CLUB SPOTLIGHT
STEM AND ROBOTICS CLUB
Written by: Marco Congote
Clubs, such as the STEM and
Robotics clubs, are some of the many
ways St. Brendan fosters a love of
learning in its student. The S.T.E.M.
(science,
technology,
engineering,
and math) Club seeks to expose more
students to the knowledge necessary
to enter the scientific field. Supervised
by Aileen Escarpio and Arlene CeballosAdams, the club is very active, holding
at least one meeting every month. The
content of these meetings varies from
brief, informational announcements to
activities and even to having well-known,
guest speakers. The 60 club members are
as diverse as the meetings they partake
in, ranging from the eager Champagnats
to the Alphas seeking a challenge for their
minds. In the average meeting, one can
find the freshmen with ambitious dreams
of making video games, the youthful
inventors who find joy in tinkering scrap
into useful machines, and even skilled
programmers who have already released
working apps into the Apple AppStore.
The club has already seen many events
this year. Two guest speakers from
aforementioned
meetings included
an engineer from Apple and the 2013
European Digital Girl of the Year. The club
also attends competitions, such as the St.
Thomas University Math Competition, in
which one of our Sophomores won 1st
place against college students. One of
the club’s more valiant achievements was
the Hour of Code, where club members
visited a public park to teach underprivileged kids the basics of coding. The
club is looking forward to more events
like this to share their passions with those
less fortunate.
The Robotics Club is another club,
seeking to connect students via passion
for coding and robots. In addition to
Junior Class Takes Islands!
Written by: Krizia Ketchum
CLASS OF 2016 TRIP
The Junior class trip was taken to Universal’s Islands of Adventure for their annual trip
this year. Students and faculty attending the trip had to be at school very early, 4 AM to be
exact. It had such a large turnout that five buses were needed to take the whole class there.
After a long bus ride, the students were able to fly through the Wizarding World of Harry
Potter, take an adventure through Jurassic Park, make their favorite cartoon characters
come to life in Toon Lagoon, and help the heroes battle off the villains in Marvel Super Hero
Island. Many of the students on the trip had lots of fun going on a lot of different rides.
Some of their favorites included The Hulk, Jurassic Park, Dueling Dragons, and the Spider
Man ride. “Popeye’s is one of my favorites because you get to enjoy it with lots of people,”
said Michelle Duran. Students were able to build new friendships with their classmates and
strengthen old ones during this eventful trip.
testing students’ knowledge of math,
engineering, and programming, the
club also challenges them to think
creatively as well as forces them to learn
management skills. With their shared
love of technology and with the guidance
of the club supervisor, Mauricio Reyes,
the students manage to tackle many
problems. He is always there to guide
them, and he is teaching them to be able
to perform in robotics competitions.
While no particularly special events have
admittedly happened this year, the club
is hard at work, with two meetings each
month, to unveil the fruits of their labor.
With top-notch equipment provided,
such as the VEX Cortex kit, these fruits
shall surely be succulent.