The Leprechaun Gold St. Vincent-St. Mary High School * Volume XLI * Issue 7 * April 2012 United Flight 93 remembered Rosalia Stadler Staff REPORTER men with knives and an alleged bomb. The passengers were regarded as heroes because they valiantly fought off the hijackers when they realized This past March all religion classes viewed the film United 93, leading what was occurring and prevented the plane from reaching its destina- up to the speaker presentation by Sharon Deitrick and the Skype tion. sessions with Andrea and Craig Peterson, whose aunt and uncle were on Some of the heroes on this flight were Todd Beamer, Alan Beaven, the plane, and Deborah Borza, whose daughter was on the plane. Deora Bodley, William Cashman, and Lauren Grandcolas. Although not United Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, all of the passengers participated in the actual takeover, many of them, on September 11, 2001, after three other planes crashed into the World such as Grandcolas, who was pregnant, prayed together for the success of Trade Center and the Pentagon. It is speculated that United Flight 93 their companions. When one of the passengers called the police, he told was headed towards Washington D.C. The plane was taken over by four them that they planned to be home by dinner. However, this goal was not reached. Students Skype with family members Jackson Ewing Co-EditOR-In-ChIEF where her daughter was. Then, she heard a voice inside of her saying, “She’s with me.” On April 3 and 4, STVM students had the opportunity to Skype with The next moment, Deborah’s phone rang, and she was told the tragic family members of the victims of Flight 93. The Skyping was aired news about her daughter. over the morning announcements as the journalism staff asked ques- She has participated in the construction of the memorial, working tions about Flight 93 and the memorial that is being built. The interview with other families on the project. It serves as a beautiful resting place to was done in order to educate students about the incident and honor the her. “It brings me peace.” memories of those who were on the flight. She also believed that it served as a testament to the power of indi- The first day, students Skyped with Craig and Andrea Peterson, the viduals who choose to make a difference. The memorial does a wonder- niece and nephew of Donald and Jean Peterson, the only married couple ful job of commemorating the lives of those who were on Flight 93. on the plane. They had a Bible with them that miraculously survived the After seeing the movie United 93, Deborah was impressed by the wreckage and destruction. The Bible was flipped open to several differ- movie’s accuracy at depicting the situation. She was impressed by the ent passages that had many meanings, such as Corinthians and Psalms. authenticity of the actors and even helped with the creation of the script “I think the wind was blowing, and everyone saw the verse they needed by participating in interviews. to see,” Andrea said. One such verse was Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, Deborah stated that she doesn’t need to keep the memory of Diora since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw alive because others keep the memory alive through community projects. off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” Even a library was named in her honor by 2nd graders from her reading During the funeral service, a dark storm cloud formed over the program, something she loved and was passionate about. ceremony, and the mourners were concerned that a storm would ruin the ceremony. However, the service continued and the cloud served as an awe-inspiring sight to all who attended. The second day, students Skyped with Deborah, whose daughter Diora was on the flight. Deborah was glad to participate in this project and to help educate students about Flight 93. She shared stories about Diora, who was described as generous and thoughtful. “She always thought of others before herself,” Deborah said.. She also participated in community service, working at St. Clare’s Elementary School providing after-school reading help to students. Diora also enjoyed going to Cedar Point, her favorite amusement park. She was captain of the basketball team in college and learned a hard lesson about her responsibility as a leader. One time she was shocked and betrayed by a friend’s drinking. Diora tried to do the right thing by discussing the incident with her coaches, something that Deborah described as an important moment in her life. Deborah was affected greatly by the Flight 93 incident and the loss of her daughter. She told the story of how she heard about Flight 93. STAFF supports Skype project with their T-shirts. Front row (l to r) When Deborah lived in San Diego and had heard about the attacks, Brianna McVicker, Erica Bratton, Meghan Dannemiller; Back row the first thing she did was go to her church. She prayed to God, asking Jackson Ewing, RosaLia Stadler, Kelly Lauck, and Connor Wallace. Commentary Leprechaun Gold Leprechaun Gold St. Vincent- St. Mary High School The world celebrates Earth Day 15 North Maple Street Jackson Ewing Co-EditOR-In-ChIEF about the environment and encourage the use Akron, Ohio 44303 of a green economy. On the web: www.stvm.com On April 22, the 42nd annual celebration Activists will gather petitions, register vot- of Earth Day will take place around the world. ers, and build the support necessary to enact Advisor Earth Day 2012 is going to focus on protecting change during the movement. “A Billion Acts of Mrs. Maureen Harrigal the voices of people who work to protect the Green” is currently the world’s largest environ- environment. mental service campaign. Assistant The campaign is designed to unite people Other groups are organizing movements of Mrs. Barbara Wood around the world to call for governments to their own on Earth Day. In the islands of Turks Editors-in-Chief take steps to protect the environment. The cam- and Caicos, the Department of Environmental paign will focus on creating sustainable futures and Coastal Resources (DECR) is mobilizing by Meghan Dannemiller and directing them to- sponsoring a week of Jackson Ewing ward positive outcomes. educational activi- The focus is dedicated ties in honor of Earth Staff Reporters not just to creating gov- Day. Erica Bratton ernment action but to iGreen Africa call upon individuals and is also working in Ian Edgley organizations to help the Zimbabwe under the Erin Farrell cause as well. slogan “Do Good for Kelly Lauck The leaders of the Yourself, Do Good for movement are asking Your Planet.” It will be Brianna McVicker world leaders to end organizing communi- Mandy Sollenberger fossil fuel subsidies, ty cleanups and faith- embrace renewable energy technology, improve based awareness seminars. The student group RosaLia Stadler energy efficiency, and make energy univer- Youth for the Environment (Y4TEP) in Malta Connor Wallace sally accessible. In order for this message to be is mobilizing with the help of the University of heard, Earth Day leaders will be “Mobilizing Malta Geographical Society. The group will be Photos the Earth.” The goal is to get people of all back- organizing a clean-up of the Il-Majjistral Park. Mrs. Dolan grounds to demand the growth of environmen- The Calcutta Foundation in India will be tal movements. organizing an event of over 600 children to cel- Mrs. Burdon Organizers of the mobilization say that en- ebrate the spring festival “Holi,” or the “Festival Connor Wallace vironmental issues have not been as important of Colors.” to world leaders as has the global recession. En- All around the world, countries and organi- Special acknowledgement vironmental activists are calling for increased zations are mobilizing for Earth Day 2012. For Mrs. Luanne Richardson action to protect the environment. The mobili- more information, visit “www.earthday.org”. zation is meant to show leaders that people care The Irish Prayer May the road rise 7th Grade Visitation succeeds Amanda Sollenberger to meet you, Staff REPORTER May the wind be STVM’s annual 7th Grade Visitation Day included 672 students from 18 different Catholic schools and 12 different public/private schools. There were 320 STVM students who volun- always at your back, teered, earning 1798 service hours. May the sun shine warm upon your face. May the rains fall soft upon your fields. And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the Hollow of His hand. The Leprechaun Gold is published through- out the year for the students of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Letters to the editor are encouraged, provided they do not contain disruptive material to the educational process, KRISTEN BRATTON demonstrates a science THE STudeNTS are acting out a scene and that they are signed. This paper reserves experiment for the 7th graders. from Macbeth at the English booth. the right to edit submitted material for length. 2 April 2012 Leprechaun Gold Feature Shamrock Alley Students make pysanky eggs for Easter Amanda Sollenberger Brianna McVicker Staff REPORTER Staff REPORTER candles, beeswax and a kistka which is a small Seniors initiate juniors as lead- A new tradition has begun at STVM. The wooden rod with a pointed end that is used to apply the wax to the egg. To begin, a person ers on Kairos 16 week before Easter, Russian classes and mem- bers of the Russian Club participated in making must heat the kistka and then scoop wax on Retreatants arrived at the Loyola of the pysanky which is the name for a fresh egg that to it and then put the tip of the kistka onto the Lakes Retreat House on Monday evening, has been dyed and coated in wax to create a egg, applying the wax in the wanted design.