catholicsentinel.org

Valley Catholic team advances to national Future City competition

BEAVERTON — For the second consecutive year, a team from Valley Catholic Middle School will advance to the national Future City competition in Washington, D.C. The team departed Feb. 14, and the results of the competition were to be decided Feb. 18.
Valley Catholic hosts regional STEM conference

BEAVERTON — STEM is a buzzword often rattled off in educational circles. But if executed with inclusion and intentionality, it allows students with diverse backgrounds and strengths to probe concepts deeply, see learning in a broader social context and take ownership of the educational process.
Newman Center scholarship deadline is March 1

EUGENE — Each year the St. Thomas More Newman Center here awards college scholarships. This year it will be offering $28,500 in financial assistance to students active in the center. The application deadline is March 1; the GPA requirement is 2.75.
Defender of the Month

Step into the press box at the Central Catholic gym before a varsity girls’ basketball game and ask who usually is the Rams’ best defender. The answer is unanimous: senior point guard Tiana Abraham. That was the case in a 62-37 victory over David Douglas recently.
Mud puddle day

Preschoolers at St. Peter Parish in Newberg put their galoshes to the test on a rainy day in January. Seven children are enrolled in the preschool; they get to make use of the parish’s grassy, scenic grounds.
Helping hands for Australia

When students at Holy Family School in Southeast Portland learned of the devastating wildfires in Australia, they were spurred to action, rallying the entire school to support others on the opposite side of the globe.
French Revolution and Catholicism talk set

MIT Professor Jeffrey Ravel will speak on "The Case of the French Revolution of 1789 and French Catholicism" Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:15 p.m. at the University of Portland's Franz Hall Room 120.
‘To live is to change and to change is to live’

Change was in the air in more ways than one at the Lunar New Year’s Eve Mass Jan. 24 at Our Lady of Lavang Church in Northeast Portland.
STEM for family and fun

MCMINNVILLE — On Nov. 13, the St. James School community here hosted a family STEM night.
St. Cecilia launches robotics team

BEAVERTON — Thanks to the Bayless family and their son, the robotics team at St. Cecilia School was established this year. A few years ago while at a Jesuit High School alumni game, Bryan Bayless and his son Evan interacted with the Jesuit robotics team, who had a T-shirt-shooting robot.
Valley Catholic: STEM innovation

Last spring, a group of 4-year-old students at Valley Catholic Early Learning School excitedly gathered around as St. Mary of Oregon Sisters Delores Adelman and Patricia Lulay shared packets of seeds for the new plants the sisters would plant near the school.
Faith and science merge at St. Francis of Assisi

BANKS — This year’s theme at St. Francis of Assisi School is “Soar with the Spirit.”

“With God, we are all born to soar,” reads a press release from the school, where the community has been focusing on the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.
Faith, knowledge, virtue at St. Joseph

SALEM — At the core of St. Joseph School is a commitment to faith, knowledge and virtue. “Understanding and celebrating the many facets of the faith keeps our students thinking and engaged in our Catholic faith and values,” said school leaders in a press release.
Igniting curiosity and a growth mindset

Each November, Jesuit High School in Southwest Portland welcomes dozens of middle schoolers from the Portland area to compete in the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) for eighth grade and under.
Gift honors cherished educator

Holy Cross School in North Portland was given a transformational gift from the Julia Burke Foundation at the end of the last school year. The legacy gift is in honor of Holy Names Sister Mary Ryan and in recognition of her lifetime of work making Catholic education available to all families.
Prayer intentions cradle baby Jesus at St. John the Apostle

OREGON CITY — Throughout Advent, St. John the Apostle School participated in a project using prayer intentions. All students had an opportunity to create “hay” by writing a prayer on a slip of paper.
St. Matthew students gear up for Catholic Schools Week

HILLSBORO — The students, staff, and families of St. Matthew School are preparing to celebrate National Catholic Schools Week Jan. 26 through Feb. 1. Catholic Schools Week is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States.
Toy drive reflects Gospel values

SHERWOOD — At St. Francis School, students blend their Schoolwide Learning Expectations with their Catholic identity, academic lives, and their social and emotional growth.
St. John Fisher celebrates 60 years

For 60 years St. John Fisher Parish in Southwest Portland has gathered as a parish family to celebrate the love of Christ through the sacraments, liturgy and prayer.
La Salle students make their own time

MILWAUKIE — For 30 minutes on a recent Wednesday morning, learning looked a little different at La Salle Prep.
Career day helps students visualize future goals

The annual St. Thomas More School career day is quickly approaching. Parents visit seventh and eighth grade students at the Southwest Portland school to share information about their jobs and the educational paths they took to earn them.
Talents shine at performances

Rotation classes at Holy Family School in Southeast Portland offer middle school students the opportunity to learn about themselves and the wider world — helping them develop interests that remain with them throughout their lives.
De La Salle North administrator honored

James Broadous II, an administrator at De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, was named a Distinguished Lasallian Educator by the Christian Brothers Conference.
A new standard for early childhood education at St. Ignatius

“It’s an exciting, caring and incredibly positive place” is how Matt Crittenden, the new director of Eulalie’s Garden, the Child Development Center at St. Ignatius School in Southeast Portland, characterized the re-imagined program for 3- to 5-year-olds.
Central Catholic High School launches leadership initiative

For years, Central Catholic High School in Southeast Portland has been known by the motto “Preparing students for college and life since 1939.” Integral to the school since its beginning is an emphasis on character, say school staff.
Real-world science at St. Mary’s Academy

Mimi Loser, a science teacher at St. Mary’s Academy in Southwest Portland, grew up in a family of female scientists, so it wasn’t until she arrived at college to pursue a chemistry degree that she realized women didn’t often have the same roles in science as men.
Connectivity in the classroom

For seven years and counting, Cathedral School in Northwest Portland has maintained the designation as one of only two schools in Oregon to be recognized by Apple as an Apple Distinguished School.
New mother group forms

Holy Family Parish in Southeast Portland has formed a new group, Mother Share, for moms of all ages and stages of motherhood.
Theology nights set

St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Southwest Portland will hold a series of four sessions in February on forgiveness. The presentations, made by Society of Mary Sister Teresa Harrell, will begin Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. and continue on Feb. 13, 20 and 27 at the same time.
Coastal retreats offered

Holy Redeemer Parish in North Bend and St. Monica Parish in Coos Bay will be host to two upcoming retreats — one for men and one for women.
Natural family planning talk scheduled in Portland

St. Patrick Parish in Northwest Portland will be hosting a presentation on the Creighton Model Fertility Care System Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m in the parish hall. Refreshments will be provided.
Apostles Creed series

TUALATIN — A 10-week series at Resurrection Parish here resumes through Feb. 9 with guest speaker Michael Reinbold in the Moisant Center room 206 after the 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday.
Concert welcomes principal

MILWAUKIE — For Sarah Brentano’s first year as principal of Christ the King School here, students and new music director Edward Atkinson welcomed her with A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, performed on the evening of Dec. 19.
Innovative employment program at De La Salle boosts students’ skills, confidence

On a weekday morning in Southeast Portland, high school sophomore Gabriela Flores sits at a desk, picks up a pencil and concentrates on the work before her. Her task is not to solve for x in a trigonometry equation, nail a history quiz or craft an elegant sentence for an English essay.
Rosary for immigrants set for Jan. 11

A Catholic group is holding monthly rosaries outside Portland’s St. Mary Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in solidarity with immigrants.
Deo Gratias

Fr. Stephen Kenyon holds the Eucharist before the congregation at Sacred Heart Parish in Medford. The southern Oregon parish now offers a Latin Mass every Sunday.
Spreading Christmas Cheer

Members of St. Stephen Parish in Southeast Portland gathered Dec. 16 to sing Christmas carols for visitors to Portland’s iconic Christmas event, Peacock Lane.
Marian Celebration

While Jan. 1 was the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, preschool students at St. John the Apostle School in Oregon City are pictured honoring Mary on another special day — her birthday, Sept. 8.
Stained glass

Bishop Emeritus Kenneth Steiner recently blessed a new stained glass window at St. Mary Parish in Vernonia.
Marist inducts first class into hall of fame

EUGENE — Marist High School inducted its first class into its Athletic Hall of Fame this fall. The inductees were selected by a steering committee of Marist alumni, faculty and staff.
UP provost honored by Holy Cross

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Congregation of Holy Cross has awarded a Spirit of Holy Cross Award to Thomas Greene, who has served at the University of Portland for more than 35 years. Greene, who has announced his retirement to take effect in June, has been provost since 2013.
Visitors welcome at Bing’s house

SPOKANE, Wash. — On the Gonzaga University campus sits the Bing Crosby House museum, the former home of Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby and the world’s largest public collection of Bing Crosby memorabilia.
Better safe than sorry

SPRINGFIELD — Everyone remembers fire drills at school. Many businesses do their best by employees by having emergency evacuations. But at Mass? Members of St. Alice Parish showed how it’s done.
Parish group keeps up food delivery

On any Tuesday, a crew is happy to push their lower backs to the limit loading donated supplies into the parish storerooms. On Fridays, volunteers drive out two-by-two, delivering sustenance to apartments and houses and establishing relationships.
Bringing love to the heart of the city for a century

St. André Bessette Parish in Portland’s Old Town, which turned 100 this year, stands at a crossroads of transients and downtown workers. It’s always been a place of social contrast and the surprising Christian love that results.
More than a hundred consecrated to Mary in Stayton parish

STAYTON — This feels like Christmas, thought Carolyn Rich, moments before Mass began at Immaculate Conception Parish here Dec. 8. Among the people sitting in the church pews were more than 100 parishioners and area Catholics preparing to consecrate themselves to Mary.
Real presence talk in Gervais

GERVAIS — Sacred Heart-St. Louis Parish here welcomes Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers to speak at Sacred Heart Church on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 6:30 p.m.
Do you hear what I hear?

Broadway star and Tony Award nominee J. Robert Spencer’s recently released song, “Waiting on Christmas,” features St. Agatha School students singing in the background. The single aims to join the ranks of classic family Christmas songs with its catchy tune of holiday cheer.
Albany Knights donate to Special Olympics

On Dec. 4, athletes and Linn County Special Olympics representatives received a check for $1,262 from the Knights’ financial secretary Gary Haworth at our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Albany.
New church gets new windows

GRANTS PASS — The new church building at St. Anne Parish here was dedicated and blessed but the community is still working hard to beautify the house of worship.
Bringing parishioners together

SPRINGFIELD — For years the first item on every pastoral council meeting at St. Alice Parish was unity. “We’re in danger of being two parishes in one building,” longtime council member Mike Whitney remembers hearing time and again. The concern was mirrored across both the English-speaking and the Spanish-speaking communities of parishioners.
Thirsting for Catholic life

Archbishop Alexander Sample delivered a strong message of welcome to refugees during a Mass Oct. 27 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Southeast Portland.
How a parish and businesses teamed up to do good

TIGARD — In 2009, Ron Gustin visited the busy St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at his lifelong parish, St. Anthony here. He was amazed that hundreds of needy families receive food each month.
St. Mathew students ditch classrooms for the coast

HILLSBORO — This fall, sixth graders from St. Matthew School here ventured to the coast to Camp Magruder for a week of Outdoor School.
24-hour vigil at UP honor vets

University of Portland Air Force and Army ROTC conducted a 24-hour vigil in honor of Veterans Day, concluding with a commemoration ceremony Nov. 11 at the Praying Hands/Broken Wall Memorial on campus.
Way to go, hot shots

The 2019 CYO fall Hot Shots basketball season concluded on Nov. 9 with a tournament that had 10 teams participating for medals and trophies. Both Cathedral and Holy Redeemer schools hosted the big day. As always, watching these young players compete is a highlight of the CYO sports year.
Amid God's splendor

Dominican Fr. Corwin Low celebrated Mass on a promontory over Horse Lake south of the Sisters mountains in central Oregon.
Gonzaga to build science and engineering facility

SPOKANE — Gonzaga University plans to construct a $56 million science and engineering facility. In September the Jesuit school held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project, which will add more than 82,000 square feet of labs, classrooms, faculty offices and a studio for collaborative STEM projects. The facility is scheduled to