REFLECTION JOURNAL
To keep our Catholic faith top of mind, each week students are presented with a faith-based quote from a Catholic saint, Pope Francis, or from a part of the Mass. Upon prayerful contemplation, students reflect with a half page entry on what the quote means to them, how it can relate to their daily lives, and how it can be connected to the world at large. The quote of the week will appear on the home page and will then be transferred here for future reference if students are absent, missed a quote, or wish to discuss it further at home or at school. Each quote is worth 10 points. Reflection Journals are reviewed weekly and graded quarterly.
Quarter 1
August 14th - "A single act of love makes the soul return to life." -St. Maxilimian Kolbe
August 21st - "Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
August 28th - "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." -St. Augustine of Hippo
September 5th - "If we have no peace, it is becuase we have forgotten that we belong to each other." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
September 11th - No Reflection Journal quote becuase of Hurricane Irma.
September 18th - "Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about." -St. Jeanne de Chantal
September 25th - "God asks little, but He gives much." -St. John Chrysostom
October 2nd - "It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world." -St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Quarter 2
October 9th - "Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -St. Francis of Assisi
October 16th - "Let no rank puff up anyone; for faith and love are paramount - the greatest blessings in the world." -St. Ignatius of Antioch
October 23rd - "Kindness is the natural fruit of goodness of the heart." - St. Katherine Drexel
October 30th - "You need to hold fast two virtues: kindness toward your neighbor and humility toward God." -St. Padre Pio
November 6th - "Let us practice many acts of kindness towards and gentle charity toward those we like the least." -St. Francis de Sales
November 13th - "The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being." -St. John Paul II
November 20th - No Reflection Jounral quote becuase of Thanksgiving break.
November 27th - "Be humble, be simple, and bring joy to others." -St. Madeleine Sophie Barat
December 4th - "Everything is a reminder of the cross. We ourselves are made in the shape of a cross." -St. John Vianney
December 11th - "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
December 18th - "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
Quarter 3
January 8th - "The right to life is the first among human rights." -Pope Francis
January 15th - "Human life is sacred - all men must recognize that fact. From its very inception it reveals the creating hands of God." -Blessed Pope John XXIII
January 22nd - "It is not progressive to try and resolve problems by eliminating human life." -Pope Francis
January 29th - "The most deadly poison of our time is indifference." -St. Maximilian Kolbe
February 5th - "Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His mercy from us?" -St. Vincent de Paul
February 12th - "Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds and let them be done well." -St. Vincent Pallotti
February 19th - "In order to console a soul in it's suffering, point out to it all the good it can still do." -St. Padre Pio
February 26th - "Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved, and forgiven." -Pope Francis
March 5th - "We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary." -Pope Benedict XVI
Quarter 4
March 12th - "Do not allow the sad spectacle of human injustice to disturb your soul." -St. Padre Pio
March 19th - "Darkness can only be scattered by light. Hate can only be conquered by love." -St. John Paul II
March 26th - "Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander." -Elie Wiesel
April 2nd - No Reflection Journal quote because of Easter Break
April 9th - "Actions speak louder than words. Let your words teach and your actions speak." -St. Anthony of Padua
April 16th - "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." -Anne Frank
April 23rd - "Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation. It is not what we do but how much love we put into it." -St. Teresa of Calcutta
April 30th - "Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." -St. John Paul II
May 7th -"The future starts today, not tomorrow." -St. John Paul II
May 14th - "Anything done for another is done for oneself." -St. John Paul II
May 21st - "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." -St. John Paul II
TIMED WRITING CHALLENGES
Several times throughout the school year, students will be challenged with flexing their persuasive muscle through timed writing exercises. Prompts will be provided with topics and dilemmas on which students will take a side and present points to argue their reasoning. Using the techniques of constructive and organized writing, students will do their best to convince their audience that, not only is their opinion valid, but their position is the best option. Once the prompts are given, they will appear below this section for future discussion at home and at school.
8th Grade - Prompt #1
7th Grade - Prompt #1
FREE WRITING
Beginning with the 8th Grade in Quarter 2, students will be given a free-writing exercise on Fridays. This practice will help students verbalize thoughts they may have about a topic to which they can relate and express themselves. Below are the free writing prompts used.
October 20, 2017 - Write a poem or a journal entry about a number or numbers that have special meeting to you.
RESEARCH PAPER
In order to better understand the mechanics behind term papers, students will be assigned a research paper that will require multiple sources, an organized essay, parenthetical citations, and a complete bibliography using the rules of MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting. Exposure to this process provides students with an understanding of what is required in term or research papers in high school and college as well as demonstrates the importance of properly citing sources to avoid plagiarism. The full outline of requirements will appear here once the research paper has been assigned. The formatting guidelines can be found here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/24/.