Recent Press Releases
Student News: “Earth Day” Poster
Contest Winner
May 2013
Students in grades third, fourth and fifth entered the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Earth Day poster contest. The contest ran from April 16, 2013 through May 4, 2013 and included students from schools across the country. Each student created an individual poster to show what Earth Day meant to him or herself. Posters were reviewed by a team of judges who chose three winners from each grade level. Criteria for winning were based on originality, imagination and innovative ideas.
Butler Catholic School is proud to announce that our own John Keelan (4th Grade) won 3rd prize with his poster that showcased “How to Keep Our Beaches Clean.” He will receive a medal for his accomplishments. To see his poster, visit the NETL’s website at www.netl.doe.gov.
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Submitted by: Mrs. Rosemary Watson
Butler Catholic School Art Director
THANK YOU
THANK YOU to the Butler Knights of Columbus Council 866 for their substantial donation to the BCS Annual Appeal!
Mark Daubenspeck (Grand Knight) and Deacon Mitch Natali (President of Columbus Club) presented the check to Sister John Ann today, Tuesday, March 26.
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BCS Alumna Does Good!
Freshman, Sarah Dodd, Wins Gold!
On Saturday, October 27, several SJHS team members competed in
Central Catholic’s Memorial Tournament. Freshman, Sarah Dodd brought
home a 2nd place trophy! She finished second over all in the Oratory
division by performing a speech given to labor leaders by the famous
“Mother Jones” in 1919. Also on the SJHS team, freshman, Kelsey
Chabal won first place in her second round of competition. The
tournament drew 300 contestants from all over the state of
Pennsylvania. Our SJHS team consisted of freshmen: Kelsey Chabal,
Sarah Dodd, Jake Hayes, Jonah Jankovik and Nicole Olinger. (Picture
at right: freshman, Sarah Dodd)
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Reproduced from Saint Joseph High School Website
http://www.saintjosephhs.com/
Saint Joseph High School Hosts Butler Catholic School
SJHS Students Busy Make Butler Catholic Students Feel Welcome
Either grade Butler Catholic students recently visited SJHS for the
day as part of the SJHS Xplorthon program. SJHS Students were busy
in the Robotics lab with various Materials Science and Robotics
projects to show the elementary school students some of the things
the SJHS students have experimented with in class.
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Reproduced from Saint Joseph High School Website
http://www.saintjosephhs.com/
Cross County Results
October 2012
Cross Country Thanks to all of the kids and their parents for making this a great cross country season. This past Saturday was a great example of why this sport is special in many ways other than who finishes on top. There were over 1400 runners for over 47 catholic schools participating this year. In the Girls’ Varsity race, Erin placed 6th overall and her sister Emma placed 8th overall earning them a spot on the awards platform. There were 156 finishers in the Girls’ varsity team competition. The Boys’ JV team placed 16th in a field of 32 complete teams. The school was again led by John (77th place) and Sean (79th place). There were 239 finishers in the Boys’ JV team competition. The future looks bright for the JV Boys as many of the runners were in the 3rd and 4th grades. Caitlyn (4th grade) led the JV Girls by finishing 87th out of 242 finishers. Sarah (134th overall) was the second place finisher for the BCS JV Girls. I have to mention Lacy - Lacy finished 4th for the BCS JV Girls. Lacy is only in 3rd grade. The Boys’ Varsity had only two BCS runners competing, Dante and Matt. We did not figure in the team scoring. In Cross Country, it takes 5 finishers to round out team scoring. Dylan had to miss the race due to his foot injury. In the JV Girls open race - BCS was led by Kendra. Kendra finished 49th out of 322. Marni was the 2nd BCS finisher in the "open" division. Jonathon led the JV Boys in the open division by placing 68th out of 138 finishers.
See the following link to all of the results on runhigh.com: http://www.runhigh.com/2012RESULTS/R101312AA.html
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Submitted by: Mr. Jerry Maher
Butler Catholic School Cross Country Coach
Student News: PJAS Winners
May 2012
Seventh and eighth grade students from Butler Catholic School competed at the state competition for Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science at Penn State University, main campus, on May 13-15, 2012. The students presented their science fair projects for a panel of three judges and were judged on the following five areas: scientific thought, experimental methods, analytical approach, presentation, and judge’s opinion.
The students placing for first award were: Sarah Dodd, Brock Grenci, Allie Hartle, Julie Kasunic, Kiara LaRocca, Will Morgus, Lily Murray, Steven Patterson, Claire Preston. Second awards went to: Amara Dorcy, Megan Goettler, Austin Monday.
2012 Golden Apple Award Winner
Sister John Ann Mulhern
Sister John Ann Mulhern, Principal at Butler Catholic School, will be the recipient of the Golden Apple Award from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Sister will receive her award at a dinner in May at the Westin Convention Center Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.
Sister John Ann started her educational career in 1961 as an Upper Elementary Teacher. In 1974, she became a principal and has continued on as principal in five schools over 38 years. Congratulations Sister John Ann!
This award is given to outstanding individuals who devote their
lives to teaching and administering in Catholic Schools. Eight (8)
elementary teachers, one (1) principal and two (2) secondary
teachers are selected for the award each year.
Past Butler Catholic School recipients include: Mrs. Frederick &
Mrs. Moran.
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Cross County Results
October 2011
On Saturday, October 15, 2011 Butler Catholic School Cross Country team and individuals competed at the Catholic Championship Meet held at Slippery Rock.
The JV girls placed 16th out of 31 complete teams (5
runners/school). There were a total of 43 teams that competed in the
girls race. Emma LeMay placed 10th to earn a medal. There were 233
JV girl finishers. The top 25 runners earned medals and were
recognized on the stage during the award ceremonies.
The JV boys placed 19th out of 31 complete teams. There were a total
of 41 teams in the boys race with 233 finishers as well.
The JV open race also had a total of 151 girls and 136 boys. This
race was for schools that had over 7 runners competing.
Total JV girls participating: 384
Total JV boys participating: 369
We did not have enough runners to qualify in the varsity boys and
girls races. There were a total of 35 teams in the varsity girls
race with 155 finishers. There were also 28 girls who participated
in the varsity girls open race (schools with more than 7 runners)
for a total of 183 varsity girl runners. There were a total of 33
varsity boys teams with 166 finishers. There were 31 finishers in
the boys varsity open race for a total of 197 finishers. There were
1133 total runners from over 53 schools from the Pittsburgh Diocese
that competed yesterday.
It was a great year for our first complete season at BCS. This sport is not all about winning, it is about improvement, building self discipline, and a sense of accomplishment. Each child should be proud of their accomplishments.
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Submitted by: Mr. Jerry Maher
Butler Catholic School Cross Country Coach
Cross County Results
September 2011
On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Butler Catholic (BCS), hosted St. Gregory of Zelienople at the Butler County Community College. Butler Catholic JV boys won the meet 23-32. Colton Lineman of BCS was the overall winner covering the 1.58 mile course in 11:02. Ryan Truax finished 4th in 12:37, Tom Preston was 5th in 12:38, Dylan Schaffner was 6th in 13:21 and Sean LeMay 7th in 13:24 to complete the team scoring for BCS.
The BCS JV Girls defeated St. Gregory by a score of 20-45. BCS was led by Erin LeMay’s first place finish in 11:25, Emma LeMay finished in 2nd place in 11:44, Caitlyn Peratt 3rd in 13:32, Maggie Bartony 6th in 14:37 and Sarah Preston was 8th in 15:20 to round out the team scoring for BCS.
In the boys varsity race, Terrance Maryland of Butler Catholic was the 1st place finisher covering the 1.58 BC3 course in 11:13. Josh Boyer of BCS was 2nd in 11:19, Noah Ferguson was 3rd in 12:04 and Brock Grenci 8th in 13:39. In the girls varsity race, Claire Preston led BCS with 3rdh place finish in 15:02 followed by Emily Peratt in 4th in 15:39.
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Submitted by: Mr. Jerry Maher
Butler Catholic School Cross Country Coach
Student News: PJAS Winners
May 2011
Seventh and eighth grade students from Butler Catholic School
competed at the state competition for Pennsylvania Junior Academy of
Science at Penn State University, main campus, on May 15-17, 2011.
These students had all placed first at the regional competition in
February at Slippery Rock University. The students presented their
science fair projects for a panel of three judges and were judged on
the following five areas: scientific thought, experimental methods,
analytical approach, presentation, and judge’s opinion.
The students placing for first award were: seventh graders Julie
Kasunic with “Splish Splash,” Sarah Dodd with “The Power of Music,”
Lily Murray with “Is Color Everything?” and eighth grader Anna
Swartwout with “Brain Tease.” Second awards went to: seventh
graders Claire Preston with “Smile, It Goes with Your Outfit,” Brock
Grenci with “Bacteria Battle” and eighth graders Mallory Truax with
“Can You Hear Me?” and Nate Morgus with “BB Ballistics.” Third
place award went to eighth grader Nicholas Grenci with “Rust Race.”
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Submitted by: Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Butler Catholic School
THANK YOU
Butler Catholic School wishes to Thank Joe Weist for his help in patching the pavement by the crosswalk!
Students Bound for State Finals in PJAS
March 2011
Ten Butler Catholic School students were among the 500 plus students
who presented at the Fifty-Fourth Annual Region IX Pennsylvania
Junior Academy of Science meeting on Saturday, February 26, 2011, at
Slippery Rock University. All ten presenters will be going to Penn
State from May 15th to the 17th for the State Meet. Nine qualified
as presenters with their first place awards at the Regional Meet and
one student who received a 2nd place award will serve as a
technician.
Butler Catholic students’ work reflected a variety of topics in
their research as they gave their timed oral presentations before a
panel of judges. They were scored in five independently evaluated
criteria that included scientific thought, experimental methods,
analytical approach, presentation, and judge’s opinion. Individuals
received written comment sheets from each judge to help students
assess their success.
First place winners and their project titles include: Sarah Dodd,
Grade 7, “The Power of Music,” Lily Murray, Grade 7, “Is Color
Everything?” Claire Preston, Grade 7, “Smile, It goes With Your
Outfit!” Anna Swartwout, Grade 8, “Brain Tease,” Mallory Truax,
Grade 8, “Can You Hear Me?” Nick Grenci, Grade 8, “Rust Race,” Brock
Grenci, Grade 7, “Bacteria Battle,” Julie Kasunic, Grade 7, “Splish
Splash,” and Nathaniel Morgus, Grade 8, “BB Ballistics.” Allie
Hartle, Grade 7, “Plug It In,” received a second award and will
represent Butler Catholic at States as a technician.
Seventh grade student, Sarah Dodd commented, “I learned a lot about
other participants’ projects. It was fun!”
Jayne Chobot has been PJAS sponsor at Butler Catholic School for the
past five years. “This is the highest percentage of participants
that we have ever had who qualify to go to States in May. We
anticipate that they will all do extremely well at that level.”
Sister John Ann Mulhern is principal at Butler Catholic.
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Submitted by: Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Butler Catholic School
515 E. Locust St.
Butler, PA 16002
724-285-4276
espohn@hotmail.com
THANK YOU
Butler Catholic School wishes to Thank Fred Maihle, a local electrician, for donating his time and lift to replace all of the lights in the school gymnasium. Your efforts and generosity have not gone unnoticed! THANK YOU FRED!
Ellis Lauds Partnership Between Public and Private Entities
Reproduced with permission of Inside Butler County Butler News
Written by Ken Hawk
Monday, 06 December 2010 11:39
State Representative Brian Ellis of Butler County recently
participated in the presentation of $25,000 in scholarship money to
families in Butler County during an event at Butler Catholic School.
The funding was made possible through the Pennsylvania Educational
Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC program, which enables students in
public and private schools to receive financial assistance for
educational needs. Ellis made the presentation this past Friday at
Butler Catholic.
Williams Transco Pipeline and XTO Energy donated a combined total of
$25,000 in scholarship funding to be administered by the Bridge
Educational Foundation, which is a scholarship organization
established under the EITC program.
Scholarship recipients will attend Butler Catholic School, Evangel
Heights Christian Academy, First Baptist Christian School, Homeacre
Christian Academy and St. Wendelin Catholic School.
Butler Catholic School Hosts Challenge of
Champions
November 2010
Butler Catholic School hosted more than 230 participants for the Challenge of Champions on Saturday, November 13, 2013, from 8:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M. in the school on East Locust Street in Butler. This academic problem-solving competition, sponsored by Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, draws students in grades 4 through 8 from eleven nonpublic schools in Butler, Lawrence, and Mercer counties.
The theme, Sensational Safari, set the pace for the math, language arts, science, English, and physical education events completed by teams formed by combining students from the different schools. Teams scored points during the half hour challenges and built team spirit through cooperation. From the time when they formed their teams in the gym and created their team poster until they gathered at the end of the six events and lunch, participants filled the school with an energy that comes from intense competition and brainpower. At the Awards ceremony at the end of the day, medals were presented to each team member based on outstanding performance and sportsmanship. “Number Junction was the best event because it was like a sudoku game and our team won first place,” said Emily Feczko, 8th grade student. Fourth grader, Ryan Truax agreed, “The math games helped improved my math skills.”
Annually for 18 years, the Challenge of Champions has posed problems and sharpened students’ thinking processes as they have fun in the competition. Veteran three- year participant Holly Goettler agreed this was the best year yet. Anna Swartwout stated her feelings when she said, “I had the best group in the world on my team.” Peggy King and Kim Laskowitz are the originators of the project and continue to volunteer their time to coordinate it. Sister John Ann Mulhern, CDP is principal at Butler Catholic School. Coaches for the school’s 53 participants were Mrs. Kathy Hinterlang and Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn.
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Submitted by:
Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Butler Catholic Students Goes to Penn State
for PJAS
March 2010
Ten promising scientists from
Those qualifying for the May 16-18th Penn State meet include eighth grade students Ansu Benjamin on “Contradicting Colors”, Matt Patterson, “Keep the Heat: Insulate Great”, and Emma Preston with experiment entitled, “Crazy Colors.” Eighth grader Stephanie Centano’s experiment, “Dark or Light Bring It On”, explores dog responses to a maze with and without light. Angela McKnight’s, “Fighting the Burn,” refers to this eighth grade student’s data on freezer burn and plastic wrap. This group also includes Rachel Denny who investigates the whitening power of toothpastes in her project, “Smile” and Dana DePaulo tested artificial sweeteners against sugar in “How Sweet It Is”. Seventh grade students going to States are Mallory Truax, “Which Type of Soda Makes a Plant Grow Faster?” Nate Morgus, “Corrosion of Various Metals in Dilute Sulfuric Acid”, and Nick Grenci, “Crystal Clear Reception”.
Earning a second place award at regional
competition were Kate Kletzli, “Guessing Games”, Ian McNany,
“R-Factor”, and Bryce BonAnno, “Catapult”. All students completed a
research project previous to the meet and reported their findings
through a 10 minute oral presentation during which judges rated
numerically the students’ success in each of five independently
evaluated criteria. Mrs. Jayne Chobot is PJAS moderator and middle
school science teacher at
Ansu Benjamin was all smiles as she qualified for her second year in a row. “It’s a lot of work but well worth the time. States is always fun, especially after you finish your presentation.” Students will hone their presentation between now and May. Comment sheets from judges at the Regional Meet guide them to perfect their work. “I am glad I have another chance to present my results since I know them better than before. There are some things I have to work on to make it clearer,” remarks Nate Morgus.
Submitted by:
Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Students catch robotic excitement
December 2009
Persistence pays off for this year’s Butler Catholic School’s robotic team, the Robo-pens, as they competed on Saturday, December 5, in the First Lego League Competition at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Consortium in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, PA. The team received the second place award for programming and a second call-back for research presentation in a field of 68 teams involving more than 1,000 area middle school students. This outstanding accomplishment is credited to the ten member team of seventh and eighth grade students in Butler Catholic’s elective class for robotics.
Robo-pens team members from 8th grade are Tyler Protivnak, Tyler VanGrootenbruel, Daniel Cleary, Matthew Patterson, Jordan Camp, Katelynn Kletzli, and Emma Preston. Students from 7th grade are Mallory Truax, Anna Swartwout, and Nate Morgus. Mrs. Jayne Chobot, middle school science and robotics teacher, is the team coach. “This is an outstanding team that had some members with previous experience and all with a determination to succeed. All of the students participated in all aspects of the competition,” said Mrs. Chobot.
School Principal, Sister John Ann Mulhern sees the robotics program as an important aspect of the technology program at Butler Catholic School. Each of the four years that Butler Catholic School has competed has shown improved development. The “Smart Move” challenge this year required problem-solving skills, creative thinking, and teamwork as the Robo-pens pitted their customized robots against other participants’ entries. They plan to compete in the the May Madness competition at Sarah Heinz House in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy recognized the Butler Catholic team at the awards ceremony that day. Further awards are listed at: www.firstlegoleague.org. The National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) is an operating unit within Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI), the world’s largest robotics research and development organization.
Robotics at Butler Catholic School draws not only 7th and 8th graders for their elective class but also attracts more than fifteen students from 5th and 6th grade who participate in the after school Robotics Club. These students are ready for things to come in the ever evolving world of technology.
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Submitted by:
Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Guest Celebrant
October 2009
Father Kris D. Stubna, diocesan secretary for education, will be at Butler Catholic as celebrant for the school liturgy mass on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 1:15pm.
Hosting Challenge of Champions
October 2009
Once again, Butler Catholic School will host more than 200 participants at the annual Challenge of Champions on November 14, 2009. Students from non-public schools in the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV will compete in a wide-range of academic games.
Hey Ho, Pinocchio
May 2009
Working with a prop seven inch nose, “Hey Ho, Pinocchio” lead, Keenan Barlow, carried Butler Catholic’s 6th annual school play through a rousing performance. Presented in the school auditorium at 515 E. Locust Street, each evening at 7:30 p.m. on May 14th through 16th, dozens of primary school students as puppets and older boys as the “Bad Boys” set the whole auditorium ringing with songs and shouts as they danced their way through this version of the famous classic.
Second grader, Hunter Hartley says, “The part I like best about the play are the chase scenes where they run through the audience.” The theme of teaching the importance of honesty and showing love is not lost as everyone sees Pinocchio’s nose grow in length every time he tells a lie!
Assisting with their magic for the puppet Pinocchio’s transformation to a live boy were Cricky, a hip, cool cricket with a conscience, played by Molly Moses and the Blue Fairy, Kate Kletzli. Gepetto his father, portayed by Tony Harpel, showed how love makes us all “real”. Much real talent was shown on stage and behind the scenes by many other students involved. Student Director was 8th grader, Brittany Slupe. Assisting Sister John Ann, school principal and play director were teachers including Miss Christine Fisher as Set Designer, Mrs. Maria Kletzli, Props, and Mrs. Barb Moran, Sound Technician.
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Goin’ Green and not just in April
April 2009
Butler Catholic School students are gearing up in April to keep the green goin’. In addition to new projects that promote earth-friendly choices, awareness of lifestyles that do less damage to our environment is taking center stage.
Every grade level is adopting practices within the classroom that promote our
natural, God-given resources. From reading books like Our Class Is Going Green written and illustrated by kindergarten students for Oak Park Elementary School in Bartlesville, OK, to recycling Pringle potato chip cans to make Easter baskets, students are on the move to recognize their part in making a favorable environment available for future generations. 5th graders actively reduce garbage by carrying lunch or snack items in reusable plastic containers rather than throw-away materials. Making the choice to bring in Capri-Sun juice because the container is part of a recycling campaign at school
demonstrates students’ intention to be a part of this.
Many classrooms are starting green right in their rooms. For Kindergarten
students, it’s an herb garden. 2nd grade started growing marigold flowers to take home while the 3rd grade will receive tree seedlings to plant. 4th grade tomato plants sprouting on the classroom window sills will be enjoyed all summer long when the students have them planted at home.
Earth Day on April 22nd brings with it plans to clean up litter around the school yard and along the Butler Catholic’s route that it has taken on through the state program, Adopt – a– Highway. Middle School students will also be participating in the Spring Clean-up on April 18th at the YMCA/Armco Park site to prepare the acreage for summer fun.
In order to save paper, Butler Catholic School changed the format of its school
newspaper, “The BC Buzz”, so it is now a link on the school website to be viewed and printed. The link is on www.butlercatholic.org Although environmentalism is associated with the color green, it comes in all colors, including the energy efficient light bulbs that have been installed throughout the school. Conserving water and paper use in restrooms to seeing art projects that use recycled paper are reminders of our mission. Year round practices of using both sides and scraps of paper develop those habits that help in the long run. Everything from
keeping desks and lockers cleaned and in order to picking up litter in the halls, become habits to increase awareness of individual responsibility in this effort. Butler Catholic School is committed to making the best use of God’s gifts to keep our world “green”.
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Submitted by Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Butler Catholic School
515 E. Locust Street
Butler, PA 16001
724-285-4276
