Florida Catholic Online

JPII students on a mission

After her performance, Jaci Velasquez, right, joins in a duet with Carol Fernandez, at left. Fernandez, a 2008 graduate of Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, won the 2007 Voice of An Angel competition sponsored by God Squad Communications.

Courtesy Photo
CHARLESTON, SC | Students and adult chaperons from Pope John Paul II High School gather for a photograph, above, during a mission trip in Charleston last month. Shown in the front row, left to right are Jennifer Heinlein, Teresa Bui, Emily Brown, Christopher Brinkman, Kendall Scarlett, Coach Nate Robinson, John Churley and Nathan Little. In the back row from left to right are Nalline Baliram, Katie Freedman, Caroline Cook, Bianca Loreti, Sarah Brinkman and Lauren Churey. Read the article and see a larger photo here.

Waving the “green”

MARLENE QUARONI
MIAMI GARDENS | Michael Renaldo, a freshman at Msgr. Edward Pace High School, waves a “Going Green” pamphlet after the school assembly Aug. 22 announcing the school’s new “green” policy. The ecologically friendly approach also will result in a savings of $20,000 a year according to school officials. Read the article here.

Helping hands in Jamaica

Courtesy Photo | Phillip Warwick
MELBOURNE | The Ascension Parish mission team helps build housing on their trip to Jamaica. “I really went there expecting to help other people, to bring God to them” said Natalie Amgottbut, 16, “it was the other way around — they gave God to me.” It was the first mission trip for the group. Read the article here.

Teachers over technology

Jade Vorster, right, applies “warrior” face paint on Jasmine Muller, during a “Warriors of Worship” youth group event on Aug. 3 at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in the Avalon Park area of Orlando.

MARCI ELLIOTT | FC
TALLAHASSEE | Sywal Mezonlin, 13, a sophomore from West Africa, is in his second year at JPII. “What I like most about the school are the teachers. They listen to you and help you,” said Sywal, whose family now lives in Midway.
Read the article here.

Around n’ About

September 2008 :: Teen Web Log

Msgr. Pace High School goes green

MARLENE QUARONI | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

MIAMI GARDENS | The red and gold is going green.

“We hope that our efforts to go green at (Msgr. Edward) Pace High School will spread like wildfire,” said Ana Garcia, the school’s principal, to a gym packed with 1,300 students, parents, teachers, staff and other Florida school administrators.

The Spartan Experience New School Orientation Day assembly Aug. 22 highlighted that that Pace is the first school in Florida to be recognized as “green” by Certified Green Partners, a nonprofit environmental awareness organization based in Miami, according to the group’s founder Gus Casamayor. MORE...

09.09.08 | Return to Top

Ascension teens assess needs in Jamaica

LAURA DODSON | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

MELBOURNE | Visiting Ocho Rios, Jamaica, is a dream vacation for many. For a group from Ascension Parish here, it was a “survey” mission trip.

Each day, eight teens and four chaperones witnessed a desperate need in a different mission field. They visited an orphanage for children with mental and physical disabilities, a state-run nursing home, a home for adults with disabilities, and they built an addition to a house.

“It was a great experience,” said 16-year-old Daniel LaManna, soon to be a junior at Melbourne Central Catholic High School. “I really went there expecting to help other people, to bring God to them, but it was the other way around – they gave God to me.” MORE...

09.05.08 | Return to Top

Technology is tops at John Paul II High

MARCI ELLIOTT | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

TALLAHASSEE | The key word at John Paul II Catholic High School this year is “technology.” With a new principal at the helm and plans for new computer equipment and programs, the school’s 125 students will have new and expanded opportunities to keep up with the fast-paced, high-tech world.

“We’re concentrating our efforts on technology to get our students and faculty up to par,” said Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sister Ellen Cronan, who succeeded the school’s first principal, Dr. Randall Felton. “It’s good for the faculty’s professional development and we’re looking into the acquisition of computer equipment.” MORE...

09.05.08 | Return to Top

Inside story on Chaminade–Madonna’s new president

HOLLYWOOD | Chaminade–Madonna seniors, Nick Bryant and Jessica Ryckman team up to provide a profile and photos of their school’s new president, Marianist Father Larry Doersching. Want to know Father Larry’s favorite football team is or what he does in his spare time? It’s all here.

09.05.08 | Return to Top