Congratulations Helias Class of 2010!!

As Mr. Aur posted on the wall of the Helias Alumni and Friends Facebook group, "Congratulations to the Helias Class of 2010! You are a fantastic bunch of young people and I will miss you. God bless you as you move on to the next stage of your lives."

Click below to link to our Silver Level Corporate Crusader:
 

Freshman Lauren Scholtz
Sophomore Danica Shimkus
Junior Cortney Wolters
Senior Avery Jamerson

Congratulations!

Know someone in the accounting services industry?

The Helias Foundation is considering outsourcing monthly investment accounting services.  Firms interested in more information should contact Kevin Heislen, Foundation treasurer, or Marti Dupuis at 573 635-3808 before July 2, 2010.

The following awards were recently awarded to Helias faculty and staff.
Congratulations to the following:

St. Martha Outstanding Service Award
The patron saint of service
Recipient has exhibited outstanding dedication and devotion in serving the Helias community
Darlene Muessig

St. John Baptist de La Salle Award
The patron saint of teachers
Recipient has demonstrated excellence in classroom teaching
Bryndyn Crutcher

St. Sebastian Exemplary Coaching Award
The patron saint of athletes
Recipient exhibits in words and actions an attitude of Christian sportsmanship and maintains high expectations for Christian
behavior from players
Leslie Verslues

Immaculate Heart of Mary Award
The patroness of the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City
Recipient exhibits dedication, commitment, self-sacrifice and kindness to everyone and represents the heart of
Catholic education
Jacki Crider

Christ the Teacher Award
Recipient is an outstanding example of Christ-like leadership for the Helias community
Ron Dunn

St. Thomas Aquinas Award
The patron saint of Catholic education
Recipient has exhibited exemplary commitment and loyalty above and beyond job expectations in serving
Helias High School
Rick Baer 

Pictured are award winners, from left, Rick Baer, Leslie Verslues, Darlene Muessig, Ron Dunn, Jacki Crider, and Bryndyn Crutcher.

Church Attendance Boosts Student GPAs

By Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience Managing Editor

If you want to boost your teenager's grade point average, take the kid to church. Or, a new study suggests, find some similar social activity to involve them in.

Researchers found that church attendance has as much effect on a teen's GPA as whether the parents earned a college degree. Students in grades 7 to 12 who went to church weekly also had lower dropout rates and felt more a part of their schools.

On average, students whose parents received a four-year college degree average a GPA .12 higher than those whose parents completed high school only. Students who attend religious services weekly average a GPA .144 higher than those who never attend services, said Jennifer Glanville, a sociologist at the University of Iowa.

The study does not suggest God is smiling on the students, per se. Rather, it identifies several reasons the students do better:

• They have regular contact with adults from various generations who serve as role models.
• Their parents are more likely to communicate with their friends' parents.
• They develop friendships with peers who have similar norms and values.
• They're more likely to participate in extracurricular activities.

Those factors account for only half the predicted effect, Glanville and colleagues say.

"There are two directions you can go with this research," she said. "Some might say this suggests that parents should have their kids attend places of worship. Or, if we use it to help explain why religious participation has a positive effect on academics, parents who aren't interested in attending church can consider how to structure their kids' time to allow access to the same beneficial social networks and opportunities religious institutions provide."

Other studies have shown that regular church-goers breathe easier and live longer. And kids whose parents go to church are better behaved and more well-adjusted. In each of these studies, the researchers cite the social-network and psychological benefits of churches.

Glanville and colleagues David Sikkink and Edwin Hernandez of the University of Notre Dame analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of 7th- through 12th-graders that began in 1994. Students from 132 schools in 80 communities participated.

Kids who attended church were also more likely to have friends with higher GPAs who skipped school less often, Glanville said.

The study also showed whether the teens said religion was important to them.

"Surprisingly, the importance of religion to teens had very little impact on their educational outcomes," Glanville said. "That suggests that the act of attending church -- the structure and the social aspects associated with it -- could be more important to educational outcomes than the actual religion."

Religious-service attendance had the same effect across all major denominations, the researchers found. The results are detailed in the winter 2008 issue of the Sociological Quarterly.

Click below to link to our Corporate Crusader:

Helias Hosts First
Athletic Trainer Competition

By Stephen Rehagen ‘10

While Helias High School celebrates its multiple athletic teams and its recent success in sports such as football, volleyball and soccer, few people know about one of Helias's other competitive teams.  Without this team's work, many of the athletes at Helias would not see the playing field or perform at a high level.  These devoted students are athletic trainers, a group dedicated to the treating and healing of athletic injuries.  Helias High School recently hosted an individual competition for student trainers and hopes to have many more in the upcoming years.

The first annual Helias competition was held on April 10 and featured the Helias team versus Webster Groves High School.  Ben Struemph, a Helias junior and member of the training program, discovered the idea for a competition from St. Francis High School in California and decided to bring a similar completion to Helias.  Using questions that he researched, Struemph compiled questions ranging from multiple choice to true/false and matching and made a challenging test.

Ron Dunn, Helias sports medicine and religion teacher, prepared his sports medicine team of five members for the unique format with review sessions that grew more intense as the competition drew nearer.  Dunn hopes that the competition continues and believes Helias will host more in the future.  "It gives students something to work for; it gives them incentive to study," said Dunn.  And the students did show off what they had learned; they defeated Webster Groves in the head-to-head challenge.

As spring sports draws to a close, there is one team that is sure to rise to the challenges and strains of injuries.  These top rate athletic trainers will be ready to help Helias teams succeed this spring and for years to come.

Dermody '10 To Join #4 Dominican Men's Soccer Program

Erick Baumann, head men's soccer coach at Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois, has announced that Conor Dermody '10 of Eugene, Mo., will be joining the Dominican University men's soccer program for the 2010 season.  Dermody, an all-state midfielder from Helias High School, will be joining a Dominican team that went to the NCAA Division III Final Four in 2009 after appearing in its eighth consecutive NCAA Division III National Tournament.

"Conor is a very creative attacking midfielder," commented Baumann.  "We look forward to him joining us this fall and hope to see him make an immediate impact for our team."

SAVE THE DATE
for these upcoming Helias events

Ends Aug 31, 2010 Helias Foundation Annual Fund Drive...
Donate online and help us reach our $210,000 Alumni and Friends goal.  As of June 15 $123,000 has been received. This is 5% of all St Peter/Helias alumni...
Watch for weekly updates on your class total to date. 

July 22, 23, 24, 2010 Helias High School presents Fame
Miller Performing Arts Center 7:30pm
Tickets go on sale at Helias June 29.  Call 573 635-6139

Aug 11, 2010 Helias Athletic Booster BBQ: 5pm Helias

Aug 31, 2010 Helias Foundation Annual Fund Drive concludes...

Sept 13, 2010  Helias Foundation Golf Tournament
Considering a sponsorship?
Resister online or in person at 1106 Swifts Hwy.  Choose from:  Jefferson City, Meadow Lake Acres, Eagle Knoll, or the Ridge at the Lake of the Ozarks

Sept 27, 2010  Deadline for Hall of Fame nominations. (It's never too soon!)

Oct 9, 2010 Helias Homecoming 5K  Helias High School

Nov 18, 2010 Grandparents Day Mass and Luncheon
Helias High School

Dec 10, 2010 Sister's Christmas Catechism - The Mystery of the Magi's Gold
Miller Performing Arts Center (with pre-show reception at Doubletree Hotel)

Jan 30, 2011 Helias Hall of Fame Banquet  
Helias High School

Feb 13, 2011 Mother/Daughter Brunch and Prom Fashion Show Helias High School

May 7, 2011 3rd Annual Helias Foundation Kentucky Derby Party Helias High School