News from Pius X High School

Fall 2021 Student-Athlete Signing Ceremony

Thunderbolt student-athletes from were honored this year for having committed and signed to play a sport in college. More student-athletes in the Class of 2022 will be honored at a similar ceremony next spring. https://vimeo.com/644523848 Cayden Brandner Stanton Parents – Matt Stanton & Jeanne BrandnerCollegiate Sport – TennisCollege Choice –

A story of a triathlon and a teacher, in Latin

Latin I students researched Roman sports for a class assignment in the Latin language. Teacher Mike Katalenich had the students write a story, which happened to include the teacher himself. Here are the students’ reports, in Latin: Est diēs frīgidus in mēnse octōbrī multō cum ventō. Est triathlon. Prīmum

All Souls Mass 2021

Today we had special guests with us as we celebrated our annual All Souls Mass to honor those who have gone before us.

Students create an offering to loved ones in club and classes

Students in Latinos Unidos created an Ofrenda display near the front of the school to honor loved ones, and students in various Spanish classes are making their own in class. Día de los muertos is a multi-day celebration to honor the dead. With roots as far back as ancient Mesoamerica,

Students perform ‘Quoth the Raven’ with page illustrations

While reading and studying ‘The Raven’ in English 1 taught by Jen Sander, students created their own pages to illustrate various parts of the story.

Bringing the farm – with green peppers – to the lunch line

October is Farm 2 School Month, and Pius X is a proud supporter of bringing locally grown produce to our students. We also aim to support area farmers and the community, and bring the Farm 2 School information to our classrooms. Gary Fehr from Green School Farms visited our school

Marching band earns top rating at state

The Pius X Marching Band earned the top rating, a superior, at Saturday’s State Marching Band Competition! #piusproud It’s the fourth time Pius X has earned this honor since the state competition began in 1984. Latest Stories

Tvrdy named merit semi-finalist

Senior Kat Tvrdy has been named a National Merit semi-finalist. She answered questions about her education at Pius X.

Veggie Challenge inspires students to get creative with corn dish

The vegetable of choice chosen by the judges: corn. The class: Intro to Culinary Arts. The competitors: the six students in this class taught by Amy Shonka. The students went to work creating a tasty dish for the judges involving corn as one of the main ingredients. Winners were Piper

AP Environmental Science car model activity

The ‘ecosytem’ of the school parking lot

How many makes of vehicles are in the parking lot? While teaching biological diversity to her students, AP Environmental Science teacher Lori Watson converted the thinking into cars in a parking lot to allow students to better understand richness (number in an area) and evenness (variety spread throughout). Since Pius

The picture – and story – of a simple drink

The Intro to Culinary Arts class held its own ‘Water Works’ plating competition. Students were assigned to plate and photograph a non-alcoholic beverage, attempting to make it as creative and appealing as possible. Judging criteria included: 1. Elements/Principles of Design (balance, color, shape/proportions, texture, and focal point); 2. Does the

Podcast: Yvonne Howington at Pro Life Assembly

Pius X held a Pro Life Assembly on Tuesday with two speakers. First was Yvonne Howington, mother of Claire Maly, our campus minister. You can hear her speech in this podcast. Students also heard Katherine Burrow from the Abortion Dialogue Academy.

Spelling, balance and the psychology of the two

Students in Psychology class taught by Susan Kelly participated in a brain lateralization lab involving balancing a dowel in one hand (timed) while spelling words given by a teammate. The lab illustrates how the two hemispheres of our brain perform different functions. Kelly further describes the activity (from video) It’s

Rocket launches in AP Pace class

Senior students Kat Tvrdy and Thomas Greisen break down some of the process and the goal of their final launch day for this STEM-based project.

Restore: School year begins with prayer for unity

We celebrated a ‘normal’ all-school Mass as part of our first day of this school year. Our theme for the year is RESTORE. Celebrant Fr. Joseph Bernardo, campus chaplain, reflected on his need to restore his body after last spring’s heart surgery, and said he knows many others at Pius

Class of 2025 greeted with orientation

Welcome to the Class of 2025! Freshmen were on campus today for orientation, will be tomorrow for a retreat, and will be back Monday for their first day of high school. ⚡️

From senior art project to French class ceiling

For her final senior project, Christine Fortenberry painted a reproduction of Pierre Auguste Renoir’s ‘In the Meadow’ onto a ceiling tile that will live in her now-former French classroom. Fortenberry asked her teacher, Laurence Mills, if she had a preference, and Mills choose this particular artwork, but hadn’t seen Fortenberry’s

Mapping out the finer points of classic book

English II students in Nolan DeWispelare’s class made maps of Maycomb to review the unit on the book, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ Students used context clues from the book to determine where different parts of the town are located in relation to each other. Latest Stories

Regents and Chancellors scholars in Class of 2021

Here are the students in the Class of 2021 that have earned Regents and/or Chancellors scholarships. Regents Scholars: Jesse Adame, Jillian Aschoff, Emma Baumfalk, Alex Becker, Kaiden Bedient, Chloe Bohaty, Keagan Callahan, Hudson Chadwick, Colby Chapelle, Cori Dolan, Tyler Dougherty, Andrew Foley, Emma Goeden, Sydney Gubbels, Monica Hanus, Allison Harper,

Students cook up plans for Food Truck activity

Pius X students in Intro to Culinary Arts with teacher Amy Shonka hosted a Food Truck Competition, complete with creating a business plan, model food truck, menu, and 40 food samples as part of the competition. Staff were invited throughout a day last week to taste test and vote with