Heard in the Halls - December 2020

December 9, 2020

We encourage you to read all the current blogs, or click below to quickly go to a section.


ATHLETICS | COUNSELING | CHOIR | BAND | THEATER | JROTC 

Athletics

Wrestling

By Dan Willaert, Head Coach

The wrestling team is working hard to stay connected to each other and getting into shape for the season, even though we cannot meet in person right now. We have been conducting optional morning Zoom calls to check in, share a motivational article or video, and discuss at-home workout ideas. We are also finalizing plans for a Virtual Iron Man competition, which we typically do over Christmas break when we don't have any tournaments scheduled. We continue to plan and to hope for a safe and meaningful season whenever we are allowed to begin in-person activities. 

Boys’ Basketball

By Tony Yazbeck, Assistant Coach

Boys Basketball is preparing for the season whenever we are given the green light to start. This year we will have an 18-game conference-only schedule due to the pandemic. Please keep an eye out for updates on our website. The Raiders are coming off a 26-3 season and the Section 4AAAA Championship. We return our top player in Tre Holloman '22 who currently holds over 15 D1 Scholarship offers. We wish the best of luck to Sy Chatman '18, Ryan Larson '18, J’Vonne Hadley '20, Curtis Jones '20, and Amari Carter '20 who continue their basketball careers in college. 

The Raiders are also proud to announce that we have produced our first NBA player as Daniel Oturu '18 was drafted last month by the Los Angeles Clippers. Daniel will make his professional debut on December 22 vs. the defending world champions Los Angeles Lakers at 9:30 PM on TNT.

Boys’ Hockey

By Matt Funk, Head Coach

Boys Hockey is anxiously anticipating the start of the 2020-21 hockey season. The defending Suburban East Conference champs return a solid core that is aiming to repeat as conference champs and make a run in Section 6AA. The Raiders will be led by captain Chuck Altier ’21. Chuck is entering his 3rd year on varsity after being an SEC Honorable Mention selection as a junior. He is a gritty center for us that plays hard at both ends of the rink and is willing to go to all the tough areas on the rink. I am excited to see Chuck’s role in our offense expand this year as he was asked to play a defensive role on last year’s team. Chuck is a tremendous leader and embodies what it means to be a student athlete at CDH as he excels in the classroom as well. We are in very good hands with Chuck leading the way.

We have good depth up and down our line-up. We return 7 of our top 10 leading scorers from last year’s team and have a bunch of players ready to step up and expand their roles. Drew Fisher ’22 and Jake Sondreal ’22 lead our returners with 46 and 32 points LY respectively. On defense, we return a core that helped keep our opponents around 2 goals per game Simon Houge ’23, Zach Sondreal ’22, and Patrick Magnuson ’21, and a solid group of vets and youth that look to push for spots on the back end. The strength of the team could be in goal where we return Marko Belak ’22 who is one of the best in the state and was recognized as all-conference by the coaches last winter as a sophomore. Marko finished 1st in the state for Regular Season Wins (19) and 30th in GAA (2.17).

The Raiders were well represented this fall in the Midwest Elite League which invites the top players across Minnesota. Drew Fisher, Gabe Rasmussen ’22, Marko Belak, Simon Houge, and Colton Jamieson ’23 all saw action in this prestigious league.

Alpine Ski (Boys and Girls)

By Carrie Freitag, Head Coach

CDH Alpine is staying primed to fly out of the gate as soon as our pause is ended. With a weekly meeting to discuss drills, rules, and videos, we are keeping our minds on the snow, and everyone is encouraged to get their skis on the snow as well - the ski hills are open! Plans are in place to adjust the season for whatever comes later this month or season, and we'll hit the slopes carving! Contact Coach Freitag or Captains Serena Jacobson '21, Jane Zirnhelt '22 or Danny Weber '23 if you have questions!

CDH Dance Competition

By Ali Pendergrass, Head Coach

Dance Team is dancing through the pause! JV and varsity have been participating in virtual practices Monday-Saturday where we focus on choreography for kick and Jazz, conditioning, goal setting, and team bonding! The dancers are ready to compete the day we are given the green light to do so! Carly Sullivan '21, Abby Blake '21, Astrid Busse '21, Mollie Taft '21, Amaya Williams '21, Nat Scott '21, and Maddie Zoost '21 have been waiting years for their senior season and are focused and committed to mentor younger dancers and make it the best season it can be! Anna Blake '10 has joined the coaching staff to lead the JV team! We are hoping to attend our first competition with the SEC Conference in January.

Boys’ Swimming and Diving

By Mike Steineman ‘92, Head Coach

The CDH Boys Swimming and Diving Team is ready and waiting for our season to start once we have direction from the Governor's Office and the MSHSL. In the meantime, please make sure that you have registered with the CDH Athletic Office and watch for daily optional virtual workouts. Please check the team's website at www.cdhraiders.org for more information and don't forget to follow us on Twitter (@RaidersSwimDive).

Counseling

By Joan O'Connell, College Counselor

Attention Seniors …

College Application Deadlines

A reminder to seniors that if you have any January 1 college deadlines, you must submit your CDH College Application Contract to us as soon as possible. The Counseling staff will also be on Christmas break so we must have your requests for your supporting materials soon in order for us to meet a January 1 deadline.

“Mid-Year” Reports

Sometimes a college will require you to send a “mid-year” report of senior year grades. For CDH, our mid-year report is your first-trimester senior year grades. If your colleges require this, you must reply to the email Mrs. Reding from the Counseling Office has sent to you stating which colleges require your first tri grades. We will process mid-year reports in the order they are received.

PLEASE NOTE!  The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities requires you, the student, to update your senior grades in your application tracker as follows:

If you want or need to report your first trimester grades to them the ONLY way to do it is to go into your UMNTC application tracker and follow the directions below:

1. Log into your Application Tracker

2. Click on Self Reported Academic Record (SRAR) - This will take you to a new page

3. Click on Update SRAR

4. You should see your 9th-11th grades, and will just need to add senior year information

It does not matter if you have used the Gopher application or the Common Application.  They are not taking first tri grades sent from Cretin-Derham Hall ... you have to "self report" them.  

Private Scholarships for College

Many private organizations offer scholarships to students intending to go to college. CDH seniors can find private scholarship information on their Naviance accounts. Just log in, click on “colleges”, then “scholarships & money”, then “scholarship list” to find the most updated list. All of the private scholarships that we have been made aware of will appear here and students can get all the information they need to apply in one spot. You can also do a search of a national scholarship database by clicking on “national scholarship search.” Please remember to check these resources throughout the winter and spring as they are continually updated.

Attention Juniors …

Post High Planning Information for the Class of 2022

Please check out the CDH website for important information from your CDH College Counselors. You will find information and instructions on how to begin your post-high planning. Here is the link:

Post-High Planning Information

Junior College Planning Meetings

An email has been sent to parents/guardians of juniors in the Class of 2022 inviting you to schedule a family Zoom meeting or post-high planning with your CDH College Counselor. Included in the email is a link to your college counselor’s appointment schedule on Calendly. Please check your email (spam folder too) for this message and schedule your appointment if you have not already done so. Gather your questions and we will look forward to seeing you!  Please contact your College Counselor if you have any questions. Joan O’Connell, Last Names A – L or Leslie Connelly, Last Names M-Z.

Choir

By Tyler Berg, Choir Director

Greetings from Mr. Berg and the CDH Choir! We hope you are finding peace, joy, and good health throughout the holiday season. A little update about our upcoming Christmas program: It will be all virtual, in the form of a YouTube link. We are hoping to have it all edited before Christmas and release it sometime in early break. We've had to push back some of our recordings and make some changes due to quarantines, so we won't be meeting our original goal of a December 18th release, but I am confident that we will be able to deliver the video in a timely manner. Thank you for your patience and continued support of CDH Choir. I can't wait for you all to see what the choir has been working on for Christmas. They sound great! Choir families, be on the lookout for a Choir/Band newsletter with more info in the middle of next week!

Band

By Nick Zahler, Band Director

Congratulations to all students and families, in band or not, on completing finishing the first trimester! Despite all the oddities and adversities associated with this year, we’re persevering and succeeding. The band recorded its first performance of the year a week ago, and it is in the process of being edited. It’s a lengthy process - audio needs to be checked, as well as video, and folks who recorded at home need to be spliced in. The performance recording should be completed and distributed to band families in the coming week or so. The band is also in the process of preparing and recording a much smaller winter performance. The release date for the recording will be sometime during winter break.

To all students and families, I hope you have a restful and rejuvenating winter break - you’ve earned it. 

Theater

By Katie Kreitzer, Theater Director, and Chris Hill, Theater Assistant

The winter production "She Kills Monsters" has begun rehearsals. Written by acclaimed playwright Qui Nguyen, "She Kills Monsters" is a comedic romp into the world of fantasy role-playing games! Read more about the play.

The CDH Improv Team continues to meet and perform during Flex Time. It is a welcomed midday break featuring theater games, fun, and laughter. Students get to play celebrity characters during Party, improvise a TED talk in the game Experts, and tell classic fairytales with a twist in Styles Replay. 

Finally, a big thank you to recent CDH Theater grads Ryn Stafford ’16 and Paige Battarbee ’12 who shared their wisdom with our community. Ryn was a treasured guest for our October DEI Theater meeting and Paige spoke to Acting 2 class about working as a professional actor.  Our CDH Theater grads have been such a blessing during the pandemic. Their willingness to share their passion for the art has been a beacon of hope to young artists. 

Merry Christmas CDH. Thank you for your continued support.

JROTC

December is here and we hope you are staying safe and enjoying the beautiful weather. First, I would like to thank the Color Guard for doing an awesome job at the football games with conducting the pre-game ceremonies. Secondly, this month we are conducting the Cadet Challenge with the Freshman through Seniors and are looking to build Esprit De Corps.

We are also starting the future planning of JCLC (JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge) “Summer Camp” event in June that would feature adventure training, drill, and ceremony, canoeing, rappelling, and similar activities, all of which are school-sponsored activities.

Students that are interested in attending any of the academies, ROTC, or military service should be completing the necessary applications and forms to move forward for the future. Let any of the instructors know if you need additional help!

Finally, as we move forward in a positive path during some challenging times, the ROTC Raider Brigade continuously works hard to instill in our students the values of citizenship, service to the community and the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment.

Thank you for the continued support, stay healthy and stay positive!