Seniors honored at Dedication Mass

Twenty-seven seniors at St. Bernard Prep School were honored recently during a Dedication Mass in the Abbey Church.  The ceremony was concelebrated by Abbot Cletus Meagher, Chairman of the Board; Fr. Joel Martin, President; and Fr. Bede Marcy, School Chaplain. 

Addressing the senior class, Abbot Cletus said, “Our world needs godly men and women, people whose lives are based on principle, on the discipline of love and a wisdom that is from God.  You have been blessed with many of these gifts and talents.”

He further said, “Recognize those gifts, accept the responsibility that corresponds to the gift, and give thanks to God for such gifts.”

Following the homily, the members of the senior were given a Benedictine-cross medal as a sign of their commission to be leaders in the student body.  Students were encouraged to wear their Benedictine-  cross medals with pride to remind them of the privilege and dignity that is theirs to share in Christ.

Music for the mass was provided by Dr. Rebecca Whited. 

SBP Physical Science class “drops the ball”

Recently students in Betty Wallace’s physical science class dropped the ball for a good reason.  Wallace’s class took to the gazebo on the grounds of St. Bernard Prep to get a hands-on lesson in calculating the acceleration of an object.

Students were grouped into four groups of four.  Each group was armed with a secretary, board, timer, tape measure, ball, string and a recording sheet.“Instead of just using formulas in class, this experiment  gets them out of the classroom and gives them a better understanding of calculating acceleration,” Wallace said.

While one student dropped the ball, another timed how long it took to hit the board.  Students repeated this step six times to get an average time.  Then students measured the length of the drop with their string.

Once all measurements had been obtained, students headed back to the classroom to calculate the final speed.   
 “These kinds of assignments are fun,” Wallace said.  “Students tend to retain this for a long time.”