Classroom notes
April 26, 2012 1:24PM
Shorewood's Alessa Smith (left); Wilmington's Nick Humbles; Naperville's Sam Juveland and Naperville's Theresa Gallo were the lead character in JCA's "Guys and Dolls." | Submitted photo
Updated: May 28, 2012 8:00AM
JCA stages musical
JOLIET — Dreams do come true at Joliet Catholic Academy. For senior Alessa Smith of Shorewood, her dream was to play a certain character who sings her way through boyfriend troubles: Miss Adelaide.
“I have wanted to play Adelaide since I was in sixth grade,” Smith said. “My favorite musical is ‘Guys and Dolls,’ and when I got the part, I was absolutely thrilled — just to be living the character and the songs.”
As they say on Broadway, Smith stole the show when JCA staged its annual spring musical, “Guys and Dolls,” in March at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre.
“Guys and Dolls” was performed by members of the JCA Drama Club, which is moderated by Jennifer Szynal, who sees a future for Smith.
“I really hope she continues in college,” Szynal said.
Joining Smith in the spotlight for JCA were Wilmington’s Nick Humbles as Nathan Detroit, Naperville’s Sam Juveland as Sky Masterson and Naperville’s Theresa Gallo as Sarah Brown.
Szynal was helped by assistant director Tim Vollmer, vocal director Jamie Szynal and choreographer Jeni Donahue-Smith. Joe Burke, the Religion Department chairman at JCA, also made a cameo appearance as Angie the Ox.
Also appearing were Joseph Alvarez (Romeoville), Robert Babich (Channahon), Antoniao Bouie Jr. (Joliet), Mary Rose Bruno (Frankfort), Kirsten Carlson (Joliet), Andrew Casey (Joliet), Regan Dougherty (Naperville), Francesca Embrey (Romeoville), Lauren Faber (Joliet), Alyssa Folino (Romeoville), Victoria Ford (Romeoville), Colleen Fritz (Naperville), Rafael Garcia (Joliet), Anthony Gomez (Plainfield), Jessica Gnutek (Joliet), Megan Lemke (Plainfield), Junica Lugod (Romeoville), Peter McWherter (Plainfield), Elizabeth Minarich (Joliet), Lauren Osuch (Joliet), Michelle Poplawski (Joliet), Katie Rejsek (Bolingbrook), Mary Ronchetti (Joliet), Sam Ryan (Wilmington), Shannon Ryan (Minooka), Jasmine Smith (Joliet), Cailea Styx (Joliet), Modesty Tan (Joliet), Tiffany Taylor (Joliet), Lucas Tyler (Joliet), Damian Wahl (Joliet) and Meagan Williams (Bolingbrook).
Students serve as leaders
JOLIET — St. Mary Nativity School eighth-graders Andrea Plascencia and Valerie Richards volunteered for leadership roles in the school’s devotion to the Sacred Heart.
This four-month commitment required them to assist younger students in learning and understanding this church devotion. Seventh-grader Jovan Thompson helped design the artwork for banners that would depict the Promises of the Sacred Heart.
Each Faith Family group of the school worked to complete each banner.
Kids read for competition
JOLIET — St. Paul the Apostle School students competed in a Battle of the Books reading competition against students from other local Catholic schools. The contest is designed to test the knowledge and learning skills for kids in grades 4-8 who love to read.
Students prepared for battle by reading books from a preselected list. They then worked together after reading the stories to make sure they had a clear understanding of the content. During competition, each team was asked questions at random and a winner was declared after two rounds of competition.
St. Paul teams for grade 6-8 competing at the Cathedral of St. Raymond School on March 8 were Andre Biasella, Zach Offerman, Cullen Testa, Lindsay Kent, Emily Molnar, Claressa Kohler, Amanda Nelson, Marissa Lewinski, Maddie Bauer, Hanna Bergeson, Brenna Testa and McCoy Hutchinson.
Team members for grades 4-5 competing at St. Mary Mokena School on March 22 included Colin Heino, Melany Rodriguez, Sinclair Roechner, Isabelle Todd, Gillian Underhill, Jacob Schreiner, Jakob Scherf, Justin Dudzik, Maeve Lowry, Mary Grace McGrath, Kathleen Sears, Katie Shroba, Morgan Powers, Anne Serdar, Catherine Studer and Madison Talarico.
Kids study business
JOLIET — St. Paul the Apostle school students in grades 5-8 ventured into the world of business during computer technology class. Project Open for Business is an innovative project used to engage students to use creative thinking skills to develop their own business.
The students demonstrated their creativity by developing products and services and promoting them through the use of computer technology. Students created a business portfolio which included many supporting documents created in Microsoft Word, Publisher and Excel. Businesses varied from orthodontist practices to fitness clubs, retail stores and more.
