Mount St. Joseph Academy

September 14, 2009

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

Dear Parents/Guardians, Students, Faculty and Staff:

2009-10 has started off on numerous great notes, both literally and figuratively.  If you attended Back-to-School Night on September 10, you couldn’t help but hear the great sounds from the Music Room.  Students at various musical levels, under the mentorship of Mr. Harding, floored parents with their incredible harmony.  For most, it had been only ten days with their instruments.  In fact, there are so many students who are clamoring to take instrumental music that a Tuesday, 7AM ensemble was begun. 

Other high notes include MSJ Student Government initiatives, under the leadership of President Tyler Sanborn.  Members are writing a cell phone proposal for the next faculty/staff meeting.   Also, under consideration is a proposal for an Honor Code, as well as a proposal for a new Wave Cave.  Students who are interested in offering comments on these topics should consult with their class president.

Some of the end of summer reading that I completed included David Kertzer’s Prisoner of the Vatican:  The Pope’s Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State ( Houghton Mifflin, 2004), and Polly Young-Eisendrath’s The Self-Esteem Trap:  Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance (Little, Brown, 2008).  I recommend both.  The former for its in-depth treatment of a difficult time in the Church’s history as it struggled with inserting itself into the dialogue with modern states.  The latter is key for understanding the problems and consequences of a society that raises children to believe that the most important focus is a child’s self-esteem at the expense of childrearing that is rooted in both sound moral values, responsibility and a sense of the common good.

Dr. Young -Eisendrath, a professor at both Norwich University and the University of Vermont, makes clear  that sound parenting nurtures a child’s conscience and fosters a sense of virtue.  A child with a sound conscience grounded in virtue comes to understand the value of failure – of picking herself up and starting all over again – and achieves a deep and abiding sense of self-confidence and resilience.  Children who are reared to think that their self-esteem is the center of the universe end up with a fear of failure and a sense of hopelessness.

Furthermore, Professor Young-Eisendrath suggests that parents who are “running interference” for their child, whether it is in making excuses for her/him about  incomplete homework or covering up for other choices that the child makes and, thus, protecting her/him from the ensuing consequences, actually contributes to the child’s dysfunction.  That is, it becomes more difficult for the child to develop into a mature person who can function in a healthy, compassionate manner in an adult world.    The phenomenon of “helicopter parents” at colleges and universities is another example of this.

As I was reflecting on Young-Eisendrath’s book, I came to realize that children who are raised with their self-importance at the center of the universe , and not with both personal accountability and a sense of virtue as the hallmarks of a life well-lived, probably end up with other issues both as teens and adults:  unreasonable expectations of others (including spouses), a narrow understanding of the world, a heightened sense of bigotry, and a disrespect for the role of the Divine.

If you are interested in forming a discussion group on Professor Young-Eisendrath’s book, please send me an email at principal@msjvermont.org.

In gratitude for your commitment to MSJ,

Paolo E. Zancanaro, MA

Principal

MSJ News in Brief

• NEASC Self-Study Update: The final MSJ NEASC Self-Study will be sent to NEASC by October 1.  The NEASC visiting committee for accreditation will be at MSJ from November 1-4. 

• Technology and Google Applications:  Mr. Bjorn Behrendt, MSJ IT Coordinator, presented  an IT in-service to the students and faculty/staff about GoogleApps.  Under the direction of Mr. Behrendt, MSJ has moved from Microsoft Office to Google Apps.  Google Apps is becoming the IT resource on college campuses, including such schools as ND, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Michigan, UVA, and Hofstra.  1000s of colleges and school systems are expected to use GoogleApps within the next year.   Here are some of the advantages:  http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/sell.html 

• Faith Life: Here are some highlights:  A novena to St. Joseph was said the first two weeks of school.  Students in instrumental music played at the Sept. 14 Mass. (Mass is on Mondays at 10:10.)  Fr. Naples presided at Mass for the cheerleaders and football team on Saturday, Sept. 12.  This is the return of an MSJ tradition.  The Mass is at 9:30 on home game Saturdays.   Also, Fr. Naples offers the Sacrament of Reconciliation each day on demand. 

• Raisin in the Sun: On Sept. 29, MSJ will attend the Weston Playhouse production of “Raisin in the Sun.”  Please make sure that permission slips are handed in on time to the front office.  The cost of the play is covered by the MSJ Arts Committee.

• Calendar: Please check the on-line calendar at www.msjvermont.org for the latest events at MSJ.

• Daily Announcements:  Remember that daily announcements are sent via email and are on the MSJ web site under the “Extranet.”  See the top right of the web site for the Extranet.
• Play Tryouts:  Mrs. Bagley will have auditions for the Fall play on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and Wednesday, September 16.  See the Daily Announcements posted on-line for details.
• E-Textbooks: MSJ faculty are investigating and discussing the possibility of moving to e-textbooks for 2010-11.   Articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education and The New York Times suggest that more and more colleges are venturing into e-textbooks — paperless, on-line books available through sources like Kindle, Kindle DX, Sony Reader, Amazon and CourseSmart.  (For instance, CourseSmart has over 7,150 e-textbooks.) MSJ, in conjunction with the Office of Advancement, is looking into making e-textbooks part of the educational strategy for 2010-11.  The Parents and Friends Club (PFC) will be part of this conversation.

• Field Trips:  On 10/2, Ms. Butman, MSJ librarian, will sponsor a field trip for seniors to the CSJ library for an introduction into resources available, inter-library loan, etc.  The seniors will be given a CSJ library card.   On 10/7, Mr. Audette, Religion and World Cultures teacher,  and Ms. Zimmer, ESL Instructor, will take World Culture and ESL students to Crown Point for an archeological/historical/cultural experience.  The focus will be be on the indigenous people of the area.

• Sports News: Senior Ben Smith came in 2nd in the last two Cross Country meets.  Besides Ben, this year’s team is composed of Megan Blais (‘13), Tyler Sanborn (‘10),  Matt Sanborn (‘13) and Sean Ballard (‘13).   

• MSJ Football/NPR Broadcast:  Here is the link to the Friday, September 11 NPR “All Things Considered” broadcast about MSJ football entitled “Faith Helps Team Stay In Big-School Football”:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112746636&ft=1&f=1055   

• Student Government: Under the direction of President Tyler Sanborn, the MSJ Student Government is addressing some key student issues, including the cell phone regulation, the creation of an honor code proposal, as well as a proposal for reopening the Wave Cave.  Written proposals will be presented at the next faculty/staff meeting.

• Green Wave Golf Tournament: Congratulations to Mr. Bill Van Liew, MSJ Mathematics teacher, for his hole-in-one at the Green Wave Golf Tournament.

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