Bear Essentials - December 10, 2017   

Ursuline's junior robotics teams competed last weekend at WPI under the direction of UA faculty members Natalie Mayo (left) and Jenn Brown (right). See more info below.

 From the Main Office

Christmas Gathering Snow Date

Due to yesterday's snow, the Christmas Gathering has been rescheduled and will be held this Thursday, December 14 at 6:30 p.m.  The Christmas Gathering is Ursuline's annual holiday celebration of music and the arts.  We hope you can join us!  Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.

St. Lucia's Day Celebration on Wednesday, December 13
Students are asked to contribute a breakfast item, juice, or sweet treats for the school-wide celebration of St. Lucia's Day this Wednesday, December 13. After an all-school procession, the community will enjoy a breakfast feast together in honor of this Swedish tradition!

Choral Group Performance at Dedham Savings Bank
The Ursuline choral group will be singing at Dedham Savings Bank's annual holiday program on Friday, Dec. 15 at 3:30 p.m. at its main office on Elm St. in Dedham. Always a favorite part of the series, Ursuline has been performing since the program started 34 years ago!

Convent Masses for Advent
Mass will be celebrated at the Convent Chapel on Tuesdays and Thursdays during Advent (except for Dec. 12). All are welcome at join at 10:30 a.m. on these mornings.

Life on Lowder Street

Auditions will be held in the Auditorium on Tuesday, Dec 12 from 3:30-5 p.m. and Wednesday, Dec 13 from 3-5 p.m. Stop by on those days and sign up for an available slot! Auditions will include a brief interview and cold readings or monologues from the scripts. See Mrs. Schnatterly with any questions, or stop by the Auditorium during Activity Block on Tuesday, Dec 12 to preview the audition readings, practice your audition and ask questions! Rehearsals for both shows will begin immediately after Christmas break!

Freshman Get Together – Christmas Cards for Ruby!
A Grade 9 parent/student get together event has been planned for Wednesday, December 13 from 4-5:30 p.m. in the UA Tea Room, to make Christmas cards for Ruby Mae Millea. All the supplies to make and decorate the cards will be provided. Parents are welcome but not required for students to attend. In order to have an accurate count for snacks and supplies,  please RSVP to one of the class parents, Kara Saliba at karasaliba@verizon.net, Tracy Abucewicz at tracy.abucewicz@verizon.net or Sue Nersessian at Snersessian@deloitte.com. Click here to read more about Ruby.

Eighth Grade Gingerbread Social

The eighth grade will have a social on Friday, December 15, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the Tea Room. Gingerbread house kits and decorating supplies will be ready for participants. Snacks and hot chocolate will be provided. Please rsvp to Katherine Zuccala at zuccalak@aol.com if your daughter is planning to attend.

Big/Little Sisters Christmas Extravaganza 
On Tuesday, December 19, seniors and freshmen will have their annual Christmas Extravaganza Party from 5:00-7:30 p.m. All 9th and 12th grade students are invited and encouraged to come to share the spirit of the holidays with each other.

Bears in Action

Ursuline Student Holiday Projects

Several Ursuline classrooms have been working the Christmas spirit into their lessons this week. Mrs. Meade's seventh and eighth grade Spanish students worked with Mr. Mertz in the I.D.E.A. Hub to make Christmas ornaments, merging Hispanic culture with technology. Students chose a Spanish speaking country, researched and chose a symbol to represent that country, and with the help of Mr. Mertz, designed their ornament on Inkscape, a vector based graphics editor, and then cut them on our Epilog Helix laser engraver.  Mrs. Leonard's Pre-calculus class did a similar project, but students designed their ornaments from equations using the Desmos graphing App and their knowledge of a wide variety of functions.  Meanwhile, Ms. Kelly's tenth grade Guidance class made Christmas cards for patients at Saint Jude Children's research hospital as a part of a lesson on the importance of being kind. If anyone else in the UA community wants to participate, they can drop off cards at Ms. Kelly's office.

On Wednesday, December 6, three Ursuline students attended the Actuarial Outreach Program at Liberty Mutual. The girls participated in activities and viewed presentations that demonstrated the course of study and career paths of actuarial mathematicians. Grace Roberto, Isabella Orup and Shannon Butler are pictured on the right side of the front row.

Junior Robotics Teams Compete at WPI
Our three UA Junior Robotics teams, under the direction of teachers Jenn Brown and Natalie Mayo, programmed their way through FLL qualifiers last weekend at WPI. One team, the Junior Plaids, is eligible to return to state competition on Dec. 16, an honor reserved for the top 25% of teams. The state tournament will be held at WPI on Dec. 16 from approximately 8:30 a.m.-12 noon. Spectators are most welcome. Go BearBots! (see photo above)

Serviam

Remember to Clothe-a-Child!

Please remember to donate to your homeroom's assigned child from the Yawkey Center. All donations must be wrapped and brought in to homeroom by Tuesday, December 19th!

Senior Service Project Meeting
There will be a mandatory meeting with all seniors during Activity Period on Monday, December 18th in the Library. This meeting is important for all seniors because requirements will be discussed, as well as how to find an organization to serve. Please see Ms. McNally if you have any questions.

Thanks to UA for Christmas Express
The organizers of Needham's Christmas Express have extended their appreciation to all of the Ursuline students who participated in the Christmas Express last weekend:

"It was a huge success thanks to their tireless efforts to bring the magic of Christmas to all of these riders. Their service and willingness to help in any capacity was a true reflection of the school and their families. We can't thank you Ursuline enough for their support of this event. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!" - Liz Mingle and Susie Mitchell

Supporting Ursuline

National Coalition of Girls Schools
Ursuline Academy is a proud member of the National Coalition of Girls Schools, the leading advocate for girls' schools, connecting and collaborating globally with individuals, schools, and organizations dedicated to educating and empowering girls. We encourage you to browse the NCGS web site, which has a wealth of information about the power of a girls education, to peruse their newsletter, which curates articles from major publications about girls education, and to share this information with a friend.

Fore the Girls Golf Committee Meeting
Ursuline is looking for parents to join our 2018 Fore the Girls golf committee. Join the Advancement team at our kickoff meeting on Tuesday, January 9 at 7 p.m. Fore the Girls is the second largest fundraiser for Ursuline Academy. If you're interested in participating or learning about ways you can get involved, contact Kat McCarron at kmccarron@ursulineacademy.net. This year's tournament is Tuesday, May 29 at the Blue Hill Country Club. More details to follow.

Save the Date for Trivia Night

Get ready to chase the winter doldrums away on Thursday, February 8, when PAWS will be hosting the first Ursuline Trivia Night in the Tea Room.  The challenge is UA parents vs. UA alumnae and we'll be putting together teams after the holidays. Start planning now!

On the Calendar

 Ursuline Academy | 85 Lowder Street | Dedham, MA 02026 | 781.326.6161