Eighth Grade Assembly

1. Invocation - Fr. L. López CELEBRATE EXCELLENCE! First Semester Accomplishments CERTIFICATES OF HONOR Fr. Willie García-Tuñón, S.J. Dismissal- Ms. Cartaya Eighth Grade Assembly

2. Lord Jesus, Teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve: To give and not to count the cost, To fight and not to heed the wounds, To toil and not to seek for rest, To labor and not to seek reward, Except that of knowing that I do your will. Nuestra Señora de Belén: ¡REZA POR NOSOTROS!

3. IGNATIAN PARADIGMExperience – Reflection - Action • Experience! Look back at this first semester. Celebrate accomplishments and excellence • Reflect! Think about we have accomplished as a middle school. (What you have done this first semester?) • Action! How can we continue to improve our school and ourselves to serve one another for A.M.D.G.

4. Ms. R. García • Focused on core values. • Successfully covered chapters 1-12. • Learned scripture stories, including Nicodemus. • Prepared for Christmas and worked on a Jesse Tree activity. • Saw the movie “The Five People We Meet in Heaven” which focused on the importance each of us have on one another.

5. Mr. G. Portela • Students learned more about our Church and the Sacraments. • Participated in the Thanksgiving and Christmas drives. • Leaned about Ignatius’ Principle and Foundation. • Formulated an essay on the movie, Five People you Meet in Heaven. • Commended students: Walter Tomasino

6. Ms. M. D. Alonso • Read and discussed Lord of the Flies 451 & Anthem and other short stories by different authors. • Completed poems for Father and Son Day and for Dade County Youth Fair. • Written descriptive essays. • Honors class started The Iliad. • Commended student: Angel Padrón

7. Ms. M. Sendrós-Iglesias • Learned and practiced note-taking techniques • Listened to audio books and read novels • Became acquainted with new literary terms like euphemism and imagery. • Wrote poems for Father and Son Day. • Wrote short narrative stories using Criterion • Learned about authors and how they get their ideas for their novels. • Put into practice the skills of characterization, plot and theme analysis. • Through the novels, and short stories, new vocabulary was learned and put into practice. • Commended Students: Gabriel Rovira, Alexander Novoa, Felipe Montes de Oca, Pablo Cabrera, Nicolás Vázquez

8. Ms. M. Vidal • Students learned about Hispanic groups in the US. • Learned and prepared presentations on Spain, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Cuba. • Participated in the Modern Languages Fair.

9. Dr. M. C. Reyes-García • Completion of Leyendas de Puerto Rico. • Students worked diligently and successfully in their projects for the Modern Languages Fair. • Participated in Christmas Concert (donations to charity). • Commended students: Armando Márquez, Alexander Vidal, Calixto García-Vélez, Carlos Jiménez, Carlos Perez-Heydrich

10. Ms. M. Sánchez • Participated in Modern Languages Fair. • In-class presentations on Spanish speaking countries. • Commended Students: Eric Calero, William López, Brandon Herrera

11. Ms. A. Antón • Covered Leyendas de Puerto Rico. • Learned a lot of new vocabulary. • Participated in Feria de Hispanidad by preparing beautiful lemas ilustrados. • Wrote poems for the Miami Dade Fair. • Learned the Oración de San Ignacio and pray it daily. • Commended students:Robert Woodry, Alex Keenan, Nick Keenan, Felipe Montes de Oca, Rafael Cariello, Gustavo Medina

12. Ms. L. Novoa • Students understood Spanish grammar and communication skills. • Learned about different Latin American cultures. • Participated in the Belen Fair. • Wrote poems for the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair.

13. ML Special Award Projects to Compete at County Fair 8th grade special awards Dante González-Abreu Sebastián Paoli-Torres José Pelegrí Marcos Pérez Jake Ramírez Jorge Rodríguez Michael Tefel

14. Modern Languages Fair

15. Ms. A. Suárez • Covered chapters 1-6, which included Expressions, equations, functions, properties of real numbers, solving linear equations and more. • Commended students: Juan Barrero, Christian Fowler, Nicholas Keenan, Armando Márquez, Brandon Herrera, Ernest Barral, Alexander Vidal, Osvaldo Núñez, Manuel Fernández

16. Ms. T. Campos • Reviewed material from previous years. • Also learned new concepts from Algebra I. • Commended student: Jonathan Varela

17. Ms. D. Toledo • Competed chapters 1-5. • Worked very hard on equations and inequalities. • Also worked with fractions, decimals and integers. • Excellent Academics: Carlos Jiménez

18. Mr. C. Bravo • All classes worked very hard. Participated in the Science Fair. • Science Fair winners: Andrés Powell and Eduardo Santos. • They will represent Belen at the Dade County Youth Fair. • Will have the mouse trap and egg drop competitions during second semester.

19. Mr. J. De Zulueta • Covered a total of six chapters which focused on Earth’s interior and surface, weather/climate, the Solar System, science skills and Exploring the Universe. • Performed two labs on density and geology. • Commended Students: Michael Ramon, Oscar Piñate and Michael Limia

20. Mr. E. Zoller • Civics students • completed six chapters on government and economics. • Became experts on life at West Point • Enjoyed a powerful novel about a teenager and his family caught in war. • Honor Students • Completed 3 chapters • Memorized parts of the Constitution and Declaration • Researched, prepared a script and produced video about our national holidays. • Commended students: Oscar Piñate and Brandon Herrera

21. Mr. R. Nicosia • Focus on critical thinking skills, research, analysis, and presentation instruction. • Small group projects helped build student interaction skills while teaching new course content.

22. Mr. A. Blanco • Trained for the ING 1-mile fun run. • Practiced Basketball and football.

23. Mr. F. Padura • Incredible job on ensemble acting scenes! • Students performed with them in Roca. • Theater with lights, sound and props!

24. Ms. M. Urbay • Learned the importance of team work. • Learned how to work handle their instruments. • Performed at the Belen Gala. • Commended student: Ernest Barral

25. Altar Servers • We have had several new members to our altar server ministry who actively participate in our middle school liturgies. Christian Dopico Nicholas A. Vázquez

26. Mix It Up

29. Father & Son

30. Academic Awards of 2009-2010

31. Future Activities • Tómbola • Homeroom Dynamics • 8th grade Pin Ceremony • 8th Grade Dance • 8th Grade Student Teacher Day • 8th Grade Gradventure Trip

32. Middle School Sports • The JH Swimming team • Most successful squad…went undefeated! • First place at Westminster Christian, Gulliver, Belen Jesuit, MS Private Championships & Dade County Youth Fair. • Outstanding swimmers: Ryan Guso, Santiago Núñez • The JH Football team • Finished with a record of 5-2.

33. Middle School Sports • The Junior High Cross Country team • First place at Flrunners.com Invitational, Tri-County Championships and Arch. Carroll.   • Finished in 2nd place at ACC, Catholic State, Ransom and St. Theresa.   • Top Runners: Matthew Mullin-García, Antonio Montadas, Lorenzo Laurita and Bruno Zayas. • MS Cross Country: 2nd Place in State Championships • MS Football: two teams, 7th and 8th

34. Middle School Sports

35. Middle School Clubs ALPHA • Students attended Oliver, A Few Good Men, Fuenteovejuna and the Picaresque Novel. • Also went to Edin Gutiérrez Art Exhibit and did workshop on Origami. Math • Middle School Math Club: Preparing for County competition in February. Operation Smile • Raise funds for surgeries and raise awareness.

36. Belen Junior Thespians once again qualified for the State Festival of Feb 11-12. Top in District, Critic’s Choice: Jaime López (7) and José Pelegrí (8), Anthony Padura (8), Rafael Cariello (8), Pablo Arévalo (7), Ignacio Pérez (8) and Ghulian Ramos (7) received Superiors in their respective categories. Future Doctor’s of America: • visited Miami Children’s Hospital • participated in UM Health Clinics • volunteered in the Autism Basketball Clinic Green Club: • starting a recycling program • working on a garden with Mrs. Fenton National Junior Honor Society • Renewed commitment to a US Army Platoon serving in Afghanistan. Sent them Christmas gifts and over 100 letters.

37. Robotics • Belen hosted the first ever Robotics competition. • Italian Club • Members learned fundamentals of bocce ball. • Watched several films • Participated in Modern Languages Fair. • Bishop San Pedro • Participated in Modern Languages Fair • Participated in Futbolito • Organized “La Canastilla”

38. First Semester Honor Rolls • Honor Roll 6th - 104 students 63% 7th - 98 students 49% 8th - 115 students 55% • Principal’s Honor Roll 6th – 28 students 16.9% 7th – 27 students 13.5% 8th – 19 students 9%

39. Honor Roll CertificatesG.P.A. of 3.4 or higherPrincipal’s Honor RollAn A in all subjectsFr. García-Tuñón, S.J., Ed. D.PrincipalFaculty & Counselors

40. Top Five Averages First Semester Invited to special Field Trip & extra raffle ticket! Alexander Vidal Ernest Neil Barral Juan Andrés Barrero Osvaldo Núñez Armando Javier Márquez CONGRATULATIONS!

41. CELEBRATION! • FRI. JANUARY 28TH- 3 PM – IGNATIAN CENTER • PATIO for PIZZA – “keep this coupon” ticket • ROCA THEATER for RAFFLE-PRIZES! PUT YOUR NAME ON TICKET with lines! Enter through 8th grade lobby door. • DISMISSAL AT 3:45 PM

42. BELEN JESUIT - IGNATIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS PATIO OF THE POETSROCA THEATRE PATIO OF THE POETS

43. Citizenship & School Spirit • Care about each other • Care about your family & neighbor • Care for our school • Do what is best and right for all!

44. DO YOUR BEST… GOD WILL DO THE REST! Congratulations to all who did their best the first semester & here is to a great second semester!