extra-curricular Activities

JUNIOR HIGH ELECTIVES
Junior High Students choose their elective classes quarterly. They will pick their top 4 choices and will be placed in one of those choices depending on availability. Some classes are semester-long (Choir, Band, Clay). Students who choose these classes will be in them for the entire semester and will not change for Quarter 2. Other classes are quarterly classes. 

CHOIR
Saint Vincent's School offers Choir in two different age groups: 5th/6th graders and Junior High students.  Students in the Junior High Choir lead the music at our weekly school All Masses.  We are blessed to have several students in the Junior High Choir who play instruments to help accompany the singing.   The 5th/6th-grade choir has the opportunity to sing at All Masses once or twice a semester, and also lead music at our school prayer services.  Both groups perform at two yearly concerts and have the opportunity to participate in a Christmas caroling service project.  Our choir rehearsals are classes during the school day and meet three times every week.

BAND

Saint Vincent's School offers Band Class in two different age groups: 5th/6th graders and Junior High students.  Students in Junior High Band Class meet three times a week during the Junior High Elective period. The Junior High Band performs music of various styles and is open to any Junior High student. The 5th/6th-Grade Band Class meets during the school day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings and focuses on beginner-level music. The 5th/6th-grade band is open to any 5th or 6th Grade student. Both the Junior High Band and the 5th/6th Grade Band perform at two yearly concerts. No experience is necessary for the Bands at St. V! If you want to learn to play an instrument you can learn to do that here!

STUDENT LEADERSHIP

St. Vincent Student Leadership (SVSL) are students in the position to influence, motivate, and guide others toward the achievement of a goal. Students on the leadership team are from grades 5 through 8. The student is appointed to the position of leadership by their teacher and completes paperwork. An interview is conducted by the administration for the final selection. The SVSL team is responsible for finding our charity to support for the year, organizing We Care Week, Catholic Schools Week, Advent and Lent activities,  and leading us in rosary and prayer.  

The student leaders this year have selected Habitat for Humanity as our charity.  So far this year, we have collected financial donations during We Care Week and the students were able to dress in comfy clothes and clothes from different decades.  We welcomed the organizer of Habitat for Humanity during our assembly that week so that the children have a better understanding of what Habitat for Humanity does for the community.  We look forward to other opportunities to help this great organization.

Our student leaders are also doing a book study.  The book is "Lead with Humility, Twelve Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis". We are discussing this book at the beginning of each monthly meeting and hope this helps with our leadership. It's going to be a great year for all of us and the student leaders are making sure of this.

ATHLETICS
St. Vincent de Paul School will maintain Athletic guidelines and procedures that support and promote the school’s mission. These guidelines and procedures shall adhere to the regulations put forth by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. In particular, these guidelines should emphasize sportsmanship for students, coaches, and parents. The guidelines should contain procedures for addressing misconduct on the part of students, coaches, or parents, and should provide for regular reviews of all coaches, both during the season and after the season. St. Vincent's School typically sponsors the following sports: Football, Volleyball, Cheerleading, Basketball, Soccer, Track, Softball, Golf, and Cross Country.

ROBOTICS 

Robotics are available to all students at St. Vincent.  Starting in Kindergarten, programming concepts are taught and built upon each year.  These concepts are then applied through various types of robots.  From BeeBots and Edison bots in K-4th in the Computer Specials class to VEX GO in 4th-grade classrooms, to DASH bots in 5th-grade Computer Specials to Sphero bots in 6th-grade classrooms and, finally Lego Mindstorms and CUE bots, in Junior High electives.

St. Vincent also runs a competitive robotics team using the VEX IQ platform.  Each year a new game is announced and students in the team are required to analyze the game and design and build their robot using the engineering process.  Each team documents all of their work in an engineering notebook.  At competitions, students drive their robot in alliance with another team to score the most points together.  Top teams earn a bid to the State competition at Lucas Oil Stadium at each event!

This robotics team is open to any students in grades 5-8 to apply.  We usually start our season shortly after Labor Day and finish in late March. 

COMPETITIVE SPEECH
Students have the opportunity to compete in different events at state-wide speech tournaments. Speech events are divided into two categories:  Public Address and Interpretation.  Public Address events involve professional speaking in event categories such as Extemp (news analysis), Original Oratory (a self-written speech about a societal issue), Radio Broadcasting, as well as Discussion.  Interpretation events remind a lot of individuals of theatre without props.  Competing in categories such as Humor, Drama, Poetry, and Prose, students trim down a work of literature, movie script, or play into a ten-minute "piece."  Students then perform their piece including all of the chosen characters interacting with each other. Speech season is from August until December, and students are welcome to attend as many or as few tournaments as their schedule allows. Coaches will help students select events, find pieces, and perfect their performance. 

MERCY CLUB
Mercy Club is an after-school group that meets twice a month on Friday from 3-4 pm after school to give 7th and 8th-grade students the opportunity to grow in their spiritual lives through the Divine Mercy Chaplet, personal prayer, rosary, prayer journaling, prayer groups, Eucharistic adoration, and songs of praise.

K-3 ENRICHMENT
K-3 Enrichment Programs aim to provide a variety of after-school activities geared toward Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Activities will range between 1-2 hours after school and will be located in either the school or the Life Center.  We are interested in bringing programs such as cooking classes, sports, STEM, and religious education to our students.  Sign up genius will be sent out each month and the classes could be one-time or weekly sessions 
If you have any ideas for classes or would like to volunteer to lead a class, please reach out to Nicole O'Dea or Susie Rogers. 
gonza280@gmail.com
susie.wagner84@gmail.com

ART CLUB
Junior High students can participate in Art Club. Art Club meets twice a month and is limited to 15 students. Members will get the chance to explore the use of different media, help design and create artwork to be put on display in public settings and participate in beautifying our school hallways.