MCCHS FRIDAY FOCUS
150th EDITION: April 3, 2020
From the Desk of Mr. Mike Shukis
I remember a discussion with the head of the Graduate School of Education at Dominican University, Dr. Christine Kelly. She stated how most people believe that education does not change very much. This she said was incorrect and far from the truth. For her, education was always moving, always evolving, and sometimes even moving at a rapid pace. Think back for a moment. In a relatively short period (around 20 years) we have seen the, No Child Left Behind Act, Every Student Succeeds Act, Race to the Top Act, and Common Core. All developed to improve our Nation’s scores most of which have failed miserably. Less than 10 years ago very few people in education had ever heard of e-learning and now, Marian, as well as other schools are looking into even more advanced tools for teaching students at home. It appears that Dr. Kelly was right and it also shows how very important it is as an educator to be open, understanding, and most of all patience in the field of education.
Dr. Chris Kelly was a wonderful educator and a mentor of mine. She was right about many things. One of them is that education will continue to change, some for the better and some that will prove difficult to accept. With patience, understanding, and faith, I feel certain that Marian will reach new and even higher standards.
Due to the shelter in place order through April 30th, the Concord Banquet Hall has canceled our prom scheduled for the 24th. While the date of the 24th has been canceled, we at Marian are still hopeful that another date can be made; of course this will largely be determined by the coronavirus. Graduation and all other end of the year activities are still undetermined at this point. Marian will look to do what it can to see that all our students receive their full high school experience, however, dates will more than likely change and we may have to adapt and make changes to the activity.
For anyone who may be interested, what follows is the March 18, 2020 message from our Holy Mother to one of the visionaries in Medjugorje.
“Dear Children, my Son, as God, always looked above time. I, as His mother, through Him, see in time. I see beautiful and sad things. But I see that there is still love, and that it needs doing for it to be known. My children, you cannot be happy if you do not love each other, if you do not have love in every situation and at every moment of your life. Also, I, as a mother, am coming to you through love – to help you to come to know true love, to come to know my Son. This is why I am calling you, always anew to thirst all the more for love, faith, and hope. The only spring from which you can drink is trust in God, my Son. My children, in moments of peacelessness and renunciation you just seek the face of my Son. You just live His words and do not be afraid. Pray and love with sincere feelings, with good works; and help so that the world may change and that my heart may win. Like my Son, I am also saying to you; love each other because without love there is no salvation. Thank you my children.”
Mike Shukis
Assistant Superintendent
Information Sharing
Spiritual Events
Please join us in celebrating Mass with Fr. Twenty according to the schedule below. Masses will be live from the Marian Central Chapel via Facebook Live unless otherwise noted.
What a wonderful way to come together as a community during this difficult time! Thank you, Fr. Twenty.
Saturday (4/4): no live stream Mass
Palm Sunday (4/5): 10:15am
Monday 4/6 through Wednesday 4/8: 8:45am
Holy Thursday 4/9: there are two Masses - 1) Bishop Malloy at the "Chrism Mass" from the Cathedral at 11am and - 2) "Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper" with Fr. 20 at 7pm
Good Friday 4/10: “Celebration of the Passion of the Lord” at 3pm
Holy Saturday 4/11: “Easter Vigil” at 7:30pm
Easter Sunday 4/12: 10:15am
Also, all are invited to participate in any of events listed in Bishop Malloy's Holy Week Schedule.
Tuition
ACT Test - June 13th
We have officially received approval from the ACT Board to change our April ACT test date to Saturday, June 13th at Marian Central.
Please click below for information regarding re-registering/changing test dates, etc:
http://www.act.org/content/act/en/covid-19.htmlIf you need further assistance, contact ACT Customer Service at this link:
AP/Course Change Fees
Financial Assistance Applications
AP Testing
Per the CollegeBoard, the decision has been made that traditional face-to-face exam administrations will not take place. Students will alternately take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home. The full exam schedule, specific free-response question types that will be on each AP Exam, and additional testing details will be available by April 3. Also any relevant free-response questions in AP Classroom will be unlocked for digital use so students can access all practice questions of the type that will appear on the exam.
Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.
For more information, free remote learning resources and to keep up-to-date on the latest information from the CollegeBoard regarding AP testing, visit https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update. In addition, stay in close contact with your AP teachers at Marian who are working hard to support all students.
ACT - SAT Test Prep Options
Upcoming Scholarship Deadlines
We have four scholarship opportunities that are exclusively for only Marian students. Please consider applying for these wonderful scholarships!
Sister Mardelle Scholarship...Minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA, must have attended Marian all 4 years. Click this link to access the application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1josBBE0j5AxnVFbEQy9neuSSGdVQ7kIy/view
Scholnick Spirit Scholarships: No minimum GPA. Click this link to access the application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oV_W2KLK76IYq_FzGHuTEjHXS39WALut/view
Kay Hansen Memorial Scholarship: Minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA and must be attending a Catholic college or university. Click this link to access the application: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxWBwgYLVZvzZU5yWHg1T2tfQTQ/view
All three of the above scholarships (Mardelle, Scholnick and Hansen) are due April 10th. Applicants can simply email their essays to Mrs. Diamond at jdiamond@marian.com.
LeAnn Golembiewski Memorial Scholarship: Females athletes, minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA. Click this link to apply: https://thecfmc.org/receive/scholarships-available/
The deadline for the LeAnn Golembiewski Memorial Scholarship has been extended to May 1, 2020. See the application for submission criteria.
Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Diamond at jdiamond@marian.com should you have any questions!
Seniors- Please Report Your College Scholarships
The Guidance Office is in the process of collecting information for this year's Honors Day. We want to be sure that everyone who's received scholarships from colleges and third party sources is recognized during this year's program.
We've created a form that we'd like you all to use when reporting your scholarship information. It can be accessed online at: https://forms.gle/ArBdMqghNNSPcTAm9
Some quick instructions for reporting the information we need:
- Report all scholarships awarded by all schools/sources that scholarships were received from…not just the school the student will attend.
- Do not report need-based grants you've received. If you have a question about whether a specific award is a scholarship or a grant, please contact Mr. Stamatakos directly.
You'll see in the form that you can report your information one of two ways:
- You may upload pictures or scanned copies of your award letters to the form and submit them.
- You may list information for each scholarship and source individually.
Please note the instructions in the form regarding Option 1. You may list information for up to 10 awards in the form if you choose to report using Option 2. If you need to list information for more awards, you'll be able to access the form again to submit the information about those additional awards.
Please report your information no later than Monday, April 20 so Mrs. Diamond can put together the Honors Day program. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter! If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Diamond at jdiamond@marian.com. Stay safe and well!
Summer Camps
School Spirit
Where in the world of Marian is Hurricane Henry?
We have a new student at Marian Central! His name is Hurricane Henry. He has been touring the school waiting for his classmates to return. Tune in to our Twitter account at 12 pm each weekday to see where Hurricane Henry is at for the day. Can you help Hurricane Henry figure out which part of the school he is in? Be the first to respond on Twitter with the correct answer and be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Winners will be drawn and announced every Friday.
60th Anniversary Dinner Auction - Postponed
Marian Central Catholic High School has been carefully monitoring the situation with COVID-19 and has made the difficult decision to postpone our 60th Diamond Anniversary event on Saturday, April 18 at the Starline Factory. Our staff, families, alumni, and supporters, along with their health and safety, are our first priority.
Our committee has worked tirelessly on this event, and we look forward to sharing the fruits of their labor with you at a later date. While we don't know exactly when that will be due to the uncertainty of the situation, we are considering dates in late summer or early fall.