Catholic School to Use Bitcoin Digital Currency for Fundraiser
From Huntsville, Alabama:
Holy Spirit Regional Catholic School is offering supporters a high-tech way to buy tickets to its biggest fundraiser.
The private school on Airport Road says reservations and donations to the Jan. 25 BASH (Building an Academic and Spiritual Heritage) event at the Von Braun Center can be made using Bitcoin, an increasingly popular digital currency.
“In a technologically savvy city, it only makes sense that the BASH embrace this new payment system and educate our parents and students through real-life experience,” BASH Chair Carlen Williams said in a news release.
Read more here.
NCEA Begins Book Club for Catholic Educators
The National Catholic Education Association is launching its book club with not one, but two outstanding titles for Catholic educators to discuss: Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus* by Sherry Weddell and Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement* by Robert Marzano.
According to Kathy Mears, Executive Director of Elementary Schools:
Our books have been selected and we hope that you will join us in our discussions. Pick one or do both discussions! It is easy to participate!
First, you must join Edmodo (www.edmodo.com), because that will be our platform. After you register, you can follow one of the following links or use one of the following codes.
If you are interested in knowing more about how to transfer our faith to future generations, please consider joining the group reading: Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus by Sherry Weddell. Through the reading of the book and the exchange of ideas, we believe that participants will grow stronger in their faith and their knowledge of how to share the faith, and meet other committed Catholic educators from all over the country! To register for this book study, please follow this link: https://edmo.do/j/u3vnpq. The code for this book is: 2fdna7.
If you would like to learn ways to implement the best practices outlined in Robert Marzano’s book, Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2001), please consider registering for this book study! We will read, share pedagogical practices and learn new strategies from each other. To register for this book student, please follow this link: https://edmo.do/j/bk3n4k. The code for this book is: 2w2se8.
These book studies require you to read a little, share a little, and work together to build some common knowledge with your colleagues from across the country. Please consider joining us, as we begin to connect this way!
These two books are excellent choices to kick off the book club. I’ve read both of them, and I can’t wait to discuss them. I’ve already sent my request to join the Edmodo group, and I look forward to seeing you there!
*Ordering your books from this link helps support Catholic School Chronicle.
Snow Days Obsolete at Illinois Catholic High School
Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, Illinois, is overcoming mother nature with technology. When snow closed the school for four days last week, Gibault’s electronic learning system enabled students to continue their work at home. See this report from KSDK.com for the full story:
Catholic School Students Get Experience Producing Videos, Commercials
Al.com reports on a Catholic school video journalism class:
Students in McGill-Toolen Catholic High School’s video journalism class are getting hands-on experience with real-time news: they produce segments which are aired daily on the school’s closed circuit television system.
The school channel has daily announcements as well as anti-drug commercials which the students produce. On Thursdays, students tape interviews with the school’s president, the Rev. Bry Shields, who said the segments foster better communication.
“Corporately, every organization thrives on frequent communication,” said Shields. “It is particularly helpful in a school community for both faculty and students to hear from the head of the school on a regular basis. For the students, it provides them the opportunity to become more confident in their ability to speak in public and to gain technical skills in producing a broadcast.”He said the questions from students concern “the life of the school, political and social questions, and questions about the Church and about the understanding of our faith.”
Read the rest on Al.com.
Remembering Pope Benedict’s Support for Catholic Education
On Pope Benedict’s last day as pontiff, Fr. Ron Nuzzi of the Alliance for Catholic Education recalls the Holy Father’s support of Catholic education:
Popes do not often have high levels of engagement with the world of K-12 Catholic schooling, but Benedict XVI will be long remembered and often quoted by Catholic educators in the United States.
“How beautiful are the footsteps of those who bring good news” (Romans 10:15). Saint Paul wrote those words to Christians in Rome, but it was Pope Benedict XVI who spoke them to a group of Catholic educators. The occasion was a pastoral visit to the United States in April 2008.The venue was a conference hall at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
With this biblical phrase first formulated by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 52:27) and then quoted by Saint Paul, Pope Benedict praised the dedication and commitment of Catholic educational leaders, including teachers, principals, diocesan superintendents, religious educators, university presidents, and professors.
Read the rest here.