St. Bernard’s Ayleana Mami to compete in Australia

St. Bernard Prep’s Ayleana Mami is $1,650 away from blazing a trail to Austraila this June to participate in the Down Under Sports Competion - Track and Field Division. Mami was selected to represent Alabama and the United States for her outstanding state performance in the 1600 meter as well as the 3200 meter race.

“I am so thankful for the many friends, family members and alumni of St. Bernard who have helped me raise $3,400 to date,” Mami said. “Without their support, this trip would be impossible for me.”

Mami’s Coach William Calvert said, “ Ayleana strives for excellence in every endeavor she undertakes –whether it be athletics, academics, or service to others. She certainly exemplifies the St. Bernard Mission of Corpus Mens and Spiritus. She is truly a champion in every sense of the word.”

To support Ayleana, visit www.stbernardprep.com and click on Ayleana – Alabama to Australia or contact the school at (256)739-6682.

Open House yields large crowd

St. Bernard Prep School hosted a very informative Open House this past Sunday afternoon as dozens of families visited the campus to see for themselves the quality of education provided at the Catholic school.

From areas as close as Cullman, Eva, Good Hope and Hayden to Decatur, Hamilton , Florence, and Atlanta Georgia, families filled the Brahma Room searching for a new place of educational studies for their children. There were even guests investigating the school on behalf of relatives in Vietnam.

Guests were treated to a campus presentation by sophomore student, Bryce Allen. Bryce is completing his Eagle Scout program. As part of his Eagle Scout project, he designed and gave a historical presentation of all buildings on campus and presented each guest a printed brochure complete with photos and an aerial map.

Fr. Joel Martin, President of the school, greeted visitors and welcomed them to ask any questions they may have to any of the staff or students.

During the campus tour, visitors were treated to an outstanding performance by the St. Bernard Band. They visited the athletic facilities, dorms and classroom building where teachers were very welcoming.

Fr. Joel was thrilled to see so much interest in the Middle School. Many families were visiting in hopes of enrolling their children in the Middle School at St. Bernard Prep.

“We are very pleased with the interest in our Middle School program, it speaks well of what is taking place in the classroom,” Fr. Joel said. “Our parents do an excellent job of recruiting for us.”

Dr. Donna Bryant, Admissions Director, said the number one reason most students look at St. Bernard is for the quality education, Christian, values-based environment.

“Families were very impressed with our students. They found them to be very friendly and helpful,” Bryant said. “Plus the fact that we are a small school environment is very appealing to students who have 25-30 in a classroom.”

Refreshments were provided by the St. Bernard Prep Parent’s League.

St. Bernard is a boarding and day school for grades 7-12. Bryant said she would welcome anyone interested in the school to take part in a “Shadow Day,” an opportunity to walk through a day in the life of St. Bernard Prep with a current student. For more information contact the school at (256)739-6682; www.stbernardprep.com or like us on www.facebook.com/stbernardprep.

Swim team has successful season

The Saint Bernard Prep Swim Team had a very successful season this year. The Saints were represented by Bennett Glasscock, Sean Moriarty, John Paul Stolz and Morgan Matz. Some of the highlights from our season were: A first for SBP was Bennett Glasscock making All-State in the 100 Backstroke by finishing 8th at the AHSAA State Swim Meet held at Auburn University.

In swimming there are no classifications so 1A schools and 6A compete against each other making for some super tough competition. Bennett and Sean Moriarty represented SBP at the meet by making the state qualifying times.

SBP students and Swim Coach, Carson Glasscock did some goal setting for the year and accomplished a major feat.

"We made a pact as a team to compete and make our presence known in prep school swimming by participating in several regional prep school meets," Glasscock said.

SBP participated in the McCallie School Invitational in Chattanooga, TN. Glasscock said his team was part of a 40 team meet comprised of prep schools from Georgia, Tennessee and Virgina. The meet was held in the prelim/finals format.

The Saints were led by Bennett Glasscock who made the "A" final in Backstroke (5th place) and Butterfly (7th place) and Sean Moriarty making the "B" final in freestyle (12th place). Freshman JP Stolz had a great meet and gained valuable experience for next season.

At the local level, Middle School student, Morgan Matz represented the school well competing at the Cullman Invitational. Glasscock said, "the future looks bright for Saints Swimming"!

SBP students celebrate Catholic School’s Week

Middle School students at St. Bernard Prep celebrated Catholic School’s Week, a nationally recognized week taking place the last week of January.

Catholic Schools Week focuses nationally on celebrating faith, academics, and service projects. During this week students celebrated with a flashback decade day, wacky-tacky day, patriotic day, hat day and favorite team spirit day.

Academic leaders in the classroom challenged each other with their skills in the areas of math, science, social studies, religion and spelling.

Honors were awarded to Jalen Lee, Math; Garrett Marti, Science; Chris Woods, Social Studies; Anna Gongre, Religion; and Wren Thornton, Spelling.

School President, Fr. Joel Martin, OSB said every week at St. Bernard could be classified as Catholic School’s Week. “While we may not be out of uniform, and play games on a weekly basis, we are focused on providing a quality education in the Benedictine tradition.”

St. Bernard students come from many religious backgrounds. Classes in theology are taught daily. At the seventh grade, students learn about the life of Christ which includes – His life, miracle, parables, sacraments and commandments. Eighth grade students study church history; the mystery and the marks of the Church, the Age of Enlightenment, the Renaissance, and the Church in North America.

“Our students are consistent with service projects whether it be food drives for St. Vincent DePaul’s Food bank or semi-monthly visits to the nursing homes,” Fr. Joel said.

St. Bernard invites the public to visit the school on Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. for Open House.

St. Bernard students participate in “Theology on Tap”

Eight seniors from St. Bernard Prep recently attended the first of four “Theology on Tap” events at Newks Restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama. Geared toward young adults, 18 to 35 years of age, these gatherings provide an opportunity to introduce theological topics and to create an opportunity for ongoing discussion and faith sharing.

The topic: “Which came first: the Church or the Bible” was presented by John Martignoni who is the Director of the Office of the New Evangelization and Stewardship for the Diocese of Birmingham.

Martignoni provided a springboard for excellent questions and discussion. Fr. Bede Marcy, OSB, who accompanied the students, was very encouraged by the feedback from his seniors. “The presentation was well received, and provided great discussion for the bus ride home.”

Students are looking forward to participating in the next “Theology on Tap” on March 14th. The topic will be “Faith and Culture” presented by DeKarlos Blackmon, a former SBP student, currently the Supreme Knight of the Knights of St. Peter Claver, and parishioner at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Huntsville.

Students in attendance were : Elaida Dimwamwa, Lizzy Giddens, AnnaCaroline Keefe, Jake Lewis, Sean Moriarty, Gabriel Pautler, Madeline Schweers, and Halle Webb.

Sciaroni to represent St. Bernard at All-State

St. Bernard is celebrating a first in the music department. Eighth grade student, Will Sciaroni, is the first Saint Bernard Band student to audition for the Alabama All-State Band.

Band instructor, Lester Harris, is thrilled with Sciaroni’s accomplishments. “The tryouts are very rigorous because there is a lot of memorization of scales and arpeggios just to be allowed into the room where you can perform the All-State Etudes.”

Sciaroni was recently first chair in the Cullman County Middle School Honor Band and placed 4th in our District to represent Saint Bernard at the annual District Honor Band Festival on February 17th and 18th at Cullman High School.

Sciaroni is the son of Lou and Kim Sciaroni of Decatur, AL.

Booster Club Drawdown Successful

AL It was an evening to celebrate at St. Bernard on the Saturday before "Super Bowl Sunday" as the St. Bernard Athletic Boosters raised funds for the athletic program by hosting their annual draw down.

“This is something that has been going on for several years at St. Bernard, and has been a great way of interacting with families, alumni and friends of our school community,” said Buster Ros who helped spearhead the project. “Since we host it just before the Super Bowl, the date is easy for people to remember."

More than 400 people attended the $100 ticket event which featured a giveaway of cash and prizes totaling almost $13,000. Guest were offered appetizers consisting of assorted cheeses, fruit, spinach artichoke dip, crackers, toasted bread, brie caramel apple cheese, and meatballs. The main course consisted of Roast beef, baked chicken, tossed salad, waxed white and green beans, yellow rice, roasted and baked potatoes, rolls, cheesecake, lemon and red velvet cake.

Winners of the draw down were as follows:
$10,000 – Neal Morrison, who notable bought the very first ticket this year. $1,000 – Marcus Clark; $750 - Josh Arndt; $500 –Bridgette Warner; $250 – Pat and Mary Russell; and $100 and a 32” HD TV – Wanda and Jorge Naranjo.

In addition to the draw down, guests were treated to a wonderful silent auction, and had the opportunity to purchase keys to open treasure chests.

Proceeds from the event will be used to support the athletic and other needs of St. Bernard Preparatory School.

Fr. Joel Martin, President of St. Bernard Preparatory School said he could not have been more pleased with the event.