Spring Edition

March 2016

Visit http://stdominicsunspot.weebly.com/ to enjoy the interactive version of the Sunspot!

In this issue.
2K News
SK Nursery Rhymes
First Grade Presidents
St. Dominic Mass
LS Performing Arts presents The
Jungle Book
Geography Bee Winners
Spelling Bee Winners
Perennial Math Competition

Our Terrific Twos!

Our 2K students have grown so much! Most have
successfully transitioned away from diapers, pacifiers
and sippy cups. They recognize their own names as
well as the names of others! Riding on the bikes,
digging in the sandbox and swinging on the swings are
the outside favorites! Inside favorites include dress-up,
dolls and coloring with markers!

Energy of Fuels
Art Classes Visit Chucalissa
Vocabulary.com Champions
Second Quarter Honor Rolls
And much more

Contributors:
Heather McGuire, LS Performing Arts
Teacher
Lynn Lofton, LS Art
Chuck Henry, JH Science
Melissa Esposito, SDS Grade 1
Alison Garibaldi, SDS Grade 3
Kelly Mungle, Sr. Kindergarten
Megan Schubert, 2K Teacher
Linda Ricci, 8th Grade Language Arts
Teacher
Thalina Marques, LS Music Teacher
Jennie Butler, SDS Grade 5
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Spring Edition

March 2016

Sr. K Nursery Rhymes

The Senior Kindergarten classes provided us with some wonderful entertainment as they read and
performed nursery rhymes in the Hook Theatre.

Click Here to see some adorable pictures!

1st Grade Presidents
by Melissa Esposito, SDS grade 1 teacher
The first grade class has been researching the U.S. Presidents. Each student has been assigned a
dierent President to learn about.Weve used various research tools to find all the interesting facts
about the leaders who have built our country into what it is today. We even created an informational
flip book. The students got to dress up and present their presidential projects to the class. They did
such a great job! Take a look at our slideshow.

Click Here to watch our slideshow!

Spring Edition

March 2016

St. Dominic Graduates Return to Honor Mr. Murphy

On March 17, 2016 we celebrated the St. Dominic Father-Son Mass in the Davis Gym, followed by a
hot chocolate and donut reception in the halls of St. Dominic. This year, our honored guest was our
own Mr. Murphy, who will be leaving us after this year to become headmaster at The Bodine School.
This was a very special celebration to honor a very special man who has meant the world to St.
Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School for the past 34 years. Among the special visitors at the
celebration were 70 SDS Alumni from CBHS who came back to honor their former Dean.

Lower School Performing Arts

This spring the SAA-SDS Lower School Performing Arts program will present Disney's The Jungle
Book. The cast has been in rehearsals since January and has been working hard by learning music,
memorizing dance moves, and remembering to smile.
It has been such a joy to watch the kids blossom at each rehearsal. Not only are they gaining
confidence, they are learning to tell stories through facial expressions and movement. The
experience is teaching the kids that they have the ability to make a story jump o the page and
come to life!
The performance will take place on April 8th at 6:30 p.m. in the Hook Theatre! Please come!

Lively Murals Brighten Our Halls

Throughout this publication you will see samplings of the beautiful artwork on the walls of the ECC
and Kindergarten hallways. The images were painted freehand by talented muralist Elaine Pacello.
Her thoughtful renderings bring to life Gods creations and help to make our school a serene and
happy place for our children.

Spring Edition

March 2016

Academics Shine at SDS

National Geographic Geo Bee!
Congratulations to St. Dominic 8th grader
RidleyBrowder, whohas qualified to
compete in the state level competition of the
National Geographic Geography Bee! The
TennesseeState Geography Bee will be held
on Friday, April 1, 2016. Eligible state Bee
competitors must be in grades 4 through 8,
and must have participated in and won the
competition at the school level that involved
at least six students. Ridley won first place in
our School Bee on January 18 against a field of
tough competitors from SDS.
Geography Bee Runner-up Joe Espinal (SDS 8), and
1st Place Winner, Ridley Browder (SDS 8)

One champion from each state and territory

will advance to the national competition,
which will be held May 22-25 at the National
Geographic Society headquarters in
Washington, D.C.
We would like to thank our teachers and
s t u d e n t s f o r s u p p o r t i n g t h e Na t i o n a l
Geographic Bee, and best wishes for Ridleys
success in the Tennessee State Bee!

Students who competed in the Bee were (left to

right): Jacob Clark, Patrick Brackett, Houston
McIngvale, Hudson Shoaf, Aidan Henderson, Tim
Bula, Mason Graves, Wesley Mims, Joe Espinal
(runner-up), Ridley Browder (1st place).

Spring Edition

March 2016

St. Dominic School Spelling Bee

Congratulations to St. Dominic 5th grader, Walker Henderson for his repeat win in the St. Dominic
School Spelling Bee! Walker has won the Bee for two straight years! What an accomplishment!
Walker advanced to the Memphis-Shelby County Spelling Bee, which was held on February 6.

St. Dominic School Spelling Bee participants (left to right): Ben Wright,
Hunter Tice, Walker Henderson (1st place winner), Eddie Perez, Thomas
Miller, Cade Brigance, Matt Ireland, Peter Bowen (runner-up), Jacob Ross,
Simon Shah.

Pictured above are 1st Place

Winner Walker Henderson
(SDS5), and Runner-up Peter
Bowen, (SDS 7).

SDS 3rd Grade Creates Virtual Campus Tour

The boys in Mrs. Garibaldis third grade class created a virtual tour for Grandparents Day. The boys
researched dierent areas on campus and presented the information in an Adobe Voice. They turned their
voices into virtual reality with Aurasma. Click on the link below to see some of their creations!

Click Here for Our Virtual Tours!

Spring Edition

March 2016

Perennial Math Competition

by Alison Garibaldi, SDS Grade 3
The St. Dominic Suns were shining at the first annual Perennial Math Competition at Christian
Brothers University on February 13th. St. Dominic sent a team of 5 students from each grade level.
They competed in individual and group divisions. In the individual division for St. Dominic, Gabe
Ungab was a first place winner in the 3rd grade division, DR Nunn placed second for 6th grade, and
Wesley Mims came in third place for 7th grade. In the group divisions, 6th grade came in first place and
7th grade come in second place! Congratulations to these boys for a fine show of academic excellence!

Gabe Ungab

DR Nunn

Jake Hellen, Cade Brigance, DR

Nunn, Harper Poppenheimer,
Tim Bula

Cole Mallery, Sam

Aaron

8th Grade Science- Energy of Fuels Lab

by Chuck Henry, 8th Grade Science
As part of organic chemistry, students are learning how energy can be obtained from burning carbon
compounds. This experiment compares the amounts of heat energy produced by burning four
alcohols.The alcohols used were methanol (one carbon), ethanol (two carbons), propanol (three carbons)
and finally butanol (four carbons long). First, the students measured the starting temperature of 100 mL
of water. Next, they recorded the mass of the alcohol burner. Then they lit the alcohol lamp and heated
water for two minutes. After the elapsed time, they recorded the ending temperature and then the mass
of alcohol used. After testing and recording the data for the four alcohols, students needed to come
some conclusion to see if there was any correlation to carbon length and energy used. In other words,
which alcohol produced the most heat energy using the least amount of alcohol.

Spring Edition

March 2016

Art Classes to Visit Chucalissa

By Lynn Lofton, Lower School Art Teacher
During Art classes, the boys have been studying dierent aspects of
Native American culture in the classroom. We have explored
dierent types of buildings used by the various tribes. The 1st and
2nd grades built teepees to represent the Plains Indians. The 3rd
grade drew totem poles that represent themselves as individuals. The
4th graders made a mandala to represent the universe and decorated
it with symbols used by many dierent tribes. The 5th grade boys
built Pueblo Indian Storytellers out of clay. All of these wonderful
projects will become relevant to the boys when we culminate the
lessons with an exciting field trip to the Chucalissa Indian Village!
On April 1, 2016, the boys in 1st through 6th grades at St. Dominic
School will visit this little known treasure in our city. Chucalissa Indian Village, a U.S. national
historic landmark, is a Mississippian culture site that dates back to the 15th century. On the field trip,
the boys will learn about Native American sports and hunting. They will also do a beading craft
project and visit an archaeology lab. For our entertainment, the sta at Chucalissa has put together a
scavenger hunt. Lunch and activities in the afternoon will take place at the pavilion at T.O. Fuller
State Park next door. This adventure will prove to be both meaningful and fun for all.

We are the Champions!

By Linda Ricci, JH Language Arts Teacher
SAA-SDS topped the Tennessee Vocabulary.com leaderboard for the month of February! Students
in grades 4-8 mastered more than 12,000 words during February alone (a more than 5,000-word
increase over the prior month). Vocabulary.com uses games to simulate the types of vocabulary
questions students see on standardized tests. The program allows students to master word meanings
by learning definitions, synonyms, antonyms, spelling, and use of the words in context by playing
several 5-minute practice rounds. After the practice rounds, students can take The Challenge,
which is tailored to the students individual ability level, thereby helping kids grow their own
vocabulary. Teachers can also create and assign lists based on classroom literature, current events, and
cross curricular studies. Teachers can track their students progress, allowing them to tailor
instruction.
Each month, Vocabulary.com awards a nifty banner to the school that masters the most words
for that month. In addition, the big championshipthe Vocabulary Bowlruns through April.
During February, we advanced 14 spots on the national leaderboard to #37! Obviously the banner is
not the main goal. We want our students to be better readers, writers, and speakers while having fun
in the process. (But winning the banner would be nice!)
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Spring Edition

March 2016

See page 9 for some great pictures of the boys receiving their
honors at our assembly on March 16!
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Spring Edition

March 2016

St. Dominic Honor Roll Assembly, March 16, 2016

Click Here to watch the Youtube slideshow!

Our first grade class recently provided joyful

music for our weekly St. Dominic Prayer
Assembly.

Click Here to View the Youtube

PK-8 Summer Programs at SAA-SDS!

Click Here to Visit the Summer Programs Website!

www.saasdssummerprograms.com