One round of the elementary school bee -- the chairs start emptying!

Our annual Spelling Bee includes grades three through twelve – with the elementary school competing separately from the high school. This year’s contest was very big (lots of students, lots of good spellers), but the pressure of an audience and competition brought the contest to a speedy conclusion in just under two hours.

In the elementary school, our last two contestants were siblings: a fifth grader and a sixth grader! The IHM Elementary School Spelling Bee Champion is Anne Doucette, grade six; second place went to Peter Doucette, grade four. Peter stumbled on cadence — which Anne spelled correctly. She went on to win with irresistible. The top third grader is Mary-Kate Vasilak (and third place over-all); the top fourth grader, Tristan McCann (last year’s second place winner over-all); Lucia Bosonetto for seventh grade; and Maria Bosonetto for eighth.

Our high school Spelling Champions are Damian Bryan (first place) and Cody Martin (second place) — who shut out last year’s winners: Cecilia Bryan and Samuel Bednar. The winning words were chrysanthemum and bureaucratic.

Congratulations to all!

Honorable Mention
Martella Baird (1)
Antonio Bosonetto (1)
Lucia Bosonetto (7)
Ruben Bosonetto (3)
Damian Bryan (10)
James Doucette (11)
Marc Doucette (9)
Peter Doucette (5)
Isabelle Germain (1)
Veronica Haynes (8)
Anthony Kearney (3)
Maria Kearney (5)
Cody Martin (9)
Brendan McCann (2)
Sean McCann (5)
Tristan McCann (3)
Peter-Joseph Thompson (1)
Mary-Kate Vasilak (3)

The 2012 IHM Kickboxing Champions

You have been training the boys in touch football, soccer, and volleyball. What made you decide to add kickboxing?

Brother Louis Marie: The third quarter has always been a problem; Professor and I felt we were tempting God by playing soccer on icy ground and uneven terrain. It made me pretty nervous. So, we were looking for an indoor sport that would still prove to be physically exhausting.

Professor Grinstead: As Brother stated, we needed to find an indoor activity where the boys could exhaust themselves.

Professor gives the combatants some last minute directions.

Brother, as a young boy, studied kickboxing, so he had a great appreciation for the mental and physical exhaustion that kickboxing provides. Thanks to the generosity of Steve DeMasco, we were able to get the necessary equipment.

Boxing is a violent sport. What safety measures have you taken?

Brother: We use mouth guards, headgear, 16 oz gloves and a lot of instruction, discipline and practice.

Some action!

Professor: In addition to the aspects Brother enumerated, it should be noted that both Brother and myself were in the “ring” at all times. This way, if a boy punched incorrectly, turned his back, or, in general, was not sparring correctly, he would be stopped and corrected. In addition, the boys were divided into three weight classes (under 100 lbs, 100-150 lbs, over 150 lbs), and they sparred accordingly.

What values are you hoping to inculcate?

Brother: With any self-defensive sport, it is always encircled by trust, respect, self-control and self-improvement. As you know from seeing the signs of the times, we live in a very self-gratifying culture.

Another pair -- furious action!

I would like young men to have met pain and shaken hands with it. If we are raising the future leaders of society, then these boys had better not be strangers to pain and toil. You wouldn’t think that exposing boys to situations where they experience anger and other passions would help them, but, in a controlled environment, this is exactly what happens. Letting a boy punch a guy as hard as he can—knowing full well that the same thing will happen to him—and then having them shake hands afterward is a part of the magic.

A student helps another with his gloves.

Professor: We are teaching the same values that I learned playing sports as a young boy: perseverance, hard work, fortitude, and discipline. Basically, the students learn all of the positive virtues that a young boy needs to learn to become a man. In my mind, the difference between kickboxing and the other sports that we participate in is that with kickboxing it is boy vs. boy, not team vs. team. So, you can imagine that, when a boy is being punched (and quite painfully at times), he has to maintain self-awareness of the situation and know how to get out of the situation. In all sports, there is strategy.

"kick"boxing

You study your opponent. You know his strengths and his weaknesses. We put a great deal of pressure on these boys, and I was glad to see some of them not waver. In addition, it is important to remember that someone must win and someone must lose. Each boy had to learn to win and lose respectfully. We are hoping that our boys will grow-up to be men, which means not acting like little boys who sulk in defeat and gloat in victory.

A black eye from a lucky punch in an earlier skirmish prevented Luke from participating in the tournament.

After one quarter of training, what changes have you seen in the boys?

Brother: In the short time of a single quarter, I have witnessed such wonderful results as usually one can only hope for. Not only did the form of the punches and kicks improve, but also I noticed a new relationship built up between the boys and me. Whereas, during previous quarters, I just was one of the players on the football or soccer team, now–insisting on respect and truly imparting new skills–the boys treat me as an authority figure from whom they can learn.

Professor: Certainly, this was a new thing for all of us. In the beginning, I saw a great deal of hesitancy because the boys were not accustomed to the sport. They did not know how to respond to some of Brother’s requests. Mainly, some of the boys had never used their bodies in

Bigger boys

the fashion that Brother was requesting. Over time, it was pleasing to see the boys become more coordinated, using their bodies properly. Ultimately, I was glad to see them appreciate the sport.

Do you have any plans for the future?

Brother: Because of my other duties, I was hoping to keep it simple.

Professor: Well, we had our 1^st Annual Kickboxing Tournament on March 16 so I suppose that we could compete against like-minded schools. Quite honestly, I’m not sure what we may do in the future!

Please visit this link to see an Easter card for all of our friends, relatives, and benefactors!

The two Sisters wearing their bridal wreaths and rings

This past Sunday (March 25), our two Junior Sisters, Sister Maria Rosaria and Sister Marie Gabrielle took their final vows as Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the following words: “In the presence of almighty God, in honor of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Louis Marie, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint John of the Cross, Saint Benedict and Saint Scholastica, for the service of the holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, and in the hands of my superior, Sister Marie Therese, I, Sister [name], known formerly in the world as [name], vow to God perpetual Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience as a Slave of the Immaculate Heart of Mary according to the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions of our Congregation, and I promise to make the first interest of my life the doctrinal Crusade of Saint Benedict Center.”

Please join us in thanksgiving to Our Lady for two such beautiful vocations and praying for an increase of them! To see pictures of the ceremony (with quotes from the ritual) and reception, please click here.

A week after the snow, the students are making sand castles in the sun!

Mud baths and mud facials are still the rage, but in Richmond you can visit IHM School at Saint Benedict Center and get a mud bath for your vehicle at no cost! Yes, after a snow day on March 1, on March 9 we had to have a mud day (the mud on the hill was too bad, too risky for drivers)!

While this isn't one of our pictures, it sure fits!

Although the town has added gravel in places, and re-leveled a few times, we are having to run shuttles to and from school in the four-wheel-drive vehicles. Just picture a dirt road turning to mud soup/slush a foot or more deep, and then imagine mud-bogging in two-way traffic on a one-and-three-quarter car road with ditches on each side (on a steep hill with several turns)! Perhaps we could figure out a way to market it? One Richmond resident said that she hasn’t seen the road get this bad (and we usually have at least one mud day each year) in about twenty-five years. As someone wrote to me, you have to love the changing seasons!

The Sisters in the snow (yes, there are seven of us, but one is behind the camera!)

Although we had very little snow this winter, the season did begin and end (?) with good storms. We had that big storm the end of October, and now March came in like a lion! Here are some pictures of the Sisters taking a Rosary walk in the snow on March 1. Of course, this storm meant a day off of school! (I guess Our Lady knew we needed it; otherwise she would have given it to us the week before — when we were on February vacation.)

Get your tickets here!

The life lesson of working for something you want (and not having it just handed to you) was recently tackled successfully by grades K-4, 7-8. They made plans to go to the Southwick Zoo in the spring, but even such a modest field trip is expensive; there is no leeway in our penny-pinching budget for “extras”.

So, the classes planned a fundraising evening. By putting on a delightful series of music, short dramas, jokes, and the grand finale: a “puppet” show, the classes were able to provide a delightful evening’s entertainment for a bargain rate: $5 per person or $10 per family. Meanwhile, the seventh and eighth grade students sold refreshments: popcorn, hot chocolate, and baked goods. After lots of hard work, they raised an amazing $500! Congratulations!

Click here to see a few pictures from the event.

We look forward to seeing what the fifth and sixth grade class come up with to fund-raise for their portion of the trip (they joined the project too late to participate in this evening’s entertainment).

Honorable Mention
Martella Baird (1)
Antonio Bosonetto (1)
Ruben Bosonetto (3)
Peter Doucette (5)
Mary Grace Grinstead (2)
Maria Pilar LaPlume (1)
Tristan McCann (3)
Hailey Thompson (6)
Peter-Joseph Thompson (1)
Mary-Kate Vasilak (3)

Perfect Attendance
Antonio Bosonetto (1)
Cody Martin (9)