Welcome to the second quarter.

Seventh grade Religion focuses on Jesus' mission as described in the Gospels, and begins a study of the Church's liturgical calendar, commencing with Advent and Christmas. January will see us focus more closely on Jesus' teachings, in the Commandments and the Beatitudes. On November 23, both classes worked with Mike Gotuaco to produce a funny and interesting skit for the school about the meaning of "thanks".

Eighth grade Science will spend the second quarter on selected topics in chemistry: the periodic table, bonding, chemical compounds and reactions. The seventh grade will look into the history of life on earth, evolution and classification.

7B Literature completed its first book report and now labors on its second. We begin reading Paul Zindel's "The Pigman" as a class on December 5. The class is doing a lot of writing in and out of school and performing fairly well, but please encourage them to proofread.

I am very happy to return to my alma mater after 40 years!

Seventh grade Religion spends much of this quarter learning about Jesus Christ, as True God and True Man, and the relationship He seeks with each of them. Our work is chiefly discussions and exercises in the text, but later this quarter or early next, the students will research and prepare the biography of a saint of blessed.

Seventh and eighth grade Science in their respective books now learn about the nature of science and its methods, and how to prepare lab reports. In the coming weeks, Life Science will study the cell, and Physical Science the nature and types of matter.

Mr. Byrne’s seventh grade literature class is studying different types of writing: fiction, nonfiction and reference materials. No book reports have been assigned just yet, but they will be starting soon!