August 25th: Today began a new adventure for the students of Holy Name School.  Every Thursday morning ALL the students AND teachers Drop Everything and Read.  DEAR time is for 15 minutes...no matter what class they are in, they are reading.  Even the students in Technology Class were reading.  Some are reading books...some have Ereaders.  What a great way to begin the day.

Pictured:  Jacob Ramold and Jesse Evans  from 6^th grade.

And so it begins and so it will end.  Ten years is a long time, and sometimes we forget what it was like to begin our school years.  This week was the beginning of the preschoolers’ school experiences…the first recess is quite a milestone.  Another milestone is the first lunch for the 8^th graders.  This marks the beginning of the end of their time at Holy Name.  It is their first time to chat about their summer activities and welcome each other back for their final year at Holy Name.  We welcome all our students and wish them the best this 2011-2012 school year.

Holy Name School held its first Career Day on January 28^th.  Speaking to the students in 4^th through 8^th grade were:  Sgt. Teresa Negron with the Omaha Police Dept., Mrs. Cindy Tate with the Public Defender’s Office,  Dr. Tom Hansen Associate Dean of Medical Education from Creighton University, Mr. Mike McCarville an entomologist from Iowa State, Mrs. Joann Holtz a retired school teacher from the Archdiocese and Rev. Paul Hoesing and Sr. Margaret Stratman representing vocations in the Archdiocese.  The students had the opportunity to hear from three of the speakers.  Holy Name was delighted to host such a distinguished group of presenters.  The students now have some background into several professions.  The Career Day was the kick-off event for Catholic School’s Week  which begins on January 30^th. 

The Holy Name 7^th and 8^th graders put their engineering minds to the test to build their own personal water filters in Mr. McDermott’s science lab.  Using materials such as sponges, cotton balls, sand, coffee filters, and a two-liter bottle, they designed and constructed water filters to clean some murky water.  These young “engineers” then tested their filters, devised modifications, and persisted to make their water as clean as possible.  8^th graders Peyton O’Neal and Lily Nguyen as well as 7^th graders Antigone Falkner and Erin Lahowetz created the winning filters in their respective classes.  The winners were given the title, “masta-filterers.”

Nyasibit Kume, a 5^th grader at Holy Name school was one of the winners of this year’s American Red Cross Heroes in the Heartland Essay Contest.  Her essay, written about her mother, was chosen from over 600 submissions.  Nyasibit chose her mother as the person who inspired her the most and who was her role model.  She and her mother will attend a luncheon on March 9^th honoring the seven essay winners from the Omaha and Council Bluffs area. 

Advent would not be the same at Holy Name without the annual Christmas Musical.  This year the students in grades K-4 sang traditional Christmas carols and some music from around the world.  Between songs, the actors and narrators retold the Christmas story for the audience. One of the highlights of the program was the 4^th grade processing in with candles singing, Jesus Light of the World.

Math class never looked like this when we were growing up!  Holy Name 5^th and 6^th grade math students were studying Platonic Solids in December.  To understand the concept better, they each made their own 3D solids.  Kamryn Pullen, 5^th grade, holds up her cube and pyramid as she talks about the faces, edges and vertices of the solids.