Catherine McAuley High School junior, Caitlyn Connolly, was recently chosen to attend the prestigious Middlebury College Writer’s Conference located in Middlebury,Vermont. The conference takes place at the Bread Loaf Campus, on the same grounds that famed poet Robert Frost once roamed. Frost encouraged the commencement of the Conference in 1926, and for 42 years he returned to this very same campus to instruct and share his poetic gifts.  From May 17 – 20, Caitlyn will participate in poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction workshops led by respected, published poets and writers.

Congratulations, Caitlyn! The McAuley community is very proud of this well-earned accomplishment!

Catherine McAuley High School is proud to announce the following new members of the National Honor Society: Felicia Bridges, Natalie Brown, Taylor Church, Abbie Corbeau, Alexa Coulombe, Olivia Crozier, Elizabeth Gajewski, Cristina Leake, Molly Mack, Molly Miller, Kathleen Profenno, Delaney Regan, and Morgan Wheeler.

The National Honor Society recognizes outstanding high school students for their character, leadership, scholarship, and service. These young ladies join 18 other McAuley students who were inducted last year.

Congratulations, ladies!

McAuley senior Dannielle Allen was recently selected for the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP) at Roanoke College in Virginia, where she will work alongside Dr. Sarisky on a project titled, “Purine Biosynthesis of Archaea”.   Ms. Allen, one of only six freshmen chosen for this four-year program, will attend conferences, work in laboratories, and have her findings and work published along with Dr. Sarisky’s.  The McAuley community is very proud of Dannielle, and wishes her the best of luck at Roanoke in the fall!

Catherine McAuley High School junior, Taylor Church, has been selected as one of sixteen young adults from Maine to participate in the Keller Bloom program at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Studies in East Boothbay, Maine.  “Bloom,” an acronym for Bigelow Laboratory Orders of Magnitude, is a program designed to introduce students to the various types of research conducted at the Bigelow Laboratories. While at Bigelow, where the primary focus is to understand the processes that control the world’s oceans, Ms. Church will use the latest technology and state-of-the-art instruments to collect samples, take measurements, and analyze data. The program, which begins the week of May 20, will culminate in a research seminar where Taylor will present her findings to her peers and instructors.

The McAuley community would like to extend a sincere congratulations to Taylor on this considerable achievement! Good luck at Bigelow, Taylor!!

For more information about Bigelow, please visit their website at www.bigelow.org

Catherine McAuley High School senior, Lulama Moyo Hawkes, was just named Maine’s Most Distinguished Young Woman. This national scholarship program recognizes leadership, talent, and service of young women. This summer, Ms. Hawkes will travel to Alabama where she will participate in the national competition for a $25,000 college scholarship. Lulu, who also won last year’s Maine Poetry Out Loud Competition, plans to attend Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts in the fall.

Congratulations Lulu!  The McAuley community is so very proud of you!

Please click on the link below to view Lulu’s  interview on Fox’s Good Day, Maine:

http://www.myfoxmaine.com/category/203817/video?clipId=7034366&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&topVideoCatNo=0&c=&autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv

I would like to introduce myself. I am Colleen North, IT Director at Catherine McAuley High School. It is a pleasure to be working with such a dedicated faculty and student population. I have worked in education for 22 years as an IT Director and am thrilled to be part of your school. If you have any questions please feel free to stop by my office or email me at colleen.north@mcualeyhs.org

Congratulations to McAuley sophomore, Julia Cornell, and senior, Christina Murray, who have been selected as finalists in the Merriconeag Poetry Contest, which will culminate in a festival of young poets and their poetry on May 6 at the Merriconeag School in Freeport.  Over 20 McAuley students submitted poetry from Creative Writing and English classes, as well as students from many high schools across the state.  The top poets will be selected during the May 6 festival.

Julia Cornell 

I remember

those timid flashing

memories

the early morning father

when I cut my finger

which he was blamed for

when the second girl

was not cursed

yet

I remember

a gold and black bow

a shielded happy child

a TV crashing down

a worn blanket

why?

is there a police officer in

my living room where

I played treasure maps

and potions with

Rachael in my

room. Barbie princesses

who had one of two generic

princes at her aid unlike

my mother who

shouted into the bathtub

why?

did they take him away

as if that would make everything better

the choices

or not

ignorance is bliss I

learn quickly in these

two houses

twin sins

eternal clouds drift above the room

where

“like wild beasts”

were the most

terrifying words

on that purple beanbag

my memory

is the antagonist I am grateful to

it shields me, allows me to

coexist

with myself

even if

I remember.

Christina Murray

Intimate Friendship

We’ll dress lavishly

And embellish our

Veiled affection-

Dressed like paper dolls

We made half attempts to enjoy

As children.

You’ll wear a dress

Sewn together with a flowered pattern

Stretched thin from our past excursions

You’ll look slightly less than beautiful

And I’ll exaggerate your elegance

Until I’ve all but won every affection.

It’s the dance we do

To the sound of tension

Welled in our bones-

But we’ll continue to sway

Until we’ve forgotten one another.

Since 2005, there has been an academic exchange between Catherine McAuley HS and Colegio Juanita de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. This year, there are five girls attending McAuley for a month, with other Chileans of their group at Cheverus HS and Deering HS, along with two chaperones.

On Thursday, April 12, at 1:20pm in the McAuley Auditorium, the full group is doing a presentation on the music and history of Chile. It focuses primarily on Violeta Parra and Victor Jara, two famous Chilean musicians. The music represents Chilean folklore, using instruments such as the string “charango,” and uses songs that refer to the beautiful “cordillera de los Andes” and how the mountain range influences all life from Colombia to Chile and Argentina.

Dear McAuley community,

In December of 2004, Volunteer Services in Nepal began assisting a severely mismanaged children’s home, hoping to reverse years of detrimental practices.  Their efforts paid off in October 2006, when they were approached by the Nepali Child Welfare Board to assume guardianship of the children within the home.  Two months later, Shining Stars Children’s Home officially opened its doors.  The home is a refuge for children who would have been abducted and forced into the army.  Each day the Shining Stars Children’s Home helps 31 children by providing them with shelter, food, education, and medical care.  The Volunteer Service has been extremely efficient and effective in aiding these underprivileded children, but still needs help from people like you to continue providing the best possible care for them.

We are seniors at Catherine McAuley High School who have, upon having the issue brought to our attention, decided to dedicate our time and resources to aiding the Shining Stars Children’s Home.  Our teacher, Anne French, introduced the orphanage to us, as her nephew is currently in Nepal, dedicating himself to working with the children there.  He has informed us of the orphanage’s need for funds in order to maintain essentials such as food, education, and running water.  Since providing these resources is the priority, Volunteer Services in Nepal has minimal extra funding for recreational activities for the children, such as games, toys, and sporting equipment.

In order to aid these children, we are seeking monetary donations.  Catherine McAuley High School will be sending a combined check of all our donations raised throughout the month of April to the Shining Stars Children’s Home in order to fund the purchase of recreational equipment.  At this time we can only accept monetary donations due to the high expense of shipping materials to Nepal.  We would like to stress that no donation is too small and that any amount of monetary support will be greatly appreciated by the Volunteer Services in Nepal.  The cost to provide for one child for an entire year is $1,270.  While this seems to be a meek sum to us, it can change the life of a disadvantages child in Nepal.

We thank you for your time and consideration in helping us work towards our goal of raising money in order to fund the futures of these children.

Sincerely,

Cristina Leake ’12

Kathryn Liziewski ’12

Dakota Murray ’12

Summer Yang ’12

Congratulations to Lulu Hawkes ’12, who was recently named the Distinguished Young Woman of Maine and awarded $1400 in scholarships for her success in the competition.  Lulu competed in categories that highlighted her scholastic accomplishments, self-expression, interview techniques, fitness, and talent.

Lulu’s win will take her to the national competition in Mobile, Alabama on June 28-30, where she will compete with 49 other state representatives for a more than $130,000 scholarship.

Best wishes, Lulu, as you represent our great state…and McAuley!

Please access the link below to view all athletic schedules:

http://www.highschoolsports.net/NextFiveDays/Catherine-McAuley-High-School-Portland-ME/All/All/All/

Congratulations to McAuley graduate Laura Duran ’09, a rising UMaine senior recently inducted into the prestigious ‘All Maine Women’ Honor Society.

To learn more about Laura’s distinguished honor, please click on the link below.

http://www.goblackbears.com/sports/w-swimonly/2011-12/releases/20120328f1q21u

Congratulations to Katie Ponzetti ’04, who recently received her white coat as a third-year student at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.  With classes completed, Katie began her clinical rotations at the Foster Small Animal Hospital on the Tufts’ campus in North Grafton, MA.

After graduating from McAuley, Katie attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, majoring in biology and biotechnology and graduating with highest honors.  Katie has also published several papers on veterinary medical research while working as an assistant at the Tufts’ laboratory.

Congratulations to juniors Taylor Church and Colleen Geaumont, this year’s recipients of the University of Rochester’s scholarship awards.

Taylor receives the Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award  as an outstanding social studies student, and Colleen receives the George Eastman Young Leaders Award for her leadership as a junior class officer.  These awards are accompanied by a $30,000 scholarship over four years.

Congratulations, Taylor and Colleen!

Congratulations to senior Liberty Atienza who was crowned Miss McAuley 2012 at the second annual pageant held Saturday, March 24th.  Freshman Brianna Doerfler was named first-runner-up, and junior Audrey Thames was second runner-up and voted fan favorite.

The junior class wishes to greatly thank Ms. Karen Perry-Thames for donating the beautiful handmade quilt for our raffle and Ms. Renee Church for assisiting with the tickets sales.