Knights of Columbus Essay Winners

Dewayn Marzagalli KC, Elizabeth Jerome (2nd place),
Michael Pizzo KC, Daniela Fornaro (4th place), Kevin Hill
(fifth place), Noah Johnson (1st place), Peter Buckley
(principal) and Fr. Jim LaFontaine (Pastor of Our Lady of
Hope Parish). Not pictured: Raymond Le (3rd place)

Noah Johnson, St. Brigid eighth-grader, earned first place in this year’s Knights of Columbus Essay Contest. Second place went to Liz Jerome, third to Raymond Le, fourth to Daniela Fornaro and fifth to Kevin Hill. Here is Noah’s winning essay: “What St. Brigid Means to Me.” Well done!

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What St. Brigid Means to Me

To me, Saint Brigid means six years of my life. It is my memories, every year is an oozing fountain of fun that I will always remember. We released salmon in third grade. We went  to Augusta in fourth grade. There we went to the museum and watched the House and Senate in action. We played a board game for domination of the “New World” in fifth. Every Friday in sixth grade we listened to music and thought hard to solve mind bending riddles. Seventh grade held a trip to Boston and the USS Constitution, or Old Ironsides, the oldest ship still in commission for the US Navy. I absolutely cannot wait to see what this year holds! And we have all certainly laughed a ton along the way here.

Saint Brigid is my knowledge, it grows more massive and great by the second. It makes me feel like I can learn anything and everything. From learning multiplication to learning algebra. From the Indians, to world culture and geography. From learning my Spanish colors to my Latin verbs. From “What is electricity?” to chemistry and “How do I calculate speed?” I learned what a poem is made of, what the Revolutionary, Civil and World Wars were all about, how to take a test, but the most valuable knowledge of all is that about the Word of God.

Saint Brigid is my freedom. We learn about our God, whom we believe in. We can speak His message and apply it in the classroom. We learn more and more about what we profess every week at mass. We talk about the meaning of it all, how it pertains to us, and how we can live it in our crazy modern world. We do not have to worry about being silenced, we all have a voice.

Saint Brigid is where I learn. This is the place where I have my life experience. Where I learn to work with others. I learn to use my voice to speak up. I learn life lessons you can’t find anywhere else. Lessons I have learned in team sports like basketball, baseball, and track. I learn skills I need to become a leader, the very best that I can be.

Saint Brigid is my opportunity. We are given the tools by our teachers to blossom into whatever type of student, or person, that we want to be. They teach us how to work hard, how to study, how to respect the rules and authority, how to respect each other, and ourselves. Wherever we might go after here, we will be prepared.

Whenever someone asks me where I am from, I can be proud and say St. Brigid. St. Brigid is much more than a school to me as I imagine it is for many others. I have felt this way from the day I walked into the school for the first time in third grade. It was a different atmosphere than anywhere I had ever been before. There is a sense of community, friends helping friends, growing from a little kid to a near high school student. To everyone who helped me grow as a student and person, who prodded and goaded me in the right direction, thank you. Now for the rest of the year, every laugh, memory, lesson, adventure, and piece of knowledge will be the icing on the cake of my Saint Brigid experience.

What does Saint Brigid School mean to me? It means Family. It is my life. And most of all Saint Brigid is my home.

Annual School Spelling Bee

This year’s St. Brigid school spelling bee was held on Friday, January 18, with 16 participants from grades 5-8. The bee is held each year in as part of the Scripps spelling bee program.

The words this year were particularly challenging for the age group, some of them difficult even for adults. By the final round, finalists received words such as sufficiently and transience. The winning word - perfectionism - was spelled correctly by sixth-grader Maggie Street, earning her the school championship. Maggie and the runner-up, eighth-grader Jesse Rodrigues, will continue on to the county-level phase of the competition. Congratulations!

Geographic Bee Tests Knowledge of Social Studies

On Friday, January 11, St. Brigid School held its annual Geographic Bee. Overseen by the National Geographic Society, this event requires competitors to have extensive knowledge of mapping, including the locations and properties of countries and landmarks.

As always, this year’s questions tested the limits of our students’ knowledge. The winner was seventh-grader Sophia Cartonio. The runner-up was Noah Johnson, an eighth-grader. 

As winner, Sophia advances on to the next stage - a written examination which is sent to the National Geographical Society in Washington, D.C. If she qualifies, she will compete at the state level this spring. State winners move on to the national finals, where they compete for scholarship prizes totaling $50,000.

Eighth Grade Field Trips

In December and January, the eighth grade took two field trips to end their Literature units.  In December, following the study of Evangeline, The Rainy Day, and The  Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, we visited the Wadsworth-Longfellow House in Portland. The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is owned by the Maine Historical Society.  The house was decorated for Christmas like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow would have had during his childhood. We learned the history of the house and its occupants, including Henry's sister, Anne who was the last owner of the house. She kept the house as it was during Henry's life and willed it to the Historical  Society. The Historical Society also had an exhibit of the History of Electricity in Maine, which we also visited.

After Christmas vacation, we visited the Victoria Mansion in Portland as a culmination of our Christmas unit reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We saw how the very wealthy Victorians decorated their houses and celebrated Christmas. We also made orange and clove pomanders.

Our visits provide us with a greater understanding of times and lives of our authors and readings.

- Sue McCuller, 8th Grade Teacher

Christmas Artwork Gallery

Annual Christmas Program

On Friday, December 21, our school community gathered for a special Christmas show. The morning opened with Mass, featuring a nativity presentation performed by students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 7. Seventh graders read portions of the Gospel describing the birth of Jesus while younger, costumed students acted out the parts. Seventh-grader Robert Bossong provided violin accompaniment for the piece.

After Mass, students, teachers and parents moved to McCauley High School to enjoy a two-part holiday show. The event was prepared by music teachers David Collier and Anna Fournier and parent volunteer Trish Moulton. Each class sang seasonal music for the packed auditorium, and the school band also performed. The show closed with a sing-along of “Silent Night.”