By: Sebby Garofalo
This past Friday, junior Olivia Belfonti organized a “comfy sweatpants day” fundraiser, to raise money for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford. The comfy sweatpants day was her modified version of CT Children’s’ “Pajama Day for Kids." Olivia’s inspiration to give back was kindled by her own relationship with the hospital. Olivia revealed, "Connecticut Children’s saved my life. Doctors at other hospitals told my parents that I would have no quality of life and that abortion was the only option. However, at Connecticut Children’s they gave my parents hope that I would live... I love to give back to them because I am here alive.” The added bonus of being comfortable at school was an extremely positive way to visibly bring students together in supporting an important cause, while also sharing in the hospital’s tradition. The fundraiser was extremely successful due to Olivia’s efforts and the donations of SP students, raising close to $1,000. This money ensures that one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the nation can continue to help and support children, just like Olivia and many more. Thank you Olivia for showing that charity is a universal gift with no age requirement! By Brianna Wood
The Perry Outreach Program is an opportunity for young women to learn more about careers in the fields of engineering and orthopedic surgery. Run by the Perry Initiative, high school girls can learn more about the process of becoming a surgeon and experience different real life scenarios in the career of an orthopedic surgeon. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Perry Initiative had to cancel all in person programs. This year, they hosted the Perry Virtual Experience, another incredible opportunity for female high school students to discuss STEM and medical careers. The Perry Outreach Program was held in November 2019. Multiple students from the St. Paul's community attended, including Madelyn Kronen, Krista Christmas, Sophia Gerst, Devin Muerer, and Lana Marie-David. The girls participated in six mock-surgeries, as well as hearing from many surgeons and residents, surgeons in training, about their journey to where they are today. Madelyn Kronen found the mock surgeries especially interesting, due to personal connections. Kronen eagerly described how she found the process of becoming a surgeon interesting. Krista Christmas was “awed by the teamwork involved and the hands-on experience of performing on areas of the human anatomy, by having the opportunity in using arthroscopes to locate a pea in a mock knee to extract it. [She] valued the teamwork incorporated in this, as each member helped one another by communicating which way they had to maneuver the tool.” Devin Muerer’s favorite part was “probably doing the stitches on the pig’s foot because it was something I had never done before. Also, another thing I had fun with was when we dropped the pea into the artificial knee and used the robot machine to find it.” This year, senior Lana Marie David attended the virtual experience, learning many things about engineering and orthopedics. This program contained lectures about the importance of engineering and the different careers in the medical field. David was grouped with five other girls, working together to conduct “online mock orthopedic surgery simulations” along with experiments. “My favorite part happened after each activity. After working on each activity, we would discuss the scientific explanation behind the worksheet activity: whether it be biomechanics, anatomy, and physiology, or engineering,” describes David. Programs such as the Perry Outreach Program and the Perry Virtual Experience are very important for all people out there, whether it is young men or women looking for careers or children being introduced to the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “I definitely believe that the STEM programs are very important especially for young women… I found [the STEM programs] so interesting...we got to see all different career choices out there. It’s really just a good way to experiment with what you want to do before you have to make that decision for going to college. You get to work with a lot of other young girls your age who are going to do the exact same thing.” says Kronen. “[B]oth programs emphasized the leadership quality in women.” illustrates David. Christmas believes “[STEM education programs] have far-reaching effects on persons of all ages and for the betterment of the world. STEM education programs teach and demonstrate to students how today's technology can heal people, teach others, and offer better alternatives or solutions to previous obstacles.” “By educating the younger generations on new technologies and STEM related topics, they will get inspired and realize how they can change the world in any way they can imagine,” states Muerer. By Sammi Bray
It’s that time of year again! The St. Paul Walkathon is back! Despite this year being very different, the community rallied together to find a new, awesome way to keep up a classic tradition. On Thursday, October 1st, the Student Government joined together (from apart) to kick off this year’s festivities. From neighborhoods, cross country practices, and parks, students signed onto Zoom at 5PM to walk the first few steps of the 2020 Walkathon. Unlike past years, all fundraising was held online. The school was able to raise their goal, a collective total of $30,000 and earned the annual “Superbowl Monday” off! Mrs. McGuire is very excited! Similar to the past, students were able to participate in activities like KanJam and Ultimate Frisbee. Each grade worked together to plan a fun, safe day, but unfortunately with COVID-19 regulations, students were not able to intermingle with other grades. This year included a special surprise: Dairy Queen Blizzards! Many students felt that despite this year’s hurdles, this was one of the very best Walkathons ever. Photos via Mrs. Lindquist and @spchsfalcons instagram! Written by Emma Schatz
Two weeks ago, St. Paul hosted a Welcome Back Weekend to celebrate the new school year. There were a variety of different events for students to participate in over the two day period. The weather was chilly, but spirits were high on Friday, September 18th for the drive-in movie show. Students gathered in the school parking lot for a late night showing of “The Greatest Showman”. People bundled up under blankets with popcorn and hot chocolate to enjoy the movie, laughing and chatting with friends. There was singing and even dancing as everyone celebrated finally being back together. Even with social distance rules and mask wearing, everyone had a great time. On Saturday, there was a Quarantine Art Show, presenting artwork that students created during the quarantine. There are some very talented artists at St. Paul, and this event celebrated all their talent and efforts. Also on Saturday, the Chalk it Up event took place, where each grade competed while showing off their artistic talents. Teams were created to represent each grade level, and each team decorated a parking spot, following a unique theme. The chalk drawings came out exceptionally well, brightening up the whole parking lot. The Senior class created a fall harvest theme, featuring pumpkins and a scarecrow. “Growing together” was proudly displayed in the Juniors’ space, including bright flowers. The Sophomore class created a colorful spiral, featuring the St. Paul falcon in the center. Finally, the Freshman Class had brightly colored shapes, forming a stained glass window pattern. Students enjoyed hanging out and chatting over hot chocolate while creating these vivid masterpieces. Thanks to all the wonderful artists who contributed to this event! What a great start to the new school year! Written by Elizabeth Speaker
On Thursday, October 1st the student government hosted a virtual trivia night. It was led by Ben Speaker and Josh Silva. There were a variety of questions ranging from Geography to sports. The questions were asked live over Zoom and answered on a Google form. It was all out of integrity and each participant was asked to fill out the integrity pledge. There were three rounds each with ten questions. At the end there was a bonus round with five questions. Overall, the event was very fun and a good way to learn something new. Be on the lookout for more events like this that are yet to come! |
Archives
January 2021
Categories |