“DEVELOPING PERSONAL AND ACADEMIC

EXCELLENCE IN THE CATHOLIC

TRADITION”

STM CSTM CSTM CAVALIERAVALIERAVALIER CCCHRONICLESHRONICLESHRONICLES

Say Thank you to your Child’s Teacher with SCRIP One of the great joys of the holiday season is the selection of just the right gift for those we care about. However, if you are like me, making my dollar stretch is always a challenge! Here at St. Thomas More Middle School & St. Thomas More High School, we have a simple way to shop for the teachers and staff. We take up a collection for two weeks, all the donations are pooled and then divided between all staff members in the building. Each staff member receives a “gift letter” that lists all donors. The staff will be invited to select a gift card from our SCRIP program. The added benefit is that rebate proceeds from SCRIP go toward tuition assistance, so everyone benefits! Shannon Long and Tracy Barnes will be collecting donation in both of the front offices from now until Dec. 15th. Please let either know how you would like to be identified on the gift letter (student name, family name, anonymous, etc.) and which school you are contributing too. Please know that this is entirely optional so please don’t feel pressured to participate or to not give a gift of your own choosing! If you have any questions, please contact either of us. Wishing you and your family every blessings, Mrs. Olsen Mr. Sullivan St. Thomas More Middle School St. Thomas More High School Principal Principal

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MORE Faith

BLESSED AMONG US By Catherine Maher

Saints have always played an important role in the lives of the RCCSS family. Mrs. Honeycutt

decided this year to emphasize the lives of the Saints more into our daily happenings. Mrs. Honeycutt gave all the staff the book “Blessed Among Us” to help everyone learn more about these blessed individuals. She says, “I have always enjoyed having a theme for the year, which serves to intertwine the staff, and students of RCCSS. This year, we are exploring the lives of the Saints. The Saints are models of holiness, and we are truly blessed through their example and encouragement in how to live out our daily lives.” She continues, “We all need positive role models in our lives. Who better than the Saints of God!”

DIOCESAN YOUTH RALLY TO PRAISE THE LORD By Ethan Oleson On October 8, 2017, Three-Hundred Catholic youth from South Dakota and Wyoming descended upon Terra Sancta to have a day full of praise, worship, and fellowship. The youth spent the day singing, praying, and listening to great talks from Dr. Bob Rice, Sean Forrest, Fr. Mark McCormick, Bishop Gruss, Kole Reede, and our own Francesca Dyke. The Rally was entitled “Encounter”, the rally-goers were constantly posed with the question: “What are you looking for?” Throughout the day the youth were encouraged to ask questions and wonder where they could find God in their life. When asked, “What is one thing you would want a teenager to take away from this day?” Dr. Rice said, “(That) Jesus is the source of happiness.” Diocesan Director of Youth and Young Adults, Craig Dyke, in response to the same question, said, “Share your relationship with Christ with others.” Bishop Gruss tied it all together by encouraging the youth to encounter Christ in our everyday lives.

Photo by Francesca Dyke

MORE Academics By Rachel Schmahl

It's never too early to start studying for finals! I know what you’re thinking, “It's just the beginning of 2nd Quarter!” However, we're already thinking about finals, it’s true! So, after Thanksgiving break, stop by the Success Center in the STM Library to grab your Finals Study Guide. Mr. Shaw creates a study plan for the month of December to help organize when to study. It’s a specific success plan for each high school student that has time and subject slots so each day you will know what you’re reviewing and for how long. This helps so students aren’t cramming the night before finals! Plan early and set yourself up for success.

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RCCSS School Board

Meetings are open to the public, please contact a board member to confirm the schedule and location

Tennis Takes 9th Place at State By Vanessa Wittenberg & Katherine Achbach The Girls’ Tennis Team finished its season in Sioux Falls with a 9th Place finish at State. There are no seniors on the team and everyone is already hungry for next season. Here is how the team placed: At flight one singles, Ainsleigh Scott placed tenth. At flight two singles, Vanessa Wittenberg placed as the consolation champion. At flight four singles, Bridget Raymond placed sixth. At flight five singles, Katherine Achbach placed as the consolation champion. At flight six singles, Alastrina Scott tied for eighth place. At flight one doubles, Ainsleigh Scott and Vanessa Wittenberg tied for eleventh. At flight two doubles, Katherine Achbach and Rachel Schmahl tied for eleventh. At flight three doubles, Alastrina Scott and Bridget Raymond, placed fourth. GOLF TEAM PLACES AT STATE AGAIN By Baxter Meyer The Boys’ Golf Team qualified for the State Tournament in North Sioux City and once again found itself receiving hardware on the final day. The team finished in sixth place, needing a birdie by Nick Lust on the final hole, to solidify its spot on the presentation stand. Lust, the lone senior on the roster and in his final tournament, placed sixth individually and earned All-State honors for the second year in a row.

SOCCER TEAMS PLAY FOR THE TITLE By Alissa Stephens For the first time in STM history, both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams made it to the State Championship. The girls played on Saturday, October 7, in Aberdeen against West Central with hopes of winning their 7th state title. The Lady Cavs were scored on in the last few minutes of the first half and were unable to offset the score. The Lady Cavs placed 2nd in a memorable season. The boys’ soccer team played Tea Area in their first ever state championship. The Cavs were scored on 3 times in the first half and then twice in the second half, but they were unable to return a goal. The Cavs lost 0-5, but they still made history. Senior, Brady Evans, was not able to play in the championship game due to an ACL injury during the semi-final game. Although he did not play, Evans says, “This was still a great experience since we made it to state for the first time ever.” Looking ahead to next year’s season, the girls’ will be a young but hopefully strong team. As of right now, it looks like there will be no seniors next season due to the absence of juniors this year, but fortunately the team will have a strong group of eight juniors. As for the boys, this year’s ten juniors should be a huge benefit to next year’s team. Next year’s season for both teams is looking bright, so hopefully both teams can bring home the gold with the 2018 State A Championship.

August 28, 2017 February 26, 2018

September 25, 2017 March 26, 2018

October 23, 2017 April 23, 2018 4:00 p.m.

November 27, 2017 May 21, 2018

January 8, 2018 June 25, 2018

January 29, 2018

Jeffrey Hurd, President

jeffreyghurd@gmail.com

Michael Albertson, Vice President

mike@albertsonengineering.com

Rev. Edward Witt, Treasurer

EWittSJ@diorc.org

Thomas Durkin, Secretary

Thomas.Durkin@sdsmt.edu

Michael Johnson mikecgj@aol.com

Christopher Grant cmgrcpd@gmail.com

Bishop Robert Gruss

msimonson@diorc.org

Terri Hilt cthilt@midco.net

Jennifer Keszler jkiepke@hotmail.com

Rev. Brian Lane brian@blessedsacramentchurch.org

Susan Safford SSafford@diorc.org

Michael Solano mbs810@hotmail.com

LeAnn Wenger leannwenger@gmail.com

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STM Middle School Honor Roll 2017-2018 - Quarter 1 6th Grade Very High Honors (4.00 – above) Dominic Bradsky, Alexander Dietrich, Michelle Hanson, Holland Post, Aaron Roach, Abigail Satter, Camryn Wojtanowicz, Claire Wojtanowicz High Honors (3.50 – 3.99) Molly Brechtel, Sydney Bremer, Sage Buxcel, Elaina Carpenter, Chase Donnelly, Westin Edwards, Lily Farwell, Gabrielle Holzer, Clare Kinyon, Megan Lee, Jeremy McIver, Emily Myscofski, Peyton Ogle, Owen Ponto, Cara Pruss, Sara Raposa, Wilem Rathbun, Lilibeth Schaack, Madison Schmahl, Morgan Simonds, Turner Thompson, Emily Williams Honors (3.00 – 3.49) Addyson Allgier, Hailey Bruce, Sydney Buehler, Sarah Heig, Nicole Kruse, Shey Landguth, Jacob Lowe, Ryan Nichol, Monet Smallbrock, Rebecca Theis 7 th Grade Very High Honors (4.00 – above) John Aberle, Jason Albertson, Keigan Ballard, Sophia Meyer, Sophie Schmid, Alastrina Scott, Henry Snyder, Thomas Solano, Abbigail Wagner High Honors (3.50 – 3.99) Alexis Bohndorf, Sara Bullinger, Paetyn Carlin, Katelyn Denholm, Anna Dyke, Evyenia Gillen, Thomas Green, Sean Griffin, Scarlet Grimshaw, Carly Hanzlik, Caleb Hollenbeck, Aaron Johnson, Lukas Kanta, Savannah Kenzy, Sofia Ketchum, Ariana King, Caeden Koop, Tanner Kopec, Aaron Lemon, Jake Matthes, Wilson Miller, Cooper Morlang, Samuel Mortimer, William Nixon, Easton Ogle, Nicholas Paikos, Winston Prill, David Rangel, Lucy Rausch, Bridget Raymond, Gabrielle Robbins, Reese Ross, Gavin Ryder, Grace Schad, Noah Schaefbauer, Layton Spratte, Macy Stephens, Daniel Stone, Portia Thomas, Levi Thompson, Bailey Walla, Erin Wallace, Anna Wehrle, Kira Weter, Peyton Wojtanowicz, Lily Woodruff, Samantha Woolsey, Riley Zandstra Honors (3.00 – 3.49) Jedidiah Crisafulli, Isaac Dike, Tyson Durham, Mia Herrboldt, Garrett Kerkenbush, Matthew Larson, Sophia Lien, Jada Mollman, CanteSkuya Red Bear, Hudson Roerick, Seth Schaefbauer, Payton Tuma 8 th Grade Very High Honors (4.00 – above) Sam Gibbon, Jaden Haefs, Madelynn Holzer, Luke Jegeris, Christian Lanier High Honors (3.50 – 3.99) Cole Aanderud, Oscar Bailon, Genevieve Bernard, Alexandra Cadotte, Mairin Duffy, Oona Evans, Sif Gullikson, Gabriel Hagan, Jules Hall, Rae Hanzlik, Kristin Haskell, Logan Hilt, Kathryn Hyde, Quinn Kemp, Kevin Ly, Jordan McArthur, Kia McLeod, Aaron Nelson, Thomas Nichol, Lance Petrik, Luke Ponto, Shyanne Potthoff, Tyler Roach, Eddie Rossi, Carlie Schlosser, Kaitlyn Schmahl, Kayden Schutz, Giana Smith, Charli Stamper, Jedidiah Sullivan, Dorian Swanson, Kylie Tornow, Olivia Tremmel, Leah Williams Honors (3.00 – 3.49) Emily Barnes, Nathan Berzina, Maria Breuninger, Carter Brosnan, Emma Cadotte, Mason Cuny, Malia Flores, Haley Gruba, Maddison Hackett, Jacob Herbert, Trey Herrboldt, Erica Howard, Brandon Inman, Cade Kandolin, Caden Mollman, Kanyen Mousseaux-Begay, Curtis Rusch, Gavin Skinner, Easton Stout, Trace Trainor, Hunter Walla

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Nov. 11 Oral Interp @ STM

Nov. 14 McTeacher Night

Nov. 17 & 18 7:30 pm Little Women Play Presented by STM Fine Arts

Nov. 22-26 No school

Dec. 1 Winterfest

Dec. 5 HS Christmas Concert

Dec. 7 MS Christmas Concert

Dec. 18-20 HS Finals week

Dec. 20-Jan. 2 No School

Party at my house. Dad, you’re so clueless! There’s no way you can be at my party. Why can’t you just go somewhere else so I can have a real party? You’re going to ruin my social life. Nobody’s going to come with parents spying on us. This is so like last century." How many parents do you know who give in to this kind of teenage logic and allow unsupervised parties? Some parents give in because they are desperate for their teens to be popular. Others give in out of fear of alienating their kids. We’ve all heard the horror stories about unsupervised parties that got out of hand with disastrous outcomes. Setting limits is difficult for the best of us, but take heart. New and powerful skills are available, and they are easy to learn. Let’s look at a common conversation: “Geez, Dad. My party is going to be ruined if you and Mom are here. Why can’t you guys just go somewhere else? You’re going to ruin my social life! You just don’t get it!” “You don’t need an unsupervised party, David. Your friends will understand.” “No they won’t. None of the other parents spy on their kids at their parties.” “Don’t give me that! No responsible parent allows unsupervised parties.” “Oh, sure, when you were kids, but now is now. All the other kids have parties without their parents treating them like babies. I’ll be the laughingstock of the whole school!” Kids argue with a different set of rules that don’t always include reason, accuracy, and common sense. Their rule is: “Win at all cost.” Listening to a reasoning parent doesn’t seem to be in their DNA. Let’s listen in as a parent handles the same problem using the Love and Logic approach demonstrating caring by listening and trying to understand. This wise parent offers some limit-setting choices. Love and Logic Tip: Delay your response, and then offer choices that fit your value system. “David, we’ve been thinking about your request for an unsupervised party. And we’ve also been thinking about our legal responsibilities. We’ve thought of three choices. You can decide.” “What?” “The first choice is to have the party with us in the house and we’ll try to stay out of the way.” “No way, Dad! I already told you that’s no good!” “The second choice is that you hire a professional chaperone. You can call the police department and they might give you some referrals. Or, you may know some adults who would meet our approval.” “Oh, fine! That’s even worse!” “The third choice is that you can wait and have an unsupervised party at your own house after you go out on your own.” “This is so lame! It’s like last century. You just don’t get it! I can’t wait until I move out!" "Well, David. We love you too much to argue. Let us know what you decide."

These wise parents, when confronted with a problem they weren’t expecting, bought some time to think it over. They then relied on the two rules of Love and Logic. These parents took care of themselves by avoiding the arguing. They also gave the problem back to their teenager in the form of limit setting choices. Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend. Jim Fay

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Catholic Math League

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