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NewsUpdates

2023 Parent Tax Credit Letter

Marcia Wagner

The 2023 Summary of Tuition and Fees paid to St. Bede Academy is now available from FACTS Management Co. The report is only available on-line.  Families must log in to their FACTS account on-line to print a Payment Summary for tax purposes which serves as your Receipt for Qualified K-12 Education Expense.   

To retrieve and print your Payment Summary visit, www.factsmgt.com and sign-in to your account.  Select View Details to the right of Payment Plan & Billing, and then click on the blue box, View Payment Summary. Once on the Payment Summary page verify the year is tax year 2023.  A printer-friendly report is available by clicking the Print button in the upper right-hand corner.

The report that is generated will provide fees, both extra-curricular and registration, and tuition paid both on-line to FACTS and to St. Bede Academy in the calendar year 2023.  

These instructions and the link to FACTS can also be found on the homepage of the St. Bede Academy webpage at st-bede.com.   If you have questions or difficulties logging in to your account please contact FACTS Management Customer Service at 866-412-4637. Other general questions can be directed to me at 815-250-0344 or jmarks@st-bede.com.

It is important to note that not all payments made to St. Bede for fees are eligible for the State of Illinois tax credit.  Only the Registration Fee which covers textbooks, lab fees and materials is deductible.

To claim the tax credit, you will need to complete the Education Expense Credit Worksheet in the Form IL-1040 Instructions.  Please refer to IL-Publication 132 if you need additional information or call the Illinois Department of Revenue at (800)732-8866.

Bringing the energy and spirit

Goldie Rapp

This month’s Athletics Spotlight has been contributed by Sam Bima, class of 2024.

“B-B-BRU, I-I-INS, B-R-U, I-N-S, BRUINS, BRUINS, BRUINS!” The famed ending to the SBA fight song is one that you will hear at the beginning of every sporting event or from a bruin sports team coming down the lane following an away game. 

In the fall and winter, this song is sung by many different teams, but it is practically owned by one in particular. The St. Bede cheerleaders are a group that you hear in the background of your favorite football and basketball clips. Their chants and cheers trigger memories for alumni who are present at today’s events. 

In my prior article, I had the opportunity to speak on the SBA wrestling team and the fraternal brotherhood that coach Sam Allen has produced. If wrestling is like a fraternity, I look at cheerleading to be more like a sorority. The sisterhood of former and current members includes being there for one another, late nights in the gym and hustling to learn countless cheers and performances.

My older sister, Mallory Bima ‘15, was a cheerleader for St. Bede. I was in attendance for countless football and basketball games, even going so far that I know most cheers by heart still to this day. 

Cheerleading is a sport that relies heavily on teamwork. How could they perform the stunts if one person is off key by a split second? It takes countless hours of rehearsal and trusting one another. 

In volleyball, you have to trust that your teammates will get the kill or serve it over the net. In basketball, you have to trust that your teammates will find you open in the corner or make that game tying shot. Cheerleading is no different - you have to trust that your teammates will remember the cheers that you have practiced or trust that they won’t let you fall when they are holding you up above their heads. 

For this article, I had the pleasure of speaking with four-year cheerleaders Ella Burris and Teagan Hewitt about the true meaning of cheerleading.

Cheerleading is a sport that you can be taught, and one that teaches you about yourself. Burris said that to her “it’s all about positivity and teamwork;” for Hewitt, “it’s bringing energy and spirit to the football games.”

Football games are what seem to be the biggest hit with the cheerleaders. For Homecoming, they come up with their halftime performance that will be performed in front of hundreds before BruinsJam. They also decorate the lane with streamers and signs promoting the football team. Cheer is just like football and volleyball in the sense that they start in the summer prior to the first day of school. 

Hewitt stated, “Cheer begins in June and goes until the end of February, so you really get close with your teammates and get to be good friends with all of them.” 

My takeaway from the interviews was that, just like other St. Bede sports, life-long friendships are made and grown throughout their time being a part of the team.  

“Throughout my years of cheer, I have continued to cherish the amazing memories I have created with my teammates,” said Burris.

I have loved hearing the cheerleaders during my time at St. Bede and even prior to my time at St. Bede. The Bruins have a great duo teaching these young ladies in Sydney Eustice ’15 and Dani Claggett ’14. Not only are they both alumni, but also former cheerleaders themselves. In the wise words of former principal, Mrs. Mershon, “That’s it, That’s All, Go Bruins.”

Sam Bima ‘24

              

Stage Rats attend Illinois High School Theatre Festival

Goldie Rapp

Every year in January, Academy drama director Fr. Dominic and the Stage Rats head to the Illinois High School Theatre Festival, which this year was held at ISU. Over three thousand theatre students and teachers assemble for two days of workshops, performances, and theatre games. This year our students attended workshops on makeup, dance, stage combat, tech theatre and improv, as well as seeing shows like Mean Girls, Pippin, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Almost Maine, and the All-State Production of She Kills Monsters

In addition to the value of advancing their skills and knowledge of theatre arts, students derive other benefits from the experience: the confidence and courage to navigate a college campus, time management in prioritizing and scheduling their activities and growing closer as a crew. “They inevitably come back from Fest completely energized about the spring musical,” said Fr. Dominic, “often with creative ideas and skills they received from workshops and shows.”

A large portion of the cost of our students’ attendance at Theatre Fest was covered by financial assistance from alumni and friends who contributed to the Academy Special Gifts Program. Fr. Dominic affirms the importance of their generosity.

“Every year we have kids who wouldn’t be able to attend without our generous donors,” he said. “and I can say that in over 30 years of attending Fest, we have never had to turn a student away. They truly demonstrate the Spirit of St. Bede.”

St. Bede Academy announces second quarter honor roll

Goldie Rapp

Mr. Nick McLaughlin, principal of St. Bede Academy in Peru, has announced St. Bede’s honor roll for the second quarter of the 2023-2024 school year. 

Seniors: Aubree Acuncius, Alex Ankiewicz, Yigit Arslan, Johnna Bogatitus, Bella Boggio, Ali Bosnich, Macklin Brady, Maximus Bray, Ella Burris, Summer Conlin, Madelyne Dalton, Rubi De La Torre, Erin Dove, Tessa Dugosh, Ella Englehaupt, Evan Englehaupt,  Aleah Espel, Daliayah Farris, Seth Ferrari, Milana Gayan, Molly Gonzales, Georgina Guo, Isabella Hagenbuch, Gavin Hahn, Makenzie Hanson, Katelyn Harth, Macy Hartt, Mariella Hermes, Kylie Hill, Nathan Husser,  Jeanna Ladzinski, Henry Mertel, Ariella Mudge, Ava Mueller, Kyra Newman, Khue Nguyen, Olivia Orteza,  Isabella Pinter, Zachary Popurella, Logan Potthoff, Matteo Pullara, Anna Rudenko, Hunter Savage, Kaelyn Schwemlein, Sierah Shaver, Casey Shearer, Aubrey Siebert, Ryan Slingsby, Madison Stanbary, Reagan Stoudt, Amie Tomaszewski, Luke Tunnell, Vy Tran, Amanda Wojcik and Katherine Zeller.

Juniors: Teer Ao, Haiden Ator, Jazmin Barreras-Vazquez, Veronica Bartlett, Andrea Brandner,  Qiyu Chen, Ziheng Chen,  Garrett Connelly, Trayger Davis, Alondra Delao, Lorelei Denny,  Madalyn Dittmar, Bailey Engels, Yibo Fan, Dominic Fonderoli, Grady Gillan, Phillip Gray, Mirella Haskell, Halden Hueneburg, Elizabeth Huffaker, Tyler Jordan, Yuno Kawai, Maci Kelly, Sadie Koehler, Jaxon Kozak, Lin Le, Violet Lopez, Haiqing Mao, Greyson Marincic, Gavin Marquez, Jack Maschmann, Quinn McClain, Victoria Mendez, Jake Migliorini, Grace Millington, Adeline Mitchell, Mason Moreno, Aidan Mullane, Kaden Nauman, Ryan Nawa, Kaden Newman, Huy Nguyen, Alivia Payne, Logan Pineda, Mason Ross, Emma Smudzinski, Zixuan Song, Alan Spencer, Paige Tomaseski, Mina Trandinh, Arthur van den Berg, Beatriz Vasquez, Samantha Wagner, Tyler Walsh, Abraham Wiesbrock, Kefei Wu, Solomon Zhang and Jinhao Zhao.

Sophomores: Margaret Arkins, Ava Balestri, Genavyve Barnes, Landon Boggio, Lily Bosnich, Noah Buck, August Burr, Drew Carboni, Anna Cyrocki, Emerald De La Torre, Jose De La Torre, Haoxuan Du, Madeline Fabish, Gino Ferrari, Harrison Fess, Ashton Gonzales, Mae Hagenbuch, Weston Heersink, Aiden Hermes, Micah Huetteman, Zachary Husser, Isaac Kang, Wanyu Liu, Fatima Mandujano, Lili McClain, Ruby Michels, Ella Mudge, Sophia Ni, Jillian Pinter, Trajan Raffety, Xiangyi Ren, Carson Riva, Chipper Rossi, Alyssa Savitch, Laney Senica, Emma Slingsby, Lillian Soliman, Ryan Soliman, Shujie Song, Devin Steil, Khoa Tran, Julian Villava,  Peiwen Wu, Xindi Wu, Hongsheng Yang, Yannis Yong, Kian Zeller, Sora Zepeda, Ruihan Zhang and Yijing Zhang.

Freshmen: Faith Ankiewicz, Yesenia Avila, Caleb Barto, Chloe Brandt, Sean Brayton, Brody Burris, Calen Cass, Geno Dinges, Kate Duncan, Kyra Finley, Grace Gahan, Eden Galvan, Daniel Garcia, Cecilia Giacalone, Gavin Gillan, Raudel Hermosillo Jr., Brennen Hirst, Emma Huffaker, Lila Koehler, Ella Lamboley, Landon Marquez, Lucy Maus, Emma Mavity, Stuart McGunnigal, Stephanie Ni, Niko Pappas-Anniballi, Chase Riva, Olivia Ross, Shane Rounds, Ranbir Saini, Alaina Schulz, Nancy Shi, Mackenzie Stanbary, Macy Strauch, Bryce Stuepfert, Lex Tillman, Alec Tomsha, Judith Torres, Ariana Villava and Kerstin Williams.

Inside the Bruin Learning Center

Goldie Rapp

This school year, St. Bede’s Academic Achievement office transformed into a learning resource center that has been an effective resource for any student seeking out assistance in homework, organization or studying.

The Bruin Learning Center – or BLC – has been keeping students on track in challenging courses or who are needing that extra help outside of class with assignments. The program has continued to grow and track increased success throughout its first semester.

Before the BLC, the Academic Achievement was only geared for students needing accommodations through a service plan or 504 plan.

BLC Director Abigail (Milus) Nambo ’12 said it’s been her goal to provide an effective learning environment where students feel comfortable asking for help, whether it be help advocating for themselves, studying, organization or just a comfortable space for them to be in.

“It has been exciting and promising watching the Bruin Learning Center evolve this year and the collaboration that has happened amongst the students within the room. Students have bonded and have willingly helped others without hesitation,” she said. 

Alongside Nambo is BLC tutor Pam Wright whose role is to create a better understanding of the material students have in their curriculums.

“Working in the BLC with students has been very rewarding. Every hour is different, with different challenges to face,” she said.

Wright also assists students with homework assignments, prepares them for quizzes and tests and teaches students to be more organized and efficient with their studies. For the 504 and ISP students, she administers tests and is a test proctor.

“The students are very respectful and willing to learn and grasp the information needed to accomplish their homework or to prepare for a test or quiz. They understand we are here to help them and they appreciate the help we do,” she said. “The students who come into the BLC create a comradery with each other and also try to help each other when possible. I have seen a big improvement in the students’ grades, as well as their attitude and self confidence from being more self-reliant.”

Wright and Nambo also work collaboratively with Social Worker Megan Theisinger, Academic Counselor Theresa Bernabei and Principal Nick McLaughlin while utilizing a tiered intervention program that provides students the necessary tools to be successful.

“We are able to bridge communication gaps, catch concerns early on and implement a plan for the student,” Nambo said, adding this sort of close collaboration is what sets St. Bede apart from other schools.

In its first semester, the team has witnessed several successes – big and small. One worth mentioning is the students who utilize the BLC regularly, which has resulted in them dropping off the eligibility report.

As the BLC continues to grow and fulfill needs of the students, Nambo is also working on a plan to extend the BLC’s peer tutoring program to local grade schools.