Category Archives: Middle School

Performing Arts Shows to Watch this Weekend

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Chaminade performing arts has two excellent shows to watch this weekend, Chaminade’s high school dance concert Valley of the Jeweled Dragon, and Chaminade Middle School Players’ Luck of the Draw.

Valley of the Jeweled Dragon features an evening of dance a cirque with a fantasy fusion of Eastern countries and cultures at the Tutor Family Center for the Performing Arts on the West Hills campus. Ticket prices are $22 for adults, $16 for students and $11 for children. Click here to purchase tickets. Show dates and times are:

  • Friday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Chaminade Middle School Players present a night of musical comedy fun as they perform Luck of the Draw! A completely improvised musical based on audience suggestions, so every night is a new and original show. No two shows are alike! Join us for a night of good laughs, music, and even a little dancing!

Performances will be held at the Fr. Allen DeLong Center for Arts and Athletics. Ticket prices are $10.00  for general admission. Click here to purchase tickets. All proceeds benefit the Chaminade middle school drama program. Show dates and times:

  • Thursday, May 10 at 7:01 p.m.
  • Friday, May 11 at 7:01 p.m.
  • Saturday, May 12 at 7:01 p.m. 

Please come support the Arts at Chaminade!

Center for Excellence Registration is Open

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Registration for Chaminade College Preparatory’s Center for Excellence (CCE) is now open. It is the perfect place for students to spend their summer learning and growing. With classes in the morning and afternoon, CCE offers programs, for students entering grades 1-12, designed to inspire, engage, and empower young minds.

Students entering grades 1 through 12 will enjoy expanding their horizons through the Center for Excellence summer programming. For students entering Chaminade’s 6th grade, Eagles Take Flight will prepare them academically and introduce them to Chaminade’s middle school community; while students entering high school grades can acquire valuable skills in High School Study and Success Skills, and students entering 12th grade can prepare for college applications in the College Application Bootcamp. CCE also offers robotics programs on both campuses with a brand-new class on the West Hills campus focusing on electronics and programming.

This year, CCEs summer Ste[+a]m Academy, for grades K-5, will once again be powered by STEMscopes. With a different curriculum each week, there is no repetition. Each STEMscope module engages students in cross-disciplinary activities that build knowledge and skills in areas including computer science, engineering, and biomedical science. Students can come for one week, or all five weeks.

The Great Books Academy, for grades K-5, is one of CCEs most popular programs aimed at educating the whole child. The Great Books curriculum is the cornerstone of the academy and is specially designed to help students become independent readers and thinkers by focusing on reading comprehension, critical thinking, vocabulary, and writing.

Summer is also an excellent time for students of all ages to pursue their creative passions in visual and performing arts. And children ages 5 to 15 can join CCEs Sports Camps and explore athletics from football to basketball as well as soccer, baseball, volleyball, fencing, and more. The West Hills campus also hosts Varsity Camps, which gives students the chance to work with Chaminade’s varsity head coaches, players, and former athletes with college and professional experience.

For more information visit chaminade.org/centerforexcellence or click here to register today.

C-Notes and C7 Take First Place at Santa Clarita Festival

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The Chaminade C-Notes and C7 ensemble performed at the Music in the Parks festival in Santa Clarita Saturday, April 28. More than 20 schools from Arizona, California, and Nevada participated in the festival. The awards ceremony took place at Six Flags Magic Mountain where The C-Notes earned first place in the Concert Choir division with a “superior” rating. C7 ensemble Also took first place in the Vocal Jazz division and scored a “superior “rating. They also won best Overall Choir for Junior High/Middle School division. Lauren Effertz ’23 received a medal for the Best Overall Vocalist in the festival.

Congratulations to Mrs. Kathy Rohrs and her High School Assistant Conductors, Denise Enrique ’20 and Brendan Teehan ’21 for their great accomplishment.

Eagle Engineers Debut International Robotics Honor Society at World Championship

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Chaminade’s Eagle Engineering robotics teams are completing their season at the Vex Robotics World Championship with historic implications. While the STEM Hall of Fame middle school team 83 earned their way to VEX Worlds as a finalist in the Southern California State Championship, the high school’s team 1138 traveled to Louisville with a secret.

Earlier in the year, former Chaminade teacher and Eagle Engineering founder Nancy McIntyre invited her old team to pilot a new program for the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (RECF). The top-secret project was created to help develop a way to recognize the dedication and excellence that robotics students commit to their sport.  The International Robotics Honor Society (IRHS), will be rolled out to all American teams next year and will go worldwide in the 2019-2020 school year. Based on the format of the National Honor Society, IRHS celebrates students who excel in a combination of academic excellence, service and leadership, and a high commitment to their school’s robotics program.

Since late Fall, Robotics Program Director Tommy Smeltzer worked with McIntyre, Principal, Bro. Tom Fahy and team parents Talin Mansourian and Laura Gideon to charter a chapter at Chaminade and devise local guidelines for admission. After a comprehensive application period, some of the new inductees traveled to Kentucky to take part in a surprise announcement on Friday morning’s opening ceremonies. Twelve Chaminade students joined students from a local Louisville school to be the first to be inducted on the main stage in the Kentucky Exposition Center’s 18,000-seat Freedom Hall. Brother Tom Fahy was on hand to witness the event and share in the excitement as both Chaminade teams competed among the 1600 teams from over 40 countries.

Chaminade is honored to be among those leading the way in the development of this monumental program that will encourage STEM programs and recognize the dedicated students destined to become the next generation of engineers, programmers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

For more information on Eagle Engineering, contact tsmeltzer@chaminade.org.

Chaminade Equestrian is the 2017-2018 Overall High-Point School Champion

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Equestrian

photo: Deborah Kananen

For the first time in school history, Chaminade College Preparatory’s Equestrian team has won the Interscholastic Equestrian League (IEL). Specifically, they are the Overall High-Point School Team Champion, which is the equestrian equivalent to a CIF championship.

Chaminade’s team of 15 riders (from both the middle school and high school) defeated 80 schools, and a total of 400 riders to win the IEL. In addition, the team won:

  • High-Point Novice Team Reserve
  • High-Point Freshman Team Champion

Individual riders were recognized in Freshman award categories:

  • Charlotte Holtke ’23: Freshman Hunter Third Place
  • Chloe Costell ’22:  Freshman Equitation Reserve
  • Grace Carson ’21: Freshman Equitation Third Place
  • Raylee Gennaro ’19: Freshman Dressage/First Level Reserve