Beyond the Books - October 2023
October 11, 2023
At Cretin-Derham Hall, students have important opportunities to grow, learn and thrive both in the classroom and 'beyond the books!' In fact 98% of students participate in one or more sports or activities.
Formerly known as Heard in the Halls, the new Beyond the Books is our brag book on all of your favorite co-curriculars at CDH: athletics, activities, JROTC and fine arts. This can also be a place for occasional school-wide athletic department updates and current news on some of our activities.
Counseling news will now be found in it's own article every month. Check it out here.
ATHLETICS | ACTIVITIES | THEATER | JROTC | BAND | CHOIR
Athletics
Cross Country
By Chris Babcock, Head Coach
Cross Country saw their last regular season meet on Saturday at the Simley Invitational. Runners hustled up the steep hill past mile one, and again just before mile two, and then one last time about 300m from the finish line. All the returning Raiders found themselves running faster than they had a year ago at this point in the season on the same course. Many of the new runners were within just a few seconds of their best times run on much flatter courses. Their consistency in training is paying off.
Abby Chestovich '26 placed 7th overall to lead the Raider runners. Teammate and classmate Lucy Keating '26 ran over 2 minutes faster than she had in her previous season on this course. Congratulations to both of them for their great finishes.
On the boys' side Fox Galioto '26 and Liam McLay '24 continue to push the varsity boys team. Joey Massari '27 continues to assert himself on the varsity as well, running to within 10 seconds of his best so far this year.
The teams will be gathering for their conference meet on Tuesday, October 17 at Tanners Brook Golf course in Forest Lake. Races start at 3:30.
Football
By Steve Walsh '85, Head Coach
The Raider varsity football team lost last week in overtime at Hastings 27-21. It was a thrilling comeback with a last second TD catch by Isaiah Thom ’26 and a 2-point conversion reception by Jaylen Gayles ’24 from Miles Bollinger ’24 to tie it up with 30 seconds remaining. The loss leaves the Raiders at 1-4 with 3 games remaining before the playoffs. The team continues to compete every week led by captains- Bollinger, Luke Chorlton ’24, Gayles, Thomas Graves ’24, Joe Piazza ’24 and Jadyn Harris ’25.
Performance Dance
By Alison Svendsen, Head Coach
The Cretin-Derham Hall Dance Team has had an incredible season that is coming to a close very soon here! Homecoming was a great success with an awesome performance at the pep fest, including the team routine as well as a partner dance with the CDH Football players. The Homecoming halftime performance was one to remember. The team came out strong and performed better than ever. As this season comes to a close, the team will be hosting their annual Kid Clinic where they will be host to almost 100 younger dancers, and hopefully future Raiders! They cannot wait to see how this fall carries them into the competitive winter season.
Girls Swim and Dive
By Lisa Thomas, Head Coach
CDH Swim and Dive continues to excel in school and the pool. With a team being led by 18 seniors, our season is full of CDH traditions and strong work ethic. It is humbling to watch the talent and joy in these young athletes as they set goals and work hard to achieve them together. Training in the early mornings prior to school and late night meets, this team needs all the support they can get to carry on this long season. With a fantastic Conference record so far of 5-1, we look ahead to 3 more dual meets, True Team Sections (hoping to qualify this team for True Team State), and then on to the championship meets. As we get closer to these end of the season meets, the energy and excitement builds knowing Taper is not that far off! Over the past month, we have had outstanding performances by so many of our swimmers and divers and a program ready and hopeful to send more kids on to the state meet! Congratulations to Captain Izzy Macheel ’24 on her commitment to Swim at The University of Vermont! We are so proud of you! We are looking forward to celebrating the day to day joys and hearing more about the college aspirations of this incredible group of athletes!
Nine of 16 diamond officers are involved with girls swim & dive: 5 swimmers, 2 divers, and 2 managers. Dani Rubbelke ’24 placed 6th out of 34 divers at the Maroon and Gold Invite.
Girls Tennis
By Tim Spika, Head Coach
The girls’ tennis season for the JV and B teams ended on Saturday, September 30, with each team playing in the Suburban East Conference tournaments.
The JV team finished 4th in the 10-team conference regular season, and that’s where they finished in the tournament, losing to top-ranked Mounds View at Mounds View and third-ranked White Bear Lake at Irondale. The JV has some talented players with a ton of potential, and if they continue to improve as much as they did during the season, their future is bright.
Only three conference schools fielded B teams in the tournament, so CDH, Mounds View and East Ridge played at East Ridge High School in a round robin format. There was a lot of good tennis played by all teams. Many of the B team players were new to tennis, so the season was a great way for them to get introduced to competitive tennis.
The varsity season ended on Tuesday, October 3 with a section loss to South St. Paul. The day before, the team recorded a thrilling first-round section win at Harding, winning the final and deciding point in a tiebreaker.
While the team says goodbye to 8 seniors, there are a lot of younger players, many 9th and 10th graders, ready and willing to fill those spots. While there is a lot of work to do, there is a lot of talent to work with, so it will be exciting to see which players improve their games over the next 10 months.
Six individual section entrants - two singles players and two doubles teams, will play in the section tournament on Friday, October 13 at Baseline Tennis Center, which happens to be the site of the State Tournament. The tournament brings together the best 96 players in the section, so it’s a great honor for our girls, and all girls involved, to represent their teams, and to play at such a prestigious site. Best of luck to the Raiders.
Activities
Student Council
By Ellen Schafer
Student Council is a student government body that addresses student concerns with the administration, plans events & service opportunities, and communicates school news, activities, and events to the student body. The Student Council is composed of current sophomores, juniors, and seniors that had to apply and interview the school year before to be considered. There are currently 39 students on the Student Council, with a student in each grade voted in by their peers.
The Student Council meets on a weekly basis before school and sometimes during flex on a need basis. Our meetings consist of whole group participation action items before we split into committee work. There are four committees of focus that students participate in: Communication, Events, Policy, and Service.
The Communication committee shares all the information that Student Council plans via social media, flyers around campus, and a monthly student newsletter. The Events committee plans Homecoming Week and Dance, Chill Out Week, Prom, pep fests and other fun events or activities to engage students and build school spirit throughout the year. The Policy committee reviews the student handbook and meets with Admin to discuss any student concerns. As well as, host Listening Sessions for the student body to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. The Service committee plans service and volunteer opportunities for our student body, like the Blood Drive, Charity Volleyball Tournament, and Charity Out of Uniform Days.
Art Club
By Suzanne Cranston
Art Club takes place in a lively, artsy, mixed-media studio environment after school every Monday. Students who have an interest in any sort of art are welcome! Students do NOT need to be enrolled in an art class to take part in Art Club. Our club is all about exploring the art mediums that interest you, whether it be drawing, painting, collaborating art making with a friend, trying something new, or chilling out and working in a sketchbook. If you’re involved in other activities, you should know that you can pop in on Art Club any Monday that works in your schedule. We’d love to have you join!
Clay Target Team
By Jason Nabor, Coach
The CDH Clay Target Team competes in two sports Trap and Skeet, and is composed of both boys and girls. The only prerequisite for participation is each athlete must possess their Hunter and Safety Education Certificate offered by the state DNR before they can participate. School Letters are awarded at season's end to those who meet the criteria offered by the team. This sport offers both young men and women an opportunity to compete side by side, and possibly discover hidden talents they didn't know they had. The shooting sports require good hand and eye coordination, and the maturity to stay focused on safety. We take beginners every year; we provide training to athletes in both the safety and skill of the game. The team does have a limited supply of club guns for use if an athlete does not have one available to use. We do our very best to introduce the shotgun shooting sports to a generation of young people that may have had limited exposure thus far. We focus on safety, fun, and skill development.
Ski and Snowboard Club
By Sarah Jamieson, Moderator
Ski & Snowboard club is a non-competitive activity for anyone interested in skiing or snowboarding. It is a great opportunity to meet new friends, try a new sport, and enjoy being outdoors. Our club goes to Afton Alps and Welch Village on Fridays during the winter months. Watch for information to follow after Thanksgiving break for more information on how to join.
Speech Team
By Nick Niewinski '06, Moderator
The Cretin-Derham Hall Speech Team provides students with an opportunity to overcome the very common fear of public speaking. This opportunity allows them to learn and develop transferable skills that can continue to lead to further success beyond their time at Cretin-Derham Hall. Meetings take place on Thursday’s at 3PM in room WH 210.
Ultimate Frisbee
By Charlie Enders, Head Coach
Ultimate Frisbee is an incredibly fun, growing sport. The CDH club team (Raging Safari) exists to bring students together and make memories that last a lifetime. Also, to play a sport where you throw a frisbee around that is kind of a mix between soccer and basketball. Season will begin in January.
Theater
By Penelope Parsons Lord, Theater Director
The CDH Theater is busy getting ready for our first production of the 2023-2024 season. Everyone working on Lion King Jr. is super excited to share our show with the rest of the CDH community. I had forgotten how awesome the songs in this show are - just listening to the students rehearsing the songs makes me excited for everyone else to remember how awesome this show is and how amazing our students are! We have an elementary school show that is already sold out! We open on November 10 and run for two weekends. Kick off Thanksgiving with a fun family theatre outing and support the theatre students at the same time!
Fall Musical
The Lion King (Main Stage)
PERFORMANCES
- Friday, November 10, 7 pm
- Saturday, November 11, 7 pm
- Sunday, November 12, 2:30 pm
- Friday, November 17, 7 pm
- Saturday, November 18, 2:30 and 7 pm
- Sunday, November 19, 2:30 pm
JROTC
By SGM David Berrisford '91, MSG Ken Peloski, COL Scrocca, and SFC Thingvold
The Raider Brigade held its 100th annual Diamond Promotion Ceremony on September 15. Emma Butler ’24 was named the 107th Raider Brigade Cadet Colonel. Read the full article.
The weather was outstanding for the 106th annual JROTC Fall Review on Wednesday, October 4 on Wingerd Field. This annual event welcomes the new 9th graders to the Raider Brigade Corps of Cadets and recognizes some of the top performers in the new class. This year’s award recipients from the class of 2027 were Colette Hulst '27, Greta Johnson '27, Paloma Kronschnabel '27, Anne Cavanaugh '27, Gino Rojas '27, Imogen Weise '27, Jack Van Gamert '27, Elizabeth McQuillan '27, and Herbie Richardson '27.
Unfortunately, due to a date conflict with Homecoming this year, the annual cadet trip to Camp Ripley will be postponed until April.
This past month the JROTC Department hosted admission liaison officer assistance visits from the US Military Academy at West Point, US Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Seniors are well on their way to completing their applications and juniors should be starting their application process soon if they are interested in attending a service academy. If anyone has questions on the process for any of the military service academies, please let us know and we can direct you to a subject matter expert.
All of the JROTC co-curriculars have begun meeting. The Robotics team has been meeting regularly and plans to compete in the big VEX Robotics competition at the Mall of America in March. The Archery team has started its warmups and the Rifle Team will participate in multiple shoot-outs in the next couple of weeks. The Orienteering Team competed in its first competition of the year on Sept. 24 at Interstate State Park and will compete 3-4 more times in October and early November. Finally, the Drill and Color Guard teams plan to participate in the Viking Challenge, a regional multi-service JROTC competition in North Branch on Oct. 28.
Band
By Nick Zahler, Band Director
Cue the AC/DC because we're Back (in Black)! The CDH Band members have been busy supporting a number of functions in the first few weeks of school, like football games, the ONE Alumni Reception, the JROTC Fall Review, and more. Student leadership has been quite active, planning functions and small group work, coordinating logistics, and the like. Now we look forward to the first band and choir concert of the year, which will be on Thursday, November 2 in the Lillian Theatre. The Jazz Band began its meetings this week and welcomes some new members into the fold.
We can also look forward to a visit from the musical ensembles and faculty from the University of Mary on October 24. This was an exchange that we did with great success two years ago, and are excited to have them back! Students will hear performances from their band and/or choir, and receive masterclasses from the university directors.
And not to be forgotten, music students are excited for the upcoming trip to San Diego, CA in the spring. That and the preceding band chocolate fundraiser are always on their minds!
Choir
By Delilah Schuster, Choir Director
The CDH Choir had the honor of supporting our school community last month by singing the National Anthem at the Homecoming Football Game - our debut performance of the year! Now we are hard at work rehearsing our repertoire for the fall concert, which will be on Thursday, November 2 in the Lillian Theater. This concert will be in partnership with the CDH Band, so mark your calendars for a night of great musical entertainment!
In the meantime, choir and band students can also look forward to ensembles from the University of Mary visiting us on October 24 for a musical exchange during our rehearsals. It is always a treat to listen to and share our music with other musicians!