What’s Recently Happened:
Marquette Catholic High School (MQTT) students have just returned from a wonderful one-week vacation for Thanksgiving break.
Once again, MQTT’s students went above and beyond with community service. They donated two full shopping carts full of food and supplies to St. Mary's Food Pantry for Thanksgiving.
On December 1, students came together as a community of faith, in the act of Reconciliation. Three Priests were available to the students to offer them the Sacrament.
What’s Coming Up:
MQTT students, teachers, and staff are preparing for finals week. Classes are starting to wrap up, end of the semester projects are being given, and the MQTT community is preparing for winter break.
To end the semester, the National Honors Society (NHS) is sponsoring yet another food drive for St. Mary’s Food Pantry. This time students are asked to bring in gently used coats and other winter wear as well as non-perishable food items by Friday, December 10.
On December 5, MQTT’s students are heading to Chicago for the 2021 Global Fellowship event. First, students will visit the traditional German Christkindlmarket, one of Chicago’s largest open-air Christmas festivals, located in Daley Plaza. Next, students will be free to explore the city in large groups. Many students choose to go to different malls and do some Christmas shopping before they all meet up for their last event of the day: ice skating in Millenium Park.
Teacher Spotlight:
Christine Roder is the founder and leader of the Global Fellowship event previously mentioned. Roder is MQTT’s English as a New Language teacher. She typically teaches this class to the international students.
When she first arrived at MQTT ten years ago, she began to come up with different activities for the international students. Roder wanted to introduce them to American culture, but she also wanted to involve the American students so they could all bond and experience new things together.
As a child, Roder and her family had a tradition to go to downtown Chicago, eat lunch and dinner, and see the Macy's Christmas Windows. This family tradition inspired her to begin the Global Fellowship Program.
“The more you get to know someone, the more you realize that you’re more alike than different. While I wanted the students to learn about American culture, I also wanted them to have the chance to bond and interact with one another outside of the classroom, so the mood is more relaxed and fun,” said Roder.
Global Fellowship does activities that have a cultural spin to it. For example, this upcoming Sunday the group will go to the German Christkindlmarket since it has a European flair. This means the vendors are all from different European countries and they sell things that represent their country. Roder mentioned that she once bought an Irish sweater from an Irish vendor.
Traveling is something really important to Roder. A quote she wanted to share was “Travel is like an endless university, you never stop learning,” by Harvey Lloyd.
Students gain a lot of knowledge, independence, and experience from Global Fellowship and other events offered at MQTT. This is what makes MQTT special. They give their students life-changing, once in a lifetime experiences.
Student Spotlight:
Federica Dal Dosso is an international student from Bergamo, Italy. Dal Dosso is spending her senior year of high school in a whole new environment with the MQTT community.
Dal Dosso took the opportunity to study abroad in America so she could improve on her English, discover new culture, and gain the experience she needs to become an independent adult.
In her first semester at MQTT, Dal Dosso noticed several key differences between MQTT’s community and her school’s community in Italy.
“The whole school system is different. We can’t choose our subjects in Italy like we’re able to do here. We also don’t change classrooms every hour, instead the teachers come to us. The people here are a lot more social,” said Dal Dosso.
Dal Dasso is enjoying her experience with MQTT so much that she barely misses her old school. She mentioned how she enjoys the friendly and welcoming students and staff and the fun events like the sporting events and the events such as the Global Fellowship. These events are something that’s not common.
Another uncommon thing at Dal Dosso’s Italian school are clubs. At her school in Italy, there aren’t any clubs to join, while MQTT offers a wide variety of clubs for students to participate in from the Rosary club to the Gaming Club.
In an attempt to expand her knowledge and experience, Dal Dosso jumped on the opportunity to join these clubs and is now an active member in French club, quiz bowl, student government, and yearbook club.
These clubs add to the American experience Dal Dosso was looking forward to when she first arrived in America. They gave her insight on American culture, French culture, and gave her the ability to form friendships.