School news: Academic competitions, a cultural day and learning about baptism

 
Compiled by Elizabeth Lowe

elowe@catholicreview.org

Isabelle Simmons, a seventh-grader at School of the Incarnation in Gambrills, won the 26th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee Feb. 22. (Courtesy School of the Incarnation)
 

Students from Mother Seton School, School of the Incarnation to participate in National Spelling Bee
Isabelle Simmons, a seventh-grader at School of the Incarnation in Gambrills, and Stephen Hochschild, an eighth-grader at Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, will compete in the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Stephen Hochschild, an eighth-grader at Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, won the Frederick County Spelling Bee March 16. (Courtesy Mother Seton School)

Simmons won the 26th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee Feb. 22 and Hochschild won the Frederick County Spelling Bee March 16.
The E.W. Scripps Company administers the National Spelling Bee.
 

Brendan Kelly, an eighth-grader at St. John Regional Catholic School, represented the Frederick school in the Maryland state finals for the National Geography Bee. (Courtesy St. John Regional Catholic School)
St. John Regional Catholic School student participated in National Geography Bee state finals
Brendan Kelly, an eighth-grader at St. John Regional Catholic School, represented the Frederick school in the Maryland state finals for the National Geography Bee April 4 at Baltimore Community College in Catonsville.
The competition, sponsored by National Geographic, hosts the top 100 students who scored the highest on the state geography test.   
Brendan received 11th place.
Calvert Hall’s It’s Academic team finishes first in Catholic League competition
Calvert Hall’s It’s Academic team finished in first place with a 9-1 record in the Catholic League competition, defeating nine other area Catholic schools that competed in 10 matches throughout the year, according to the Towson school.   
The team is moderated by Richard Brown and includes the following members:
seniors Ben Bissett, Calum Briggs, Andrew Dobson and Phil Swanson; sophomores Chip Butler, Michael Ehart, Graham Schaffer and Michael Trisch; and freshmen Sam Cassell, Palmer Fabian, Chris Miller, Costa Swanson and Sam Swauger.
The team competes on the Baltimore quiz show It’s Academic, which airs on WJZ on Saturdays. The team is competes in the Baltimore Academic league, which concluded April 10. 
Calvert Hall is one of eight schools in Baltimore County that competes in the league, according to the school.
 

St. Casimir School third-grade teacher Melissa Colflesh with students (from left) Elizabeth Samotyj, Sriya Mukund, Rocco Greco and Morgan Mathena as the Canton school celebrated a Cultural Day April 3. (Courtesy St. Casimir School)

St. Casimir School celebrates Cultural Day
St. Casimir School celebrated a Cultural Day April 3, which taught students about countries and cultures from around the globe, according to the Canton school.
The day began with the Parade of Nations, inspired by the Olympics, with students holding banners, waving flags representing their countries, ringing bells and greeting visitors, according to the school. Following the parade, students in pre-kindergarten classes with 3-year-olds through seventh grade took their passports and visited classrooms, participating in activities that represented ancient Greece, Bahamas, Italy, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Poland, Spain, England, Scotland and China.
In ancient Greece, students learned about water clocks and in Japan they painted cherry blossoms and ate seaweed, according to the school. In England students experienced an English tea with scones and in the Bahamas they listened to steel drum music and made a souvenir of the country’s flag. There was dancing in Ireland, spaghetti and meatballs in Italy and bagpipes in Scotland.
As students visited each classroom they were escorted by eighth grade United Nations Ambassadors. Eighth-graders were assigned a country and helped serve food and stamp passports, according to the school. 

Deacon Timothy D. Maloney, director of religious education at St. Joseph in Fullerton, teaches first-grade students about baptism. (Courtesy St. Joseph School)
 
Students at St. Joseph School, Fullerton learn about the sacrament of baptism
First-grade students at St. Joseph School in Fullerton recently studied the sacrament of baptism in their religion class. 
Deacon Timothy D. Maloney, director of religious education at St. Joseph, visited the students and performed a pretend baptism, explaining each step, according to the school. 
Students Blake Hurdle and Michele Petrosino were the pretend parents and Joseph Cruse held up the garment presented to the baby and parents during the service to symbolizes they are followers of Jesus, according to the school.
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