@SCA 11-18 - St. Cecilia Academy

Mark Your Calendar
Tuesday, Nov. 18
Art Club meeting, 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Model UN, 3:15 p.m.
Forensics, 3:15 p.m.
Detention, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 20
Mid-state, Honors and Freshman
Choir competition
Spanish Club, 3:15 p.m.
Dance Ensemble meeting, 3:30 p.m.
Swim meet vs. Gallatin & Tullahoma
@ Gallatin, 5 p.m.
Basketball Hall of Fame game @
Davidson Academy, 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 21
St. Cecilia Day, 9 a.m. Mass,
10:15 a.m. fine arts program,
11 a.m. Mother-Daughter tea
Basketball home game 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 22
Forensics Tournament in Dickson
Basketball game @ USN, 1 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 24
Internet Safety Expert Parry Aftab,
6:30 p.m. in the SCA Theater
Wednesday, Nov. 26-Friday, Nov. 28
Thanksgiving Holidays
Kendra Schulz as Cinderella poses with a young fan
during “Tea with Cinderella” before one of the show’s
matinees. The show played to full houses all this past
weekend, including Friday night when more than 130
seventh and eighth-grade girls attended and then spent
the night at SCA during the Admissions Office’s “Wake
Me Up at SCA” event. Congratulations to the cast and
crew for a wonderful fall production.
National Merit scholars
Hadiya Housepian and
Ragan Todd and their
parents at a recent cake
party in their honor.
Nov. 18, 2008
A weekly ee-newsletter
e newsletter for parents of St. Cecilia Academy
National Merit Scholar program honors two SCA seniors
Two seniors were recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program for
high scores on the PSAT. Ragan Todd is a commended scholar in the 2009
National Merit Scholarship Program; Hadiya Housepian was recognized as a
2009 National Achievement Scholar. They were honored at a cake parent
recently at break.
Ragan is an SCA Ambassador and a member of the soccer team. She is also in
National Honor Society, Spirit Club, Student Council, and is Student Council
Representative for her class. She also represented her class in Student Council
during her freshman and sophomore years. During her junior year she was
Latin Club Treasurer and a year earlier the Latin Club secretary.
Hadiya is a third-year Ambassador for St. Cecilia, vice president of her senior
class and co-chair of Model United Nations at St. Cecilia. She is also involved
in Student Council, Youth in Government, Science Olympiad, Mock Trial,
National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Spanish Club,
Scribblers Society, and Environmentalist Group.
News you should know ...
• Many local service agencies are requesting volunteers
for the holiday season. The weekend of Dec. 4, there are
three different events needing volunteers: wrapping gifts for
refugees, sorting cards for the troops and a holiday party for
refugees. All of these count for service hours. Please see
Mrs. Pike if you are interested. For info on service hour
requirements, click here.
• Cookie orders will be ready on Nov. 25 in the SCA
dining hall. If your daughter sold many buckets, she may
need your help carrying out the order to your car. We will
have extra cookie dough available if anyone would like to
purchase additional buckets. Please make your check payable
to St. Cecilia Academy for $15.
• Parry Aftab will be speaking to the faculty, staff and
students Nov. 24. She will then speak to parents of SCA
and Overbrook — and the Nashville community –
Monday night, Nov. 24 from 6:30-8 p.m., im the SCA
Theater.

Senior charity
bake sale
The senior class will
be holding a charity
bake sale at break and
both lunches every
second Friday of the
month. All proceeds
benefit the American
Diabetes Association.
At left, Senior Anamaria
Castaneda makes a sale at
the first bake sale.
Come to Mud Puddle Pottery Studio's 5th annual art opening
& pottery sale
Mrs. Barbara Gronefeld, SCA art teacher, will be displaying new mixed media works of art.
There is a reception on Friday from 6- 9:30 pm; Saturday, Nov. 22, hours are from 10 a.m. - 6
p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 23, noon - 6 p.m. The sale continues through Dec. 20. More information
at www.mudpuddlepottery.com.
Sign up to make a dinner for Guidance Counselor Krissie
Betbeze and her new family
SCA Guidance Counselor Krissie Betbeze gave birth to twin girls Julia and Elsie last week.
Mrs. Betbeze works at both SCA and Overbrook. Overbrook’s Sunshine Committee is organizing
dinners for Mrs. Betbeze and her family for a few weeks. If you would like to participate
and make a dinner or get more information, click here for directions.
Annual Fund Campaign reaches 41% of goal
Thanks to the generosity of
many of you, we have
received gifts and pledges
to date of $142,000 which
is 41% of our goal. We
have 100% faculty and
staff participation and
nearly 100% parent committee
participation, (a
couple of verbal pledges
pending at this time.)
They are each making
follow-up phone calls now to the families on their respective lists to increase
the overall parent participation before Thanksgiving!
Overall chairs Arlene and David Johnson along with the class co-chairs would
like to remind you that we will have drawings for four different dinner gift
certificates (ONE FOR EACH CLASS,) next Tuesday at our meeting.
Everyone that has made their annual fund gift or pledge by next week will be
eligible to win!
Our goal this year is $350,000 with 100%
parent participation. We believe that we
will be at 65% of the goal by
Thanksgiving break with the momentum
we have going right now. Thank you in
advance for your commitment; it provides
the critical foundation necessary for St.
Cecilia to effectively appeal to alumnae,
and foundations.
If you have any questions, please call
Debbie Lassiter, Director of Development
at 383-3230, ext. 524. Meanwhile, watch
for progress updates here in the parent
e-newsletter.
Jingle Bell Ball Winter
Formal set for Dec. 5
Page 2
Exam schedule set for fall
2008 semester
Fall Semester Exams will be
Tuesday, Dec.16 through Friday,
Dec. 19. Click here to view the
exam schedule. Two exams are
given each day: the first exam
begins at 8:30 a.m. and the
second exam begins at 11 a.m.
Students must be in uniform for
their exams. They may
leave school when they finish
their last exam each day.
Above Monica Weisman works on her
chalk art piece.
Art Club celebrates
“El Dia de los Muertos”
at Cheekwood
Catie Brown, Sirena Martin,
Abby Morrison, Alwyn
Mothershed, and Monica
Weisman spent a recent
morning creating a
“tapette” (meaning “carpet” in
Spanish) with sidewalk chalk
inside of an 8’X10’ parking
space at Cheekwood. The SCA
Art Club received “Most
Original Design” during the
celebration. Other schools that
participated were Nashville
School of the Arts, Glencliff
High School and Harpeth Hall.
Winter Formal 2008, “Jingle Bell Ball,” will
take place on Dec. 5 from 8-11 p.m. The dance is
hosted by the senior class and all are invited to
attend. Tickets will be sold the week before the
dance. There will be a pre-dance discount on
tickets. The dance will take place in Alumnae
Hall and students are encouraged to attend, with or without a date. The
proper attire for the dance is semi-formal in dresses. Mrs. Amie Pike and
a student committee has spoken with all students, giving examples and
sources of appropriate and beautiful dance attire. If a student is not
dressed appropriately, she will not be allowed to enter the dance. If you
have any questions, please call Mrs. Pike at 298-4525.
2

St. Cecilia Day celebration Friday begins with balloon launch and announcement
There will be much to celebrate this Friday when SCA observes St. Cecilia’s feast day with a special announcement,
Mass, a fine arts assembly and a mother-daughter tea. The special announcement will be made prior to Mass at about
8:55 a.m. This announcement will involve a gathering of the entire student body as well as the faculty and staff. All
parents are welcome to come to hear the good news.
After the announcement, we will turn our attention to honoring St. Cecilia, our patron saint. With great charity, she
served the poor of Rome at a time when it was not only an unpopular thing to do, but also one of the signs of belonging
to an illegal sect known as the Christians. She continues to inspire leaders of the 21st century. For almost 150 years we
have celebrated this day. Mass will begin at 9 a.m. with a fine arts presentation and a tea to
follow. Join us for this celebration of good news, faith, the arts, and family.
the Principal’s Corner
St. Cecilia Day is a long-time SCA tradition
This week we approach our largest celebration of the year, our
patronal feast of St. Cecilia. Although it is properly placed on
Nov. 22, we will be celebrating it this Friday, Nov. 21. It is one of our
longest standing traditions at St. Cecilia. In our archives, we have
copies of letters written from a St. Cecilia student to a young confederate
soldier, R. F. Cotton, being held in a prison camp in Rockville,
IL. In one of her letters, the SCA girl mentioned that she must end the
letter for she needed to go to practice for the St. Cecilia program being held the next day.
The letter was dated Nov. 21, 1863.
This Friday, we continue the tradition of celebrating St. Cecilia Day for almost 150
years. It is important to stop and remind ourselves why St. Cecilia was chosen as our patroness.
In the annals of our school, Mother Francis Walsh, one of our four foundresses,
gave the following commentary on our name choice:
“It was not without forethought that the young Academy was called St.
Cecilia….Throughout the Christian world under the patronage of Cecilia, Roman
Martyr and Virgin Saint, heavenly music ascends to the throne of the Most
High” (p.10)
We celebrate our tradition not only of the arts, but also of faith and family. We begin the
morning at 9 with Bishop Choby celebrating Mass with us. This will be followed by a
fine arts program performed by our students, celebrating beauty in music, dance, drama,
song, and the visual arts. This is followed by a Mother/Daughter Tea, in which your
daughter will have the opportunity to host you as a guest within the school community.
We have been celebrating this day longer than any other school in Nashville has been in
existence. As our largest celebration of the year, I encourage you to take a few hours
and come join us. Your daughter and we look forward to having you here.
Mother Francis Walsh,
One of four SCA foundresses
Sister Mary Thomas, O.P.
Principal
3