by Kaitlyn Leon '24 One of Fontbonne Hall’s newest clubs is the Meditation Club with Mrs. Proseus as the moderator. Melania Maratea ‘23 is the student leader who is helping put together this club. “The point of the club is to learn how to strengthen your well-being, learn how to de-stress yourself, and hopefully become happier,” Melania stated.
This past year has been tough on a lot of the students, and it is very stressful and hard to make new adjustments with coming back to school, taking tests, quizzes, and having so much homework every day. You should take a step back and just breathe, and momentarily forget about all your worries and stress that you have. Melania says, “I made this club not only for the community, but to give myself a time as well where I can sit peacefully and clear my mind for about 20 minutes.” She wants everyone to get their minds off of negative energy and put all positive thoughts and energy into your life for that period. Melania also said, “I think it is a good skill to learn how to be calm and forget about life for a while. Ms. Proseus and I want to teach people about mindfulness and how to meditate because it is very beneficial in many ways such as boosting motivation, helping you think more clearly, and many other things.” It’s always a good idea for school and stress relief to focus on your mental health rather than all the difficulties in your lives. This club should bring a lot of peace to girls and make them feel more open and spiritual. Alex Somerville ‘24 shared her opinion on the new club, “I like that idea. I think that with school comes a lot of stress and sometimes it’s unhealthy. And I think students need to take a break sometimes and relax”. Mrs. Proseus also shared, “I am certified in the learning to breathe program. I just want girls to be in the moment and not think about what they have or what needs to be done. They need to just breathe and relax”. I am so glad this new club was made because this will help the students deal with their mental health and have a chance to not be stressed or think about anything else just be in the present.
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by Olivia Mola '23 About a month ago, I wrote an article discussing the start of a brand new club at Fontbonne Hall called the Nutritional Literacy Club. The newly-formed club, started by a group of juniors and moderated by Mrs. Brussi, was a massive hit among the students at Fontbonne’s annual club fair. Almost 100 girls ranging from all four years joined in the hopes of learning more about nutrition and the way it shapes their bodies.
For the first event, Mrs. Brussi invited registered dietician and Fontbonne alumna Gabriella Coluccio to come and introduce us to the world of nutrition. Mrs. Brussi thought that learning the basic ideas of nutrition through someone who knows everything about it would be greatly beneficial. Due to the size of the club, this meeting was held in the cafeteria, where Coluccio had a full house as her audience. With the help of a very educational powerpoint, Coluccio touched on eight topics that she felt were most important in the world of nutrition. These topics include: the importance of registered dietitians, qualifications of registered dietitians, specializations within nutrition, the three major food groups, health risks, false information, reading a label and lastly how to choose healthy options. She explained to us that nutrition is very much a form of preventative health, and that RDs aid others in this health journey. We learned that nutrition is not only necessary in dieting but also in fields such as geriatrics, oncology, renal health and many more. To maintain healthy eating habits, we learned that we must include all nutritional groups in our diet which are fruits, grains, vegetables, proteins and dairy. Junior Allie Hinz, an attendee of the event, shared her opinion, “I feel as though the presentation was really well done and explained in a way that teenagers would be able to easily understand. She talked but also allowed us to ask questions and be involved, which I thought was really nice.” Being that I also attended the meeting, I have all of the same feelings Allie does. In the eyes of Mrs. Brussi and the entirety of the club, the first meeting was a complete success. Many girls feel that they have learned so much about something that can be a bit tricky to understand, and now they cannot wait for what's to come with the Nutritional Literacy Club. by Courtney Murtagh '24 The Sisters of Saint Joseph, Brentwood have generously granted Fontbonne with a donation of $500,000. This generous donation will help with scholarships, financial aid, as well as developing and modernizing Fontbonne’s several science labs.
The STEM lab, physics lab, and the biology/chemistry lab have already been designed, and the construction is planned to take place in the summer of 2022. The school has worked with CGS architecture to design each lab. Updating these labs is the first step to modernize the Ita Ford building as a whole. Students and teachers alike are eager to see the transformation. Fontbonne students are excited, and some think that the new and more updated labs will benefit there learning experience. Sophomore Gabby Reddan says, “I like the design of the new labs, and they also look very advanced.” The images of the newly designed labs have made students very excited to see the new labs. Along with the excitement, they are also grateful for the donation. Lily Keane ‘24 offers her opinion, “I think that it is nice that people are investing and donating money into our education and improving our learning experience.” Modernized classrooms are beneficial to student learning. According to research, educators say that some of the benefits of a modern learning environment include more student motivation, increased student engagement, and new interactive ways of learning. Kareena Joseph 23' Hey bonnies, I am a proud member of the e-sports club that is based on gaming and competing against other schools in a game called Rocket League. If you do not know what Rocket League is, it is basically a game where you place soccer with race cars. This game was released on July 7th, 2015 by Psyconix and it is available for free on several platforms such as the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, macOS, Microsoft Windows, and ect. In Rocket League you are able to compete with your friends in multiplayer mode or you can play on your own. If you are wondering what we do in this club, we meet a few times after school in the computer room to prepare for matches that take place every Thursday at 4 pm. During our matches, we have three players on each team and we sometimes swap people out to make sure that everyone gets a chance to play. The teams that we have are white, grey, and Blue. However, our spring season just ended so there will not be any matches until further notice, but we still have some practices after school. At our practices, Mr. Somma teaches us some basic tricks, like flying, blocks, flips, and ect. If you are interested in joining the club or have any questions you can speak with Ms. Somma, Mr. Surdyka, Mr. Romeo who are the moderators of the club.
Kaityln Leon '24 It's finally autumn. The leaves are changing colors, the weather is becoming cold, and you want to feel warmer and cozier. Fontbonne could set up a pumpkin spice station for the fall season, having lattes, apple and pumpkin pies, apple cider doughnuts, pumpkin bread, and other delights.
Fall begins on September 22nd and finishes on December 21st; throughout this period, Fontbonne should provide fall-inspired dishes and beverages for breakfast and lunch. I interviewed a few of the girls to see how they felt about having additional fall-themed items. "I think it would be really nice, I love fall, and pumpkin spice lattes, it would be exciting and really good to have for Fontbonne" Ella Bernhardt '23 said. Another student I spoke with, Evi Delengos '24, stated, "I believe it would be interesting and different and bring more joy to the girls at school, I think it is a really unique idea." Fontbonne's food staff has done an outstanding job preparing meals for the long lunch lines. I believe that many of the girls would love the fall food and drink station suggestion. Everyone enjoys the autumn vibe and the fall holidays, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. Fontbonne classrooms should give out a bunch of candy to the girls on the 29th before Halloween; it would be like trick or treating in each classroom, and it would make the students happy since it would bring back childhood memories of going trick or treating and going to each door getting candy. They could cook Thanksgiving food like corn muffins, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and ham, and it will be like a Thanksgiving meal with all of your school friends. During breakfast at school, students can have pumpkin beverages such as pumpkin lattes, pumpkin flavored iced coffee, pumpkin eggnog, or any other drink that will make them feel warm and cozy. Olivia Mola '23 With our previous return to school this fall, Fontbonne Hall has done a variety of things to amp up normality this school year - one of those things being the introduction of many new clubs to the student body such as the Nutritional Literacy Club moderated by Mrs. Brussi.
Last May, current juniors Gianna Repole, Sofia Giudice and Alesia Azinedari were in Italian class when they first came up with the idea of a “food club.” They were speaking with Mrs Brussi, head of the World Language Department, when they realized that Fontbonne was one of the only schools without this type of engaging club. Gianna, Sofia and Alesia quickly came together in order to take matters into their own hands. They asked Mrs. Brussi to moderate this new club and to no surprise she said yes. The four of them then began the process of applying to create this new club but with a modern nutritional twist. After many emails and meetings between former Assistant Principal Mrs. W and Mrs Brussi the process was moving along. The girls felt like waiting for the news on their approval felt like they were waiting an eternity. About a month later they finally got the good news that their idea would become a reality. The club soon took flight at the beginning of this school year, as students of all ages were able to sign up or learn about the club at our annual club fair. It is an opportunity unlike anything ever seen before at Fontbonne, so many girls were eager to try something new. The first event planned is going to be an open forum on the basics of nutrition led by a licensed nutritionist. “Over the course of this year we will be holding eight events, three of which will be based on the art of baking,” Sofia said. Each occasion will be different from the last in terms of regional cuisine options and nutritional options. Together Mrs. Brussi, Gianna, Sofia and Alesia continue to work together to come up with ways to educate students and faculty on what proper nutrition should be. “The term nutrition is such a loaded label that we don't want people to be afraid to learn more about it,” Brussi told me. They want this club to provide people with a sense of confidence that they themselves can make smart decisions about nutrition and its different components throughout their lives. Courtney Murtagh '24 Last year certain sports - like swimming, basketball, and volleyball - were unable to have a season due to the pandemic. Players who did play sports last year also see changes in the way things are currently happening.
In the previous soccer season, teammates were required to start the game with masks on and had to wear them on the benches. Masks were also required to be on the players at practice whether it was on the wrist or face. Fortunately this year, unlike last year, no players on the team have been required to be quarantined so far. Cheerleading this year is much more involved. Cheer camp last year was unable to be held however this year it was held in August. This year cheerleaders can cheer at football games. JV cheers for Xavier during the day while Varsity cheers for them at night. Last year the cheerleaders had no games to cheer for. Cheerleading was one of the toughest sports last year as the team was unable to be close to people which is necessary for cheerleading and stunts. Last year volleyball and basketball did have workouts but were unable to have an official season and games. At volleyball players are still required to wear masks as it takes place indoors. Although there is a lot of improvement looking at last year versus this year everyone hopes that soon everything will be back to normal. Lauren Esposito '24 Because many of us are student athletes, we all know how important sports are in our school. Fontbonne volleyball has been working long and hard to make sure we bring home wins.
After a long summer of sleeping in, it was time to get back to work! We started off the season in the last reach of summer. On September 7, 2021, Fontbonne’s JV and Varsity team went for a nice morning run on the beach in Rockaway. It was a very tiring and long morning but it was definitely a good way to get the season started. One tradition we do before every game is our “Pump it up cheer.” It gets our motivation, energy and excitement up. The whole team gets hyped and excited.The best part about playing home games is all the parents and students coming and cheering us on. Every time Fontbonne gets a point, the gym gets that much louder. Although home games are exciting, away games are fun too. We look forward to competing and making all the members of our Fontbonne community proud of our volleyball team. Emma Flohr '24 This year FH Soccer is in a rebuilding year. Instead of a JV team and a Varsity team, the coaches decided to move all players up to Varsity. Last year the entire team consisted of Seniors, and now that they have graduated, there has been a major decrease in the number of players.
Coach Paolo said “This is a rebuilding year, and next year we will be even better!” The coaches believe that next year the soccer team will do very well because there might be enough players to make a JV team. The team has had eight games but the coaches said they see results on how we are playing. One of the best games was against the Mary Louis Academy. The second time Fontbonne played them the final score was 1-0, and TMLA scored this point in the last five minutes. But there were many improvements seen in the soccer team. Many members' team spirit was raised and they grew as a team. Soccer player Gabby Reddan ‘24 said, “I am so sad the season is going terribly, but I have hope that the next couple games will be better.” This is the spirit of many people on the team. They are sad that the season is coming to an end, with the fear that they might not make it to the playoffs. The team has limited games left and is trying their hardest to get better every day The team is desperately trying to win a game with the help of the coaches. Some may ask if the rebuilding year was a mistake, or if it just makes the players grow as a team. Multiple sources say that they were sad about how they were losing, but are looking forward to next season and doing even better. Shannon Rose '24 Some of the bathroom stalls in Fontbonne Hall do not lock. I have heard from many people in my grade and other grades that when they go to the bathroom, the doors might open out of nowhere. This happened on multiple occasions to my friends and me.
For the bathroom stalls that do lock they stay closed unlike some others in the Fontbonne Hall buildings. People shouldn’t have to get walked in while going to the bathroom because everyone deserves their privacy. Kayla Leon ‘24 told me about her experience with this: “Yes, when I was in the bathroom one day, I remember using the bathroom and a student walking in on me. I felt so embarrassed. The next time I used the same exact bathroom I had to hold the door so that it wouldn’t open, which is so unsanitary” And one senior, Sara Dolan, told me, “I had to have my friend hold the door for me so it wouldn’t open.” I do not know the exact reason why this happens but I don’t believe it happened last year. This is something that many like me would like to see change soon. |