This month, we interviewed via

e-mail former SMS student,

Sister Nicole Trahan, religion

teacher at Chaminade Julienne

High School in Dayton, Ohio and

National Vocations Director for

the Marianist Sisters. Sister

Trahan made temporary vows in

2008 but professed her perpet-

ual vows on August 3, 2012.

We asked her why she became

a sister and she replied that

she felt called to serve God’s

people and to a deeper life of

prayer. She explained that since

a sister is called to love all peo-

ple equally, it is important that

she has a support system like

her community. Her favorite

teachers at St. Mary were Mrs.

Crabtree, Sr. Sharon, Sr. Jose-

phina, Coach Anderson, Mrs.

Leyendecker, and Ms. Perry.

Sister Nicole’s class was really

small so they were all very

close. They actually had a 10

year reunion. In elementary,

once a week, the cafeteria

served all you can eat spa-

ghetti, which was her favorite

food. She said she played vol-

leyball and softball but she

wasn’t the best athlete (just ask

Coach Anderson). During soft-

ball, she was an outfielder but

got in trouble for picking flowers

(clover) to make jewelry. Sister

Nicole has a lot of great memo-

ries from St. Mary but her favor-

ite memories are from being on

the Math Team in middle

(Continued on page 4.)

Former Student– Marian Sister

NJHS Visits Nursing Homes On December 3rd, the NJHS

visited three nursing homes in

Orange: Pinehurst Nursing and

Rehab, The Meadows, and Or-

ange Villa. The Orange and

Vidor Rotary Clubs and Leader-

ship Southeast Texas Orange

Peel Team supplied the Na-

tional Junior Honor Society with

blankets, socks, bags, and tis-

sue paper. Then the NHJS put

the gifts together. They went

around the nursing homes and

gave the gifts to the people.

While there, they sang Christ-

mas carols and talked to the

residents. The NJHS received

this thank you note:

Students and Mrs. Riley,

It was so beautiful and gener-

ous for all of you to go to the

Nursing Homes bringing gifts.

The greatest gift you gave, was

your visit. Some of these people

are so lonely and some have no

family. They love the human

touch, a handshake, a simple

smile. You are very blessed to

have your special parents and

leaders like Mrs. Riley. They are

teaching you to reach out to the

needy. Pass it on!

Fondly,

Mr. and Mrs. Derald D. LeBlanc

(Nanna and Pee Paw)

The Mission of St. Mary Catholic School is to ensure learning for all students within the framework of Catholic Christian values by maintaining accreditation through the Texas Conference Education Department. The students, PreK 3 through 8th grade, are challenged to grow in a manner consistent with their needs, interest and abilities, preparing them to live in an ever-changing world as self-directed, caring, responsible citizens.

Upcoming Events January 7

•Boys Basketball

@ St. Anthony

January 8

•School Board Meeting

January 14

•St Mary Spelling Bee

Finals

•Boys Basketball @ home

vs All Saints

January 16

•Boys Basketball @ home

vs St Anne

January 17

•Student Council Dance

January 20

•NO SCHOOL-MLK HOLIDAY

•PTO Meeting

January 21

•Boys Basketball @ home

vs Community

January 23

•Boys Basketball @ Legacy

January 24/25

•Boys Basketball

Tournament @ St Anthony

January 27

•Invention Convention/

Science Fair

•Early Dismissal

January 28

•Rainbow Mass

•Boys Basketball

@ St. Catherine

January 29

•100th Day of School

•Boys Basketball

@ St. Anne

January 31

•Grandparents Day

•Parents Night Out

January 2014

Volume 2: Issue 1

The Swarm News Our News is the Buzz

NJHS sings Jingle Bells with the residents of

Orange Villa.

By: Elijah Vigil

8th Grade

Sister Nicole Trahan, former St Mary

student, is now a Marianist Sister.

By: Ian McHann/6th Grade

The Pre-K classes put on a

Thanksgiving play on Monday

November 25. In the play Pre-

K3 were the pilgrims, and Pre-

K4 were the Indians. At first the

Pre-K3 came on stage and they

were on boats, which is quite an

entrance. They started singing

Thanksgiving songs including a

part where they were trying to

catch a turkey for Thanksgiving.

The Pre K3 left and then Pre-K4

entered, they also sang Thanks-

giving songs and a song about

making pizza. The Pre-K

Thanksgiving play happens

every year around Thanksgiving.

We would like to thank Mrs.

Harmon and Mrs. Smith for

bringing this play to us every

year.

for Christmas and then the pub-

lic is invited to tour the house.

Admission is a toy or present for

the Salvation Army to distribute

to children in need for Christ-

mas. To get in, the eighth grad-

ers each paid their entry fee,

one present that was un-

wrapped, unopened and fun!

On Thursday, December 5,

2013, the eighth graders went

to a great and joyous event that

the Orange Service League

holds every year. That event is

known as the toy coffee. The toy

coffee is an event where a

house is chosen to represent

O.S.L. The house is decorated

After their tour, the eighth grade

had a lunch of pizza, cookies

and soda next to the water on

the boat dock terrace.

Pre-K Performs Thanksgiving Play

Students Attend Toy Coffee

Students pose with a sled full of presents.

Mary asked Diego to build a

chapel in her honor. When he

asked the bishop, Juan Diego’s

request needed proof. Again,

Mary appeared and told Juan to

pick the roses at the top of the

hill. He put the roses in his

tilma. When Juan Diego brought

back the roses, Mary organized

the roses. When he got to the

bishop, Juan Diego let his tilma

fall and an image of Mary was

on it. The tilma is still on display

in the cathedral in Tepayac.

Spanish Classes Make Tilmas

The Pre-K through third grade

students are studying Our Lady

of Guadalupe by making tilmas.

The feast day is December 12.

Mary appeared to St. Juan

Diego as an Aztec princess

(Juan was an Aztec Indian).

Pre-K performs their Thanksgiving Play.

Page 2 The Swarm News

First Grade models their tilmas.

Family Film Night Loads of Fun

On December 10, 2013 St.

Mary School held a family

movie night immediately follow-

ing the girls basketball game.

Everyone brought lawn chairs,

blankets, and their wallets for

the concession stand. In the

concession stand they sold

pickles, candy, popcorn, water,

and soda. The school played

Despicable Me 2. It’s about a

tall man dressed in black that

adopts three children: Margo,

Edith, and Agnes. He has one

and two eyed yellow minions

that create jams and jellies.

When the minions get turned

purple, they become evil and

indestructible all because of El

Moncho, an evil villain. In the

end Gru gets married to Lucy,

his partner in crime. Students watch Despicable Me 2.

By: Landon Acord/5th Grade

By: Elizabeth Johns/6th Grade

By: Bryce McAlister/6th Grade

By: Jerran Carlin/7th Grade

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McCartney is the President of

Student Council and she is also

part of National Junior Honor

Society, but outside of school

she does something that not

many people know about. She

is part of a special group out-

side of school that raises pigs

to be entered into contests and

auctioned off for money. The

name of the group is Dusty

Trails 4-H Club. She picks a pig

based on how it walks, its struc-

ture, and if it’s the right weight.

At the contests, the pig is

judged on structure, and if it

weighs between 220 and 280

pounds. She has entered in six

contests and won all six. In

addition to 4-H, McCartney is

also part of the Southeast Jun-

iors Volleyball League.

ity to all of the people on cam-

pus, and the amount of time

she has dedicated to St. Mary.

She receives several gifts from

the school for being Teacher of

the Month, including a special

reserved parking place near the

Our new Teacher of the Month

for the month of December is

Mrs. Vigil, our Spanish and Pub-

lications Elective teacher. She

was chosen for this honor be-

cause of her dedication to her

tasks, compassionate personal-

entrance, teaching supplies,

and a gift basket with her favor-

ite snacks in it.

Student Spotlight—McCartney Miller

Teacher of the Month—Mrs. Vigil

McCartney and her prize winning pig at the

Houston Rodeo.

Mrs. Vigil and Mrs. Darby

grade. What he likes about

Saint Mary is how we know

each other; it’s like we are a big

giant family. When he was

studying here he liked how he

had friends and still has them

today. His favorite subject was

history. He played basketball

and ran track. He is a great

coach for us. In addition to all

his other responsibilities, Coach

Fuller also drives the Kelly bus

for our field trips.

Meet Coach Fuller Coach JohnPhilip Fuller started

teaching here at St. Mary’s

Catholic School 3 years ago. He

is an epic coach, but he is also

the Pre-K helper. He started

studying at Texas A&M and

finished at Lamar. He also went

to St. Mary. He started in kin-

dergarten and finished in 8th

Page 3 Volume 2: Issue 1

Coach JohnPhillip Fuller teaches PE and

assists with Pre K3.

Money Donated for Typhoon Victims Recently St. Mary School do-

nated $800 in aid to the victims

of the Typhoon Haiyan in the

Philippines. The Art Club spon-

sored and organized this event.

Montana Dileo, 4th grader, was

able to collect donations of

$430 and Amber Lester, 6th

grader, collected $100. All

proceeds were sent to the

American Red Cross to be used

for the people in the Philip-

pines. Mrs. Darby, our principal

said the she was honored and

humbled by the generosity of

our students and of the commu-

nity. She is very proud of the

hard work of the Art Club and

their sponsor, Mrs. Claybar.

By: Spencer Johns/8th Grade

By: Munawar Rahman/6th Grade

By: Timothy Tran/8th Grade

Amber Lester, Mrs. Claybar and Montana

Dileo

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St. Mary Catholic School is

proud to announce that Megan

Do, 7th grade, won the

“Treasure of the Texas Coast”

Children’s Art Calendar Contest.

Megan competed against over

3,000 students. Judges found

it difficult to select only 40 win-

ners from among many talented

artists around the state.

Megan’s artwork is pictured as

the large display for the month

of September. St. Mary Catho-

lic School’s art teacher is Mrs.

Cindy Claybar. Channel 12

interviewed Megan and asked

some questions such as what

inspired her to draw her picture

and she responded that she

thought about things that were

important in nature. They also

asked how she felt when she

won and she said she felt

shocked and excited. They

asked what she likes to do in

her free time and she said she

likes to draw and hang out with

her friends. Then they asked

what she will do with her picture

and she said she was going to

put it with all of her other ac-

complishments.

feathers but they can also pay

to take feathers away from

competing teacher. The win-

ning teacher gets a pizza party

for her class. Not only that but

the teacher has to dress up like

a turkey and strut their stuff.

During the month of November,

Student Council sponsored a

biggest turkey contest. The

biggest turkey contest is where

the students can purchase

feathers for their favorite teach-

ers. Not only can they buy

This year’s winners were Mrs.

Sparacino and Mrs. Braquet.

They danced in their turkey

costumes to the delight of the

students.

Artwork Picked for Texas Calendar

Biggest Turkeys Strut Their Stuff

Mrs. Sparacino and Mrs. Braquet are a

couple of turkeys.

other to see which class could

bring in the most items. The

winner of the canned food drive

was Mrs. Pousson’s fourth

grade class by bringing in the

most cans at 438. The total

number of cans collected by the

whole school was 1,100. Mrs.

Pousson’s class will receive a

pizza and ice cream party for

their efforts.

Fourth Grade Wins Contest

St Mary School just completed

a canned food drive to support

our local Orange Christian Ser-

vices. Student Council asked

students to bring in canned

food and compete against each

Mrs. Claybar and Megan Do show the school

Megan’s prize winning art in the actual

calendar.

Page 4 The Swarm News

Fourth grade poses with the van full of food.

Sister Nicole Trahan (Continued from Page 1) school. She remembers Father

Manger coming to talk to them

at lunchtime and afterwards the

students playing a huge game

of tag--girls vs. boys. She also

remembers conversations at

the see-saw about whether

Sister Josephina really did have

an extra set of eyes under her

veil. Sister Trahan attended

Kelly for high school. When

asked why, she replied that

WOS just seemed too big after

being in a small class at St.

Mary. “I knew that going to a

Catholic school would be famil-

iar and I trusted that the stu-

dents would be kind. The val-

ues in Catholic Schools of love

for all people, service, excel-

lence in education, and faith in

God were attractive to me. It

seemed like a nurturing envi-

ronment as well as one that

would challenge me academi-

cally.” Sister Nicole said she is

grateful beyond words for the

foundation she received at St.

Mary. She learned some of

life’s most important lessons

while she was a student here

and not all of them were in the

classroom. She would like to

thank the principal while she

was here, Mrs. Alexine Adams,

who made everything possible.

By: Dalton Wimberley/8th Grade

By: O’Shan Mitchell/7th Grade

By: Nicholas Wilson/7th Grade

The Girls Basketball season is

nearing its finish, and the A

team girls have a record of 5

wins and 5 loses. The B team

has a record of 0 wins and 9

loses. The A team has played in

2 tournaments at St. Anthony

and St. Anne. They did not place

in either of these tournaments,

unfortunately. The players for A

team are Lydia Covington,

Dherin Wright, McCartney

Miller, Olivia Fuselier, Shelby

Smith, and Joanna Henry. The B

team consists of Ariah Washing-

ton, Amiyah Leblanc, Laynie

Wright, Laynie Vigil, Sydney

Schmitt, Elizabeth Doan, Victo-

ria Doan, Kylie Braquet, and

Amber Lester. Their coaches

are JohnPhillip Fuller and

JohnRoss Fuller. The coaches

said that their teams did well

this year. B team was a learning

experience due to a young

team, and the A team girls have

played hard and battled all sea-

son. The loses they suffered

were hard fought losses.

January 8

Kinsley Doucet

January 9

Phoenix Lawless

January 10

Noah Garry

January 14

James Wimberley

January 16

Stephan Kusek

January 1

Marcey Orillion

January 2

Coy Darby

Jason Guidry

Kaitlyn Lester

January 3

Ariah Washington

January 7

Amaya Meadows

Easton Staton

January 17

Nathan Hughes

January 21

Tessa Erikson

January 22

Josephine Riedel

January 23

Carter Claybar

January 25

Mark Pesek

January 26

Amier Washington

Girls Basketball

Birthdays

Lydia dribbling the ball against St. Anthony

while McCartney calls for a pass.

After January 31st, yearbooks

are $40.00 and you can still

add personalization for $47.00.

Also the publication class spon-

sored a yearbook cover design

contest and the winner will be

announced in a later newslet-

ter.

Yearbooks For Sale The publication class is cur-

rently working on a yearbook for

St. Mary. Order a yearbook by

January 31st and save $5.00.

The cost is $35.00 per year-

book and you can also pay an

additional $7.00 for personal-

ization (includes name and

picture) for a total of $42.00.

Page 5 Volume 2, Issue 1

By: Spencer Johns/8th Grade

By: Logan Russell/6th Grade

By: Kaitlyn Orillion/6th Grade

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