Pope John XXIII High School Parare Mente et Corde To Prepare in Mind and Heart

Academics:
3/4/08
***The Texas ACT Council recently recognized 18 of our current juniors who demonstrated that they are on target to meet or exceed ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks by graduation. Only 17% of Texas PLAN tested students reached this level of proficiency. Congratulations to the following students: Kevin Boyle, Jeff Cancienne, Michael Combs, Samantha Dante, Andrew Emerick, Lauren Hoth, Joseph Killinger, Christina Kurt, Dillon Loftus, Brandon Maxwell, Genevieve McCormick, Jacob Neeson, Chris Panaligan, Matthew Robinson, Eric Roush, Ellen Stidham, Alisa Sullivan, and Chris Wuenscher.

Travel:
***Are you interested in touring Rome, Milan, Venice, and Florence? Ms. McCarty has organized a trip to Italy during the 2009 Spring break. The dates are from March 14th - 22nd and this trip is for the staff of Pope John XXIII High School, the feeder parochial schools, parents and students, family and friends.
"Venice, Florence, and Rome" is a 9 day tour and the price for the trip is $2,993 until October 15, 2008, which includes airfare & airport taxes, breakfasts, dinners, coach, driver, tour guide, and Passport membership. Two nights are spent in Venice,
two more in Florence, and three nights in Rome.
The deposit for the trip is $495. The Pope John group has a private website on www.passports.com. Click on the "We're Going" icon, type in "Paddie McCarty" as the username, and use 081406152022 as the password. You will be able to view the travel itinerary and enroll online with the password, "pj23trip".
For additional information, contact Ms. McCarty at pmccarty@pj23.org.

Athletics:

4/21/08
The 2008-09 cheerleading squad has been picked! The newly formed squad is already gearing up for camp this summer. The following girls will be representing the RED & GOLD:

Ellen Stidham, Senior - Captain
Samantha Dante, Senior
Alejandra Salazar, Senior
Lauren DeBolt, Junior - Captain
Jennifer Allen, Junior
Christina McFadden, Sophomore
Julia Neeson, Sophomore
Catherine Ponder, Sophomore
Katie Prestera, Sophomore
Caitlin Auffenberg, Freshman

Congratulations girls!

3/11/08
In more basketball news, two of our Juniors received recognition on the state level in TAPPS 2A. Christina Kurt received 2nd team all-state & Jeff Cancienne was awarded Honorable Mention. Congratulations to both!

3/4/08
Recently, many of our student-athletes have received All-District honors for their achievements.
Congratulations to the following athletes who had tremendous seasons:

Boys' Basketball:
1st team - Jeff Cancienne
2nd team - Raymond Salinas & Patrick Donlon
Honorable Mention - Brandon Maxwell & Matthew Gonzalez
Girls Basketball:
1st team - Christina Kurt & Nicole Johnson
2nd team - Christina Hink, Christina Bramanti, & Adelle Buede
Honorable Mention - Catherine Ponder
Soccer:
1st team - Sam Jacobi, Juan Saiz, & Kevin Boyle
2nd team - Jake DeBolt & Colleen Moore
Honorable Mention - Aram Gregorian, Katheryn Mundy, & Claudia Sequeira

Art News:
3/4/08
PJ23 artists entered the Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center (KVPAC)
Annual Art Competition and had a fantastic finish!
Photography -
1st Place: Jonathan Danforth
2nd Place: Jonathan Danforth
3rd Place: Angie Hernandez
Honorable Mention: Jonathan Danforth & Veronica Luna
Oil/Acrylic -
1st Place: Fernando Barquin
2nd Place: Rachel Hankins
3rd Place: Kelsey Draughon
Watercolor/Acrylic -
1st Place: Patty Salinas
2nd Place: Kathleen Longsworth
3rd Place: Kyrie Aitken
Honorable Mention: Nancy Gross
Pastel/Drawing -
1st Place: Elira Kopliku
2nd Place: Gen McCormick
3rd Place: Kelsey Draughon
Honorable Mention: Lauren DeBolt, Stephanie DiLuzio, & Rachel Hankins
Sculpture -
1st Place: Patty Salinas
2nd Place: Gen McCormick
3rd Place: Raymond Salinas

4/2/08
UPCOMING TAPPS STATE ART COMPETITION APRIL 4-5! *1st Place District 4 Division 2A on March 1! *
Ms. O'Donnell, PJ visual arts teacher, district 4 host teacher, and division 2A state division director for 22 schools in Division 2A, proudly congratulates our creative PJ artists on their 1st place win at the District 4 TAPPS ART COMPETITION held on March 1! Pope John hosted five District 4 schools and competed against 325 individual artworks. We now have 19 visual artists who are bound for the STATE TAPPS ART COMPETITION on April 4-5! This is our very first year to compete with all four levels of students, Freshmen through Seniors! With 46 ribbons (1st-6th places), our PJ artists will compete with 22 schools in Austin in the Division 2A state meet, displaying 35 PJ district winning entries. Other events will include on-site drawing, on-site photography, art history testing, and seek and sketch. Pray for us!

We especially congratulate 4 of our creative seniors who captured the top 4 places with their senior portfolios! Congrats to Kathleen Longsworth, 1st; Stephanie DiLuzio, 2nd; Kelsey Draughon and Patty Salinas, who both tied for 3rd place.

More 1st place ribbons were taken by Kathleen Longsworth, Patty Salinas, Jessica Boyle, Fernando Barquin, Brittney Nguyen, Chris Panaligan, Elira Kopliku, and Matt McKowen.

Other state-bound artists include Rachel Drewes, Jonathan Danforth, Veronica Luna, Gen McCormick, Tara Cava, Raymond Salinas, Jeremy Daniels, and Michael Carter, and Ellen Stidham.

Come and join the Pope John family at the end of the year arts event which will be held on THURSDAY, May 1
(NOT on Friday, May 2 as in original schedule). Come enjoy the artists, choir, band, and theatre students as they "spring into action!" Participation at this event is mandatory for all of our Fine Arts students as their attendance is a large part of their final exam grade. Each teacher will have details for his/her students.

Again, our Fine Arts Department will support the Krauss Center for Teens with our collection of "Christmas in May" gifts for these teens. Towels and socks and toiletries are specifically requested from our students - no wrappings or gift bags necessary this time! Just bring your item(s) the night of the showcase.