Awards Day Adapts to Student and Faculty Concerns

By Maggie Kissinger

  “What I know is a lot of questions,” says Sister Nancy. The questions concern ‘Awards Day’, the end of the year liturgy followed by an awards ceremony. On January 21 a committee of faculty and administration consisting of Sister Nancy, Mrs. Koch, Ms. Mitchell, Ms. Rost, and Ms. Antons met to discuss changes to a Mercy tradition. ‘Awards Day’ has been a unique Mercy tradition for many years.

   The first meeting consisted of the committee throwing out questions about the day and how to effectively change it. The recurrent comment, ‘it’s a long day’ started the committee thinking about splitting up the different parts of Awards Day.

   Awards Day has typically been the second or third Friday in May. It consists of the liturgy, commissioning for those going on summer service trips, May Crowning, academic awards, awards presented by those outside of Mercy, service and leadership awards, special senior awards, senior scholarship slideshow, the candle ceremony and a picnic lunch. The committee notes the importance of all these parts and all of these parts will occur during school days for the whole school. “We definitely want something during the day,” says Sister Nancy. However, the parts may happen on different days.

   “We don’t have to have the awards and the mass on the same day. We used to have them separately. We could have May Crowning on May 1, or plan it for any day in May that it doesn’t rain so we can have it outside.” Seperating the different parts of Awards Day, means we’ll have classes before or after the ceremony each day.

   The committee is still thinking about how many days to have the different parts of Awards Day. Right now, two days seems most likely. A date is not set, but it has been decided that the Awards Day will take place sometime in the third or fourth week of May.

   Sister Nancy says the committee has decided that everyone part of Awards Day will be an all-school event, “We will have an audience to see all of these awards. We know we want all the classes to see the awards.” About the senior slideshow, Sister Nancy says, “We can’t lose the younger students to see that. It’s not an only senior thing.”

   One of the things that make Awards Day so long is the number of awards presented. The decision on whether to present every award or cut some of them is still under discussion. Time is an important issue.

   “We don’t have to do all the awards, but how do we pick?” says Sister Nancy. The award that gets cut could be someone’s only award. “Gosh, it matters. The Honor Roll takes twenty minutes, but it might be the only award a person gets.”

   Another concern of the students is the picnic lunch and dressing up. Typically, ‘Awards Day’ is a dress-up day for students but most students won’t want to dress up for multiple days. The committee members have discussed making only one of the days a dress-up day but haven’t decided on which day. The picnic lunch will also be only one day, but which day is still to be determined.

Gold Medalists Reveal Off Season Training Tips

By Kelly O'Brien

    The Olympics have showcased some of the world's greatest athletic performances. The athletes' motivation in the off season is a crucial component to winning gold. Here are some of the physically grueling training schedules of some of the gold medalist Olympians representing the United States in 2010. 

Shaun White (snowboarding): White’s score of a 48.4 in this season’s Winter Olympics earned him a prestigious gold medal, but his perfected moves took hours upon on hours of training. His sponsors, such as Red Bull, built a secluded half pipe located in the Colorado Mountains. There White spent day after day, creating new tricks and perfecting old routines. However, training’s not all work for White: when he’s not hitting the slopes, he skateboards, incorporating both training and leisure at once.

   Lindsey Vonn(Alpine skiing): Vonn stays in incredible shape with the help of two personal trainers who moderate her diet and exercise year round. Her daily work outs consist of three hours of cardio (usually biking), plus core exercises using medicine balls, free weights, and hurdles. Vonn also commits to a six week training session in Austria, where her personal trainers have her bike through the Alps.

   Hannah Kearney (freestyle skiing): Kearney begins everyday with a 7 a.m. workout including a strenuous ab workout, jumping on a trampoline for an hour, and then heads to a pool with skis on her feet for more jump practice. Afterward, she switches to a dry regimen, in which she mixes strength sessions with weights and running. During the winter competition season, Kearney trains for two hours on the courses for her upcoming races. She unwinds at the end of every day with an ice bath to relieve her muscles.

   Evan Lysacek (figure skating): Along with a disciplined diet of protein and lots of vegetables, Lysacek heavily incorporates dance and yoga (on DVDs at his house) into his training regimen. He also meets with a professional ballerina and practices ballet to better his movement while on the ice. As it gets closer to competition time, Lysacek spends four to six hours straight on ice skating alone. He ends by practicing his routine forward and backwards, twice a day.

   Shani Davis (speed skating): Davis trains by competing in races against other skaters in the off season, compared to racing against a clock in the Olympics. He prepares for the Olympics by running countless amounts of stairs, lifting weights, and running. After every workout, Davis spends an hour journaling and recording any progress he made or any flaws he can perfect.  

Check out this link for Olympic results and statistics! 

Image Courtesy of Google Images

 

Mercy's Play Springs into Action

By Sydney Murray

          “Oh, well, I’m looking forward to everything. This play is very intriguing, and getting into character should be really fun. The Irish dialect will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it, and I really cannot wait to see the African and Irish dancing. That will add a great dimension to the plot.” Stacey Kurzhals ’10 is enthusiastically awaiting the debut of Mercy’s spring play, Dancing at Lughnasa.

            Dancing at Lughnasa tells the story the Mundy family. It takes place in 1936 in the small town of Ballybeg in Donegal, Ireland. In the summer of 1936, the family is struggling to make ends meet. The story is a memory play in which the narrator tells the story of his childhood with his four aunts, his mom, and his uncle. He is looking back on the summer when he was seven years old. That summer was the last that he and his family were together and happy.

            Many of the seniors in the play have been  involved with theatre for many years. “I have been involved in theatre for about seven years,” says Maggie Kissinger ‘10. “I performed in my first musical when I was eleven for a dance studio and continued there up until high school. I have been involved in Mercy Theatre since freshmen year, either on crews, or in the shows. This is my fifth production that I am performing in.”

Katie Mootz ‘10 has been involved both on the stage, and off. “I have been involved since freshman year, mostly tech crew that year, though. I was always on crew for musicals. I was on running crew for three years, and then stage manager this year. I've been in Miracle Worker, Peter Pan, and now, Dancing at Lughnasa. And, of course, Freshman One Acts and Sophomore Show.”

            Some seniors seemed to be quite surprised to get a role. “I was very surprised to get a sister,” says Julia Kramer ‘10. “Auditions this year were very competitive and I saw a lot of really amazing actors in my audition and at call backs. My initial reaction was just being stunned. It took a second when I saw my name, for it to actually click, and then I may have blacked out a little because I don't remember much else.”

Kristen Gallagher ‘10 says, “I was dreaming, wishing, praying, dying to get a role. I wanted it really bad, so when I found out that I was cast, I was just thinking, ‘Oh my goodness , ooooooh my goodness.’ I had finally done it. I was just really happy.”

Many seniors in this year’s production are greatly looking forward to the play, but are also sad that it will be their last Mercy production. Nicole Woelfel ’10 says, “I’m sad, but hopefully it will be a great experience!”

Maria Ricke ’10, agrees. “It's depressing to think about that. I am going to miss everyone dearly. I will definitely be back to see the shows next year, though!”

 

Mundy Sisters (Stacey K. '10, Maggie K. '10, Holly R. '12, Kristen G. '10, and Julia K. '10) 

Mercy Mock Trial Takes the Stand

By Maggie Kissinger
Objection! Mock Trial defends high school blogger
Mother of Mercy’s Mock Trial team is preparing for another hopeful season, with five of last year’s Regional winner and State qualifying team returning this year including Captains Mallory Workman and Camille Chiappone, along with Ali Stevens, Mary Burger and Elizabeth Bley.
This year’s case is about a high school senior, Alex Leslie, expressing her strong opinion against her teacher and the class in her personal blog and whether the school has the right to suspend her or if that violates the First Amendment.
The team starts in November. “We start out by reading the case and understanding the legal issue and the varying viewpoints. Once all our roles are given, the real work starts. For me, that entails writing opening statements that lay out the case and explaining why the school board isn’t violating the constitutional rights,” explains Camille Chiappone.
The simulation also includes the opposing side. “I am representing Alex and have to prove that her 1st Amendment rights were violated,” Mallory Workman explains.
The work pays off. “Going to state last year was a great experience,” says Workman. Both captains are hopeful for an equally successful season this year. “We have a lot of new team members, so it is a learning experience for us all, but I know that we can do it!” says Workman.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize that we only have one night at districts to show what we’ve got. All our scrimmages and practices are for that one night, so to make it to state, and farther onto nationals, would be an awesome accomplishment,” says Camille.
With a serious task of arguing for and against legal rights, the team still has a lot of fun with the program. “Mock Trial is a fun intellectual game. Your brain is in full throttle during a trial,” says Camille.
The thrill of thinking on your feet, and especially yelling, “Objection!” are some of best parts of Mock Trial for the team. Mallory explains that “It’s such a rush but its so much fun!”

Procrastination

By Sydney Murray 

   “In general, anything causes me to procrastinate: chores, working out, cleaning my room,” says Karina Kurzhals ’10. Procrastination haunts everyone. It seems no matter how hard we try not to put work off, it never gets done early.
   “I procrastinate because I am like everyone else,” says Julie Murray ’10. “I don’t want to write papers, essays, study, do homework. It’s not something the average person finds joy in when they could be playing a sport, going out, being with family and friends.”
As a testimony to procrastination, I am currently writing this article at 5 p.m. the Sunday before Christmas Break is over. I can never just get straight through a project without wandering off to do something else.
Psychology Today says, “Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don’t take a lot of commitment on their part.”
   Camille Chiappone ’10 says, “Most of our work deals with or requires the use of a computer. Whenever I am on the computer I have my I-tunes on and I am on Facebook. So, naturally, I might start my homework, but I’ll have to take a ‘break’ and check Facebook.”
   Even more dreadful, as senior year rolls around, senioritis starts to kick in, or does it? Some speculate about whether there really is more procrastination during senior year.
   “Yes, I guess it’s possible,” says Karina Kurzhals. “But I think it seems like I’m procrastinating more because of the work load. I believe that senior year has by far been my busiest year homework-wise. A bigger work load, in addition to college applications, scholarships, etc. means more procrastination in general. So no, I don’t think [senioritis] is real; it just seems like you’re procrastinating more because you have more to do. If you looked at your work load freshmen year along with the amount you procrastinated, and then looked at your senior year work load and the amount you procrastinated, I’m hypothesizing that the correlation would be nearly identical.”
   Camille Chiappone agrees, saying, “I think it is more of a preconceived notion and state of mind. People might say they are suffering from “senioritis” but it is really just us being lazy. I’m not calling people lazy, I blame senioritis all the time, but I think it has become a fun little excuse we can all use. This year I haven’t really procrastinated more than any other, I just think we’re all tired of the same stuff for the past four years and we’re ready to change it up.”
   Procrastination can even come down to just day dreaming while reading a novel. It’s hard to avoid. As long as the work gets done on time, there’s really nothing wrong with procrastinating. Procrastination can be a hindrance, but it shouldn’t let anyone get too stressed because life wouldn’t be worth it if it was all about work.

Tips for Procrastinatiors  

Image Courtesy of http://www.exaclair.com