Contributors: Vera Allen Marsha Duffey Jacob Doran Wilma D’Souza Elise Finkell Will Gruber Karen Kaiser Jennifer Miller

Gianna Pandolfi Fr. Bob Penhallurick Joan Roberts Sandy Shipley Anne Smith Laurie Smith Jenny Thomas

Graphic Design: Laurie Smith

THE DOLPHIN QUARTERLY

A publication to Enlighten, Recognize, and

Inspire our

St. Brendan School Community

January 2017

Dear School Families, It is always a blessing to reflect on what God has been doing for our school and how blessed we are by the talents and commitment of so many teachers, aides, staff and volunteers. In the pages of this Dolphin Quarterly you will find examples of the many great things that have been happening in the last quarter to bless you, and for which we should all give thanks to Almighty God. Now, I want to look forward. The school is an important part of the parish community and we want the publication we offer to reflect not only the life of the school but also the life of the whole St Brendan faith family. So, going forward the Dolphin Quarterly will be merged with the same type of news from the parish community as well. Laurie Smith will be working with Sarah Oprean to produce this periodical so that we lose nothing of the great publication the Dolphin Quarterly has been for the school. It will be presented in a similar format with color and news and photos. It will come as a hard copy and in a digital version. This new quarterly publication will be called The Compass and the first edition will come out in April. I am excited for this development, which I think will be a great way for us to share the great things we have happening here on campus, in the school and across many groups and ministries. God bless Fr. Bob

STUDENTS EXPERIENCE THE DAY OF THE DEAD IN SPANISH CLASS

SECOND GRADE PREPARES FOR RECONCILIATION

Students in the second grade were preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation which they received on November 19th. During Religion class, the students had the opportunity to role-play the priest and the penitent. This was very beneficial in helping the children understand the proper procedure. The students memorized the Act of Contrition and learned the importance of absolution, confession and

forgiveness. This was another wonderful experience in the growth of their Catholic education.

In Spanish class, students celebrated the Day of the Dead. As part of the culture, every student in sixth grade had to cook a Pan de Muerto (sugar bread). In seventh grade, students were asked to bring in Mexican food as they talked about this holiday and the important parts of this as well as the similarities of Saints days. The elementary students listened to stories, shared songs, and did art work as a part of the day.

The fourth grade students in 4A enjoyed sharing their Spanish skills and musical talents with the kindergartners this Advent season. Known as Parranda Navidena, the children sang three songs: “Feliz Navidad” (Merry Christmas), “Noche de Paz” (Silent Night) and “Con me burrito Sabanero” (The

Little Donkey of Bethlehem). Kindergartner, Siena Jeffcoat, did a lovely job of assisting the fourth graders in singing “Feliz Navidad.” This fun activity was a great way to share a cultural tradition that is not usually seen in Hilliard, Ohio!

4A CELEBRATES PARRANDA NAVIENDA

ST. BRENDAN STUDENTS ASSIST WITH THE NUTCRACKER

FOURTH GRADE GETS EVERYONE INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH

SIXTH GRADE SCROOGE

Under the direction of Mrs. Vera

Allen, our fourth grade students helped

put everyone in the holiday spirit with

their Christmas program Sixth Grade

Scrooge, written by Robert Mantzke and

arranged by Dwight Elrich.

In December, students from St. Brendan participated in The Nutcracker by singing in the Snow Chorus for three performances with BalletMet and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. What an awesome opportunity! Under the direction of Mrs. Vera Allen, the students were Mia Aguilar-Novelo, Anna Carlino, Kenzie Casper, Lisa Curtis, Jimmy DeLuca, Joseph DiPalma, Melanie Engram, Alex Fasone, Sarah Grace Downing, Emily Goodwin, Mei Harter, Sela Hennon, Reid Johnson, Cielo Lopez, CeCe Muraco, Meily Nguyen, Danielle Nugent, Anna Sears, Maura Gipe, Grace Vulic , Cece Tanner, Grace Goodwin, Eleanor Heyer, Marie Burkhart, and Wayneisha Whiting-Goolsby.

ST. BRENDAN ALUMNI — WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

We want to stay connected with our graduates. Please send an email to sbee@cdeducation.org to make sure we have your latest contact info in the directory. You

can also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StBrendanHilliard.

During the Advent Season, the third grade worked on a service project to learn more about discipleship. They collected travel size toiletries and make-up bags from parents, relatives, and friends. After collecting items during Advent, they put the toiletries in the make-up bags to be given to individuals needing assistance through J.O.I.N., an organization that provides needs for low income families in Franklin County.

THIRD GRADERS GIVE BACK DURING ADVENT

ST. BRENDAN STUDENTS GIVE BACK IN THE SOLE HOPE PROJECT

Sole Hope traces its origin to founders Drü and Asher Collie who

wanted to help children in Uganda who were plagued by jiggers and were

suffering helplessly. Jiggers are parasites that burrow into the feet and lay

eggs. Over time, the eggs multiply and destroy the soft tissue of the feet.

The resulting wounds are then prone to infection and disease.

In December, the faculty and students of

St. Brendan heartily embraced the opportunity

to aid the efforts of the Sole Hope organization

through their Christmas service project. They

began with a jeans drive that netted over 500

pairs of jeans. In conjunction with their buddies,

the students then cut the legs off the jeans,

traced patterns, cut out the patterns and assembled the various patterns. Their combined effort will result

in the production of over 1,000 pairs of shoes for children in Uganda.

Words cannot describe the amazing joy and love with

which the faculty and students of St. Brendan embraced this

service project. The kindergarten students also contributed their

efforts through the beautiful cards that they made. The service

project taught the students to thank God for their own blessings

and to pray for the many less fortunate who lack the basic

necessities

of life that

we take

for

granted.

This year’s Senior Spelling Bee ended with another exciting spell down between brothers Warren

and Malcolm D’Souza. The Bee began with twenty competitors representing grades 4-8. Our well-prepared students made a strong showing. Working through the Intermediate word list, the spelling continued for twenty rounds before the contest came down to the final two spellers Warren (6) and Malcolm (5) D’Souza. At that point, neither of them had missed any words.

The D’Souza brothers rapidly worked their way through sixty Challenge words with no errors. Because the gentlemen obviously knew the words from the Challenge section, the competition moved to a special list that our moderator, Mrs. Judy Colley, has developed; the “super-secret list” is not distributed to the students for study, so the

students have not been exposed to the words. On the seventh word of that list, Malcolm finally missed a word that Warren then had to spell correctly, which he did. The contest ended when Warren correctly spelled the next word. This is Warren’s second time as our champion; last year Malcolm won.

Warren will take a fifty word online test this month. If he is successful, he will move on to the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication Regional Spelling Bee in March.

UPCOMING EVENTS—MARK YOUR

CALENDARS!

Feb. 2 K-8 Conferences

Feb. 3 Early Dismissal, 12:30

Feb 5 Open House 11:30—1:00p.m.

Feb. 8 Open House 6:30 –8:00 p.m.

Feb. 13 3rd Grade Wax Museum

Feb. 17 No School—Teacher Inservice

Feb. 18 AUCTION - A Night at the Races

Feb. 20 No School—Presidents’ Day

The goal of the Math Club is to enhance and enrich the St. Brendan School’s curriculum for fourth and fifth grade students who enjoy math and are advanced in math skills. The Math Club differentiated instruction uses a combination of formal instruction and supervised free math play in an after school program. Math is found in so many day to day activities. Many games that people play include math as a part of the game. Students are encouraged to play mathematical games and solve mathematical puzzles during the supervised free play during Math Club. One of the games played in Math Club is Yahtzee. Pictured playing Yahtzee are Ben Boyle, Andrew O’Connor, Malcolm D’Souza and Johnny DiBlasio.

MATH CLUB OFFERS ENRICHMENT IN MIDDLE GRADES

D’SOUZA BATTLES D’SOUZA IN SR. SPELLING BEE