princess Francois, concerning Our Lady of Lourdes. The talented Sophomore, Amanda Magnavita, who performed along with the Bell Choir the traditional version of ”Ave Maria” awed the entire auditorium.

Though this year’s ceremony flowed with its usual grace, an unexpected, but welcomed surprise, for the very organizer of the May Crowing, Miss Roberta Willard occurred. Miss Willard, the creator and moderator of the SEEK club, has taught at Saint Saviour for 25 years. So, it was only appropriate that on the day when we honor the most holy of women, the Virgin Mary, we would also honor Miss Willard. Several teachers took this opportunity to thank Miss Willard for her years of teaching and friendship. Some shared with us touching memories, while others shared funny stories and jokes. Miss Willard was also presented with a plaque acknowledging and thanking her for her many years of dedication and service. The flowers brought in by students and teachers were, later that day, brought to Methodist Hospital where they were delivered to nurses, doctors and patients. This year’s May Crowing, like so many before it, was amazing. There could have been no greater way to honor our Blessed Mother.

Staff Box

Moderator.........Mrs. Fina Modesto

Editors...............Caitlin Willis and Cristina Rodriguez