James D. Meredith Principal FROM THE PRESIDENT. Mr. Michael McArdle

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1 December 2013 Dear Parents, As we begin the third week of Advent, we wait with joy and hope for the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Below is a family Advent prayer from the Loyola Press: Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever faithful to your promises and ever close to your Church: the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior s coming and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time. Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow, for he is Lord for ever and ever. Amen. Here at Archbishop Ryan, as a school family, we are sharing in many events as we prepare the way for the Lord. This week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, our students will have an opportunity to share God s grace and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. On Friday, the entire school family will gather at a celebration of Mass, followed by a Christmas Concert with dismissal at 10 am. All of our Ryan Family is invited to join us a Ryan Family Christmas that begins at 4 pm on Sunday, December 22. Mass will be celebrated in the Auditorium, followed by a tree lighting ceremony and a Christmas Concert. As we continue the march toward Christmas, we must not forget all of the other things happening here at school. This edition of the newsletter will highlight some important information, including a change in the format of our Parent-Teacher Conferences. Please read along for all of the important details. On behalf of all of us at Archbishop Ryan, along with my own family, I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Gratefully, James D. Meredith Principal FROM THE PRESIDENT Mr. Michael McArdle On Sunday, December 8, in the midst of the first major snow storm of the season, students, staff and graduates gathered in the new John Quinn Athletic Training Center for a brief dedication ceremony. The late Mr. Quinn was well known as a teacher and coach in the Ryan community and the larger community. Naming this new facility after him will help to remind us of his legacy and how important he and others were in establishing the Spirit of Ryan in the early decades of our school. Coach Quinn s sons Bill and Dan attended the dedication and recalled the importance of Ryan in their father s life and theirs as well. Bill and Dan Quinn along with Mr. George Todt, Athletic Director, cut the ribbon to dedicate the new John Quinn Athletic Training Center. The dedication ceremony represented the final act of a multi-year enhancement project for our athletic facilities. Most of the funding for the project came from a state grant sponsored by then Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Dennis O Brien who now serves as an at large member of Philadelphia City Council. Councilman O Brien attended the dedication and we are grateful to him for his wonderful support of Archbishop Ryan High School throughout the years.

2 This funding made it possible to refurbish the South Gym and Locker Room and the North Gym and then the construction of the new building. The project took several years to complete and was supervised by the facilities committee of the President s Advisory Board. The work of the facilities committee involved long hours of planning, reviewing bids, evaluating progress and contending with often unexpected and thorny problems. I am grateful to the board and the committee for their advice and support. The new John Quinn Athletic Training Center Our athletes and gym classes have experienced the benefits of the improvements to the gyms for two years now and the Quinn Athletic Training center will provide an expanded area for our weight room and a practice space for our new wrestling program. Additionally, in recent years, we have refurbished two of our science labs and transformed the South Lecture Hall into a small theater. These enhancements have allowed us to add new curricular and extracurricular programs for our students. Finally, I wish to extend to our students and you their parents my best wishes for a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Mr. Joseph McFadden Comments and Failure Warnings will be on GradeConnect by the afternoon of Friday, December 20th. If your child is in danger of failing either the Second Quarter or the First Semester, they will receive the comment FAILURE WARNING. If your child receives that comment, they must print out the Warning and return the signed form to the Office of Academic Affairs Office by Wednesday, January 8, Beginning with the January 9 Parent-Teacher Conferences, we will be moving to an appointment only system. This method has been successfully employed in other Archdiocesan high schools. We hope that this will allow for more productive conferences. On the top of the Archbishop Ryan website ( there will be a link for the PTA sign-up form. Each teacher has 20, 6 minute blocks of time available. Find the teacher s name and in the time you would like, please type in your child s name and HR section. You may sign-up for as many teachers as you need. I ask that all sign-ups be completed by 12:00PM on Thursday, January 9. If a teacher has no parents signed up, they will not be required to be present that evening, so making an appointment is vital. If you are unable to access the sign-up form or do not have access to a computer, you can call the Academic Affairs Office at , ext. 217 to schedule your appointment. On Monday, December 16, all 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students who took the PSAT received their results. I encourage you to review the results with your child and also examine the online access of their scores which gives detailed results of testing strength and weaknesses. The test is a fairly accurate indicator of success on the SAT test so I encourage all families to examine the results of the test. On a final note, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas celebration. If you are struggling with any last minute gifts or stocking stuffers for your child, a book or an SAT Prep book always makes a wonderful present!

3 FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FOR STUDENT SERVICES Mr. Glen Galeone Everyone in the Office of Student Services would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please remember that you can check your student's discipline history on GradeConnect. It is a good idea to check periodically. Any of our male students who need to purchase new school shoes can get the "Nunn Bush" shoe at Trevose Shoes for $59. This is a nice shoe and more reasonably priced than our other shoe options. FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS Mr. Frank Morris Student Affairs prepares for the celebration of Color Games, an honored Ryan tradition. Each class voted on submitted Color Games designs for a t-shirt that represents their class. The T-shirts are now ready for purchase at a cost of $17.00 for sizes Small thru X-Large; $18.00 for sizes XXL thru XXXL. Shirts are purchased in the Student Affairs Office during lunch periods. Checks are accepted written out to Archbishop Ryan High School, include the student number on the bottom. T- shirts are worn during the Color Game competitions between the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Transpasses for January will continue to be distributed through January 17. Junior families are reminded that Archbishop Ryan ring order payments are due in the Tuition Office. The Ring Mass will be held at Christ the King Church at 7:00pm on Wednesday February 26, FROM THE SCHOOL MINISTER Father John Donia The upcoming Christmas season provides us with a tremendous amount of food for thought in a world where the sense of family has become somewhat disjointed. Through the Holy Family we are reminded that the family is ground zero when it comes to experiencing the reality of love and moral living. Love is often assumed in family life, but it may not always be obvious. When was the last time you looked at your spouse or your child and said plainly, I thank God for the gift of you in my life! Letting our loved ones know just how much we love them not just in deed, but in word too, goes a long way towards creating a culture of love within our family. We cannot learn to love others if we do not experience the act of being loved ourselves. We must also make a concerted effort to help our children develop a sound morality formed by their faith in Jesus. In the absence of wholesome role models, children can easily be led astray by social norms which may run counter to Gospel values and Gospel living. Even adults can fall prey to such norms if time is not spent cultivating their own love for God, and rooting themselves firmly in Gospel living. Take time to concentrate on your family. So that in modeling Mary and Joseph s example, we too can help our children to not only grow in size and strength, but also be filled with wisdom, and the grace of God. Kairos Retreat The February Kairos retreat registration is ongoing. It is being conducted on a first come, first served basis until all spots have been filled. Please note that the Kairos retreat is open to members of the senior class only. For further information on Kairos, please go to the Ministry section of the Ryan website and click on the Kairos tab. Christian Service All students in grade 11 are required to complete 20 hours of Christian service this school year. Students have received a packet of information pertaining to the program. Parents and guardians are urged to look over the material (also available on the Ministry section of the Ryan website by clicking on the Christian Service tab). Questions about the Christian service requirements can be ed to me. A Good Christmas Confession A good preparation for Christmas includes a good confession. In the sacrament of

4 Reconciliation, Jesus is at work forgiving, healing, restoring, rekindling, and making right whatever sin has adversely affected within people. Our students will receive the sacrament this week during their Theology classes. I pray that all in our community open the door to Jesus in the sacrament of Reconciliation and allow him to rekindle love, peace, and joy within them. Peace! ON RETREAT by Daniel Turner, 14 Every one of us could use a little time away from the busyness of school and work. Even better, we could take that time away from distractions and use it to grow in our relationships with God and others. It is central to our identity as a Catholic school community to foster the faith of our students. On Kairos, retreatants are welcomed to experience the transformative power of Christ through prayer and community with fellow classmates and adult leaders. Daniel Turner, 14, Rector of Kairos 51, closes the retreat with an inspiring talk on December 15. We pray for the continued spiritual formation of the retreatants returning home from Kairos 51 in December. But there are only two more retreats left this year! All students are encouraged to open their hearts to the moving power of Christ and join us on the Kairos retreats coming in February and April. God bless and live the Third! The chapel at the Saint Francis Retreat House in Easton during Kairos 51 NCYC by Jessica Kowalski, 14 I cannot thank the school administration enough for giving Bill Stewart and myself the opportunity to experience God's grace at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana during November. This journey has opened my eyes and strengthened my faith in Christ tremendously. Gathering with over twenty three thousand Catholic teenagers from across the country to celebrate God's presence in our lives was absolutely incredible. Jessica and Bill Stewart at the Lucas Oil Stadium after Mass with Elizabeth Riordan and Dan Finnochio, the organizers of the trip. Meeting so many diverse people was a reminder to remain open minded because God works through others to reach us. We celebrated Mass in a football stadium because there were so many people, and that demonstrated the reality of our faith, the meaning of Catholicism. Being Catholic is so much more than just going to Church on Sundays and receiving the sacraments, but that is so hard to understand in the world we live in today. Jessica and Bill with the emcee of the NCYC event, Jesse Manibusan,, along with Catholic teens from Philly that they met on the trip. I have been undoubtedly inspired to spread the Catholic faith to everyone I come across, to help them learn to lead better lives. This conference focused not

5 only on our faith in Christ, but how to live a life for others without losing faith in ourselves. I will remember this life changing experience and all of the positive lessons that I have learned during these three days for the rest of my life. Thank you once again. Every month, we highlight the monthly Gift of the Holy Spirit in our classrooms and on Twitter. Principal s Holiday here at Ryan. Therefore, Friday, January 17 will now be a holiday and school is closed. In case of inclement weather, the status of school for Archbishop Ryan High School is determined solely by the Office of Catholic Education. Please direct your attention to KYW1060 on the radio for an official announcement regarding the status of parochial schools. We will follow up with a School Reach phone message and a tweet via our official Twitter account (@ARHS). PARENTS ASSOCIATION The first meeting of the newly formed Archbishop Ryan Parents Association was held on Monday, December 2. The group is taking its first steps and is organizing a leadership team and will meet again in March. Stay tuned for update or contact Mr. Meredith if you wish to help! ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS School dismisses for the Christmas Holiday on December 20 at 10:30 am and school resumes on January 2. An arrived from Mr. Christopher Mominey, our new Secretary for Catholic Education which stated, In celebration of my first year as your new Secretary, I wish to offer you a Secretary s Holiday.Let your students and teachers know that their Secretary for Education in the Archdiocese is praying for them and wishing them a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year of The Secretary s Holiday, December 23, is already a If we have a Two Hour Delay students report at 9:40 to homeroom. The Two Hour Delay schedule is on our website and in our handbook. Proceeds from Dress Down Day on December 19 will assist needy local families along with Catholic Social Services. Our faculty and staff are working on a Christmas surprise for our students. It will be posted on our website on December 20. Registrations are currently being accepted for the Class of We are eager to welcome new students to our Ryan Family! Our varsity football team finished with a record of 8 wins and 3 losses, defeating two PIAA State Champions along the way. Jordan Sarruda and Nicholas Marra, system engineers from Lockheed Martin, presented to the Future Engineers' Club on Thursday, December 12. Jordan and Nicholas shared their real world experience with students from all four years who are considering engineering as a possible career. Last Minute Christmas Shopping? The school store will be open for your Christmas shopping convenience on Tuesday (12/17) evening from 6-8. You can also shop online by clicking on school store!

6 THE TONI DONATO-BOLIS AND BABY RJ FOUNDATION The Toni Donato-Bolis and Baby RJ Foundation was created after nine month pregnant Toni and her unborn child RJ lost their lives in a car crash caused by a distracted driver. Toni was two days away from giving birth to her second child on, June 1, She was less than a mile from home when her SUV was hit head on killing her and RJ. On Thursday, December 5 th, Nicole Lannutti, from the Foundation, came to Ryan and spoke with many of our junior and senior students about the dangers and consequences of distracted driving. Lannutti stressed to nondrivers the importance of how a passenger is capable of preventing distracted driving. The presentation included a 10 ½ minute documentary, followed by a discussion about how many distractions there are and what we can do to avoid them. There was also discussion about relevant laws with which the family is involved. Thank you to Mrs. Pam Yohlin, CORA counselor, for arranging this important message for our students. For more information about the Foundation and its work, please visit DECEMBER 19: RED RIBBON DAY The Archbishop Ryan SADD club (Students Against Destructive Decisions) will be holding "Red Ribbon Day" this Thursday, December 19th. Red Ribbon Day serves as a vehicle for our students to take a stand against drug use/abuse, by making a personal commitment to live drug-free lives with the ultimate goal being the creation of a drug-free school and community. From Also, perhaps more importantly, Red Ribbon Day commemorates the ultimate sacrifice made by DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who died at the hands of drug traffickers in Mexico while fighting the battle against illegal drugs to keep our country safe. The SADD students will have a table set-up outside of the North Cafeteria, where they will have red ribbons, red lollipops, and red pledge cards for students who would like to support the campaign against drug and alcohol abuse. There will also be brochures and prevention materials available for students who would like information on drugs, alcohol and addiction. CONGRATS, CORY! Cory Hunter earned All-Catholic honors in golf this Fall. His name was accidently omitted from our November newsletter. Sorry, Cory and congratulations on your achievement! PLAY BALL! Congratulations to our new varsity baseball coach, Gerry Eck, 88. Coach Eck brings great experience and deep Ryan roots to our program. Congrats, Coach Eck! IN MEMORIAM Please remember in prayer those members of our Ryan Family who have gone to their Eternal Rest during the past month, especially: -Rosemary Konopka, former secretary