Volume XXXIV/Issue VI March 13, 2020

The Catholic ChronicleThe Charlotte Catholic High School Newspaper

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“Fighting Cancer is in our Blood”EMMA GATEWOODStaff Reporter

Every year, the Leukemia Lym-phoma Society sponsors the Stu-dent of the Year program where students compete over a seven week period in raising money for cancer research and patient care. Charlotte Catholic junior, Bella Zemak, is one of the students nominated to participate in the challenge this year. Students can enter the program through one of two ways. Most students are nominated by adults connected to the program, and some students apply directly. When asked about how she got involved with LLS and the pro-gram, Zemak said that she had gone to Italy with a girl who won the Student of the Year award in 2019 and thought the program was interesting. She later discovered that her neighbor had won the Woman of the Year award from the same organization. Without Zemak’s knowledge, her neighbor nominated her for the program.

“Before I knew it, I was sitting with the North Carolina director of LLS accepting the challenge,” she said. The 2020 Student of the Year program begins on January 18 and runs through March 7, 2020. Since the start date, Zemak has been raising money to reach her $150,000 goal. “I am planning to meet this goal through corporate sponsorships, general donation asks, events, and with the help of my teammates who have de-

cided to help throughout the seven weeks,” she said. Most recently, on February 25th, Zemak hosted a donut sale during all three lunches to raise money and asked for the support of Char-lotte Catholic students. She has also received the support of busi-nesses in the Charlotte area such as Lilly Pulitzer in reaching her fundraising goal. The program aims to not only raise money to end cancer, but allow students to learn real-world

skills such as networking and pub-lic speaking. When asked about the experi-ence, Zemak said, “So far, LLS has taught me so much about myself and society. I have learned how to give back to the commu-nity in a major way, how to lead a team, and how to talk to adults that I have never met before. I am very lucky to have this opportu-nity at such a young age. I know that this will benefit me a lot in life as an adult.” The Charlotte Catholic commu-nity is proud of Zemak’s efforts and hopes to support her along her fundraising journey.

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Teens Team up to Give BackERIN ARTHURStaff Reporter

Teens for Jeans is a campaign in partnership with Aéropostale that involves the donation of gently used jeans for kids and teens in homeless shelters in our local community. Aéropostale em-ployees collect the donations and make sure jeans are distributed to needy young people. Junior Sabine Yessayan, the student who brought this program to our campus, said, “I found this campaign by seeing it in an ins-tagram post, and I brought it to Catholic by proposing it to Dr. Leahy and making posters and fly-ers. Catholic got involved around February 14th, when the donation bins were first set out across from campus ministry.” “I am very ex-cited because this is the first year we have gotten involved,” Sabine said. DoSomething, a website that

includes service projects that teens can access to serve and better their communities, is the online plat-form that coordinates Teens for Jeans. Over the last several years, DoSomething members have col-lected over 5 million pairs of jeans for youth in homeless shelters around the country. Together with

Aéropostale, the campaign is the largest youth-led denim drive ever. DoSomething also gives grants and scholarships for people donat-ing, the site encourages people to donate for the chance to win a $2,500 scholarship by uploading a photo of the jeans by Febru-ary 29th. The Site also gives out

money to schools who collect the most jeans. Sabine Yessayan said, “Dona-tions started on February 14th and the donations will end on the 28th. So far we have 25 donations and counting.” As our school commu-nity gets involved with the cam-paign, we come together to donate unwanted jeans to help those in our city in need, especially teens our age.” Following up on the drive, Sa-bine said, “We ended up donating 41 pairs of jeans and I dropped them off on Friday February 28th. I really hope we are able to par-ticipate again next year and donate more jeans next year!”

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Volume XXXIV/Issue VI March 13, 2020

SportsMarch Madness Makes Mania

PJ O’CONNELLStaff Reporter

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March Madness approaches as the 82nd annual edition of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off on March 17th. The Final Four and National Championship will take place inside the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which will host its fifth Final Four and National Championship. As people rush to fill out their final bracket predictions, some haven’t been following college basketball, so they are unsure of who to ad-vance on their sheets. Most teams are returning to the top

spots of their region such as Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Villanova. Some teams, however, are catching the nation by surprise, including Baylor, Dayton, San Diego State, and Maryland.In the history of March Madness bracketeering, no one has ever se-lected “perfect bracket.” The closest someone ever came to completing a perfect bracket was a 12-year-old named Sam Holtz from Chicago who scored a “near-perfect” bracket score, missing only six picks out of 67 games. The first-place prize for

winning that year’s bracket chal-lenge was $20,000, but since Holtz was only 12, he was ineligible to re-ceive the prize. Holtz told the Daily Herold “I’m irritated [and] I’m still proud of my accomplishment, but I’m not happy with the decision.”This year’s #1 ranked team, Kan-sas, has the longest current streak of competing in the NCAA tour-nament. The Jayhawks’ streak of NCAA tournament appearances stretches to year 30. That run is unlikely to end this year with the Jayhawks sitting comfortably at a No. 1 seed prediction for this year’s bracket. Other teams on this longest appearances streak include Duke, Michigan State, Gonzaga, and Vil-lanova, all ranked in the top 10 this year.Surprisingly, North Carolina is missing from the tournament. UNC hasn’t missed the tournament since 2010 but has had an upsetting season so far. After losing star point guard Cole Anthony for 4-6 weeks

due to a knee injury, the #2 ranked Carolina team has now fallen to 13-17 and second to last in the ACC. This is their first season with a los-ing record in more than 30 years. Duke fan Jack Warren comments, “I’m glad that UNC isn’t in the tournament because their fans are so obnoxious and annoying every year when they are good. Then, whenever they’re bad, they make up some bad excuse.” Most of us take March Mad-ness very seriously. While some host parties, others sit by them-selves and binge all these amazing games. However we celebrate this soon-to-be holiday, we all look for-ward to seeing this year’s National Champion.

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Spring Says Hello to FootballALEX NEWELL Staff Reporter After the Super Bowl, many fans face a drought when it comes to American sports. For those who aren’t big on bas-ketball and baseball, the end of football season is always a disappointment. However, a football lacking spring may soon be a thing of the past. Vince Mc-Mahon’s XFL had its first few matches the weekend after the Super Bowl, and thus far it has lived up to its hype. The XFL’s second coming was an-nounced a few years back, in order to promote the league early as well as provide enough time to put together a good product. In the early 2000’s, it failed as its aggressive advertising was unbalanced by the sloppy play on the

field. Commercials ironically described it as the “Xtreme Football League” and mocked the NFL, calling it the “No Fun League.” However, teams weren’t given enough time to prepare, so the product could be compared to a middle school game. When the association was reworked, however, it took a whole new approach. This time around, the XFL is a new way to enjoy America’s favorite sport in the spring. Oliver Luck, commissioner of the XFL and father of former Indianap-olis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck, said that today’s XFL is a complete rehash of the one before. Almost no ele-ments of the short lived first XFL will

return. The new league has suc-ceeded in drawing attention, as its games will be broadcasted on ESPN, ABC, and FOX Sports. The new league not only brings football into spring for the sport’s diehard fans, but it also introduces new rules that view-ers hope the NFL adopts. One of the most important changes

is the new overtime, which mirrors a hockey shootout. According to the XFL website, both teams receive five pos-sessions at the five yard line, and the team that receives more points wins. If the game is still tied, the rounds will continue until one team scores and the other doesn’t. Games that pass regula-tion with a tied score aren’t decided by a coin flip.Major changes also include the role of special teams. There are no extra point field goal attempts, instead they try a one, two, or three point conversion from the two, five, and ten yard line respectively. Comebacks will be more frequent and will give fans a little extra after the score instead of the boring extra point kick. The XFL has also found a balance between keeping kickoffs safe for the players and enjoyable for fans. The coverage and return teams line up farther away from the kicker, resem-bling a regular play from scrimmage. Neither team moves until the returner has caught or touched the football. The

ever-rising amount of touchbacks in the NFL is something no fan cares for, so this modification is a breath of fresh air. The league is also very convenient to players that really never got their shot in the National Football League and players that want to bypass the NCAA’s restrictive rules while they wait for eli-gibility for the NFL Draft. Players stuck on practice squad rosters aren’t improv-ing, so this is a great opportunity for those who want to get out onto the field and show their talents to the world. An example of a player who moved down to the XFL is Charlotte Catholic alum-nus Elijah Hood, now a running back for the LA Wildcats. Overall, America has been looking for something to pass the time between the Super Bowl and the next NFL season for years, and the XFL is the closest we have come. Hopefully, the XFL finishes its so-far successful season on a good note and provides spring football for years to come.

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Volume XXXIV/Issue VI March 13, 2020

Sports

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Tennis Team TriumphsJACK HUSSEYStaff Reporter

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The Charlotte Catholic Cougars tennis teams, led by Coach Jo Cabana, have always been power-houses, with our women’s team, led by senior Rose Kenny, winning the state title this year in an undefeated campaign. After the historic success of the ladies, the men’s team looks to continue this hot streak with a title of their own, and the team believes they’ve got a real shot this year. Last year, Thomas Tyson and Christian Miller came within a few matches of winning a state cham-

pionship for doubles, but they were defeated by the eventual champs from Clayton High School. They have been friends for a while, and have great chemistry on and off the court. They are among the favorites to win the Class 3A state doubles title this year. This year’s captain, senior Thomas Tyson, has a great effect on his team. His teammate, sophomore Jack Glassner, said about Thomas, “He’s a great leader, and I think he’s earned everyone’s respect and recognition.” Tyson also has

a great shot to win the state singles title, so with his doubles and singles matches, he will have a very active time at both regional and state champi-

onships. Only one freshman is playing on the team this year, Wyatt Smith. When asked how the older guys have treated him, Wyatt said, “They have been really cool, have offered to show me the ropes, and they’ve taught me a lot.” Wyatt will be playing on the sixth line this year. In addition to the previously men-tioned players, the other two start-ers, Nicholas Clementi and Gabe Elder, have bigger aspirations of their own. Gabe said, “I’ve wanted to win a team tennis championship since I got here, so it would be big to finally do it as a senior.” After a second place finish in the conference last year, the players have an extra chip on their shoulder for this year. Captain Tyson said, “We didn’t lose any starters from last year, and we split our series with Marvin Ridge. I think we can only get better this year.” Marvin Ridge was the eventual champion of the conference and runner-up in

the state finals. Overall, this is one of the best men’s tennis teams CCHS has had since the last championship-winning team in 2008. This might be their best chance at a ring for the foreseeable future.

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CYO Season Stirs up Student RivalriesPATRICK SULLIVANStaff Reporter Basketball enthusiasts who may not want to play for Charlotte Catholic can play Christian Youth Organization basketball, otherwise known as CYO, which offers them an opportunity to compete in a sport they love. CYO, the church-based basketball league, is a fun and exciting way for athletes to play in a league. The teams involved are from the JCC, St. Gabriel, St. Mat-thew, St. Patrick, and Holy Trinity Greek, each church fielding mul-tiple teams. Each team from the parishes takes the name of its coach. Most of the teams are groups of friends who get together and com-pete. This dynamic is fun, as the team’s chemistry is already estab-lished. According to Jack Bhojwani, “CYO is exciting because you and your friends get to compete against other friends playing for differ-ent schools.” CYO is available for

both girls and boys and for every grade throughout high school. All the teams play eight games and get seeded for a bracket at the end of the year to compete for the champi-onship. This year St. Gabriel’s Brown took the number one seed in the ninth grade bracket. In tenth grade, the star-studded team Rossitch took the top spot in the bracket and ended up defeating team Carlisto 70-63 in the championship. In eleventh

grade, St. Matthew’s Franek went 7-1 to claim the number one seed in the bracket but was defeated by St. Nektarios in the finals, 70-42. In twelfth grade, St. Patrick’s And-sager went 7-1 to get the top spot in the bracket, but they were defeated before making it to the finals, al-lowing St. Gabriel’s Shea to win the championship. According to Jack Warren, “the tenth grade is the best and most fun to watch because of the incredible

talent. A lot of these kids could make the Charlotte Catholic team.” Some of these players include

Andrew Quirk, Tommy Hoefling, and Colin Wolfinger who averaged 20 to 30 points per game. The tenth grade games are often thrilling. For example, the matchup between St. Gabriel’s Carlisto and St. Matthew’s Bertei in the semi-finals saw Bertei come back to tie the game in the final minute, only to have Carlisto’s Tommy Hoefling hit a clutch three to seal the deal. There are good reasons the CYO is so popular with Charlotte Catho-lic students.

Volume XXXIV/Issue VI March 13, 2020r

Features Students Study Hard for Science Olympiad

JOSEPH FLYNNStaff Reporter

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Science Olympiad is a club which pits school against school in a highly competi-tive showdown. The regional tournament on March 7 is almost here, and students are practicing vigorously for it. In the tournament, each student competes in three or four events. There are three types of events: study, lab, and build. In total, there are 23 events, covering Biol-ogy, Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Technology, and Inquiry. Study events involve competitors study-ing before the event, and then completing a test packet on a certain subject, with ques-tions ranging from easy to very difficult. Each question earns a certain amount of points based on its difficulty. However, the test is timed, so students must really

know the material to score high. Study events range in subject from Anatomy to Genetics to Geology to Astronomy. Lab events require con-testants to perform a lab experiment and write-up based on their data. They range from chemistry to circuitry and also have a time limit. Lab events are scored on the quality of the write-up, which

reflects how well the lab was performed and understood. Build events involve students building a functional device that will be tested on its performance in a certain task. For example, the event “Wright Stuff” requires competitors to build a miniature plane that must be able to fly successfully. Build events are scored on how well the device performs its test. Charlotte Catholic’s Science Olympiad team recently attended a practice tourna-ment at Duke on January 18th. At the Duke Invitational, the team only won an award in a single event, but students were able to see exactly what they must know to prepare for their events. Practices take place every Monday in

Mrs. Hilderbrand’s room, and students are giving their all in preparation for their events. Mr. Budzichowski, the leader of the team, said “most of the material in Sci-ence Olympiad is college level material that students are trying to incorporate and learn in time for the tournament. It’s basi-cally taking a college exam, so it’s a great experience for those trying to get college experience.” Although it was more active several years ago, Charlotte Catholic’s Science Olympiad team has only been to one regional tournament in recent years. Mr. Budzichowski said that last year, “Varsity got 8th place, and JV got 4th out of 25 teams. We were very close to qualifying for the state tournament, but we weren’t quite there. That is our goal this year.”While Mr. Budzichowski works on plan-ning and organizing for the team, stu-dents prepare for their upcoming events, equipped with knowledge from the prac-tice tournament. Amy Budzichowski, a sophomore on the Varsity team, said, “my events at the Duke Invitational went very well considering the difficulty and the caliber of the competi-tion, and they provided wonderful learning opportunities.” As for the regionals, she said “I’m prepared for Codebusters, but

I’m still prepping for my other events. It’s my favorite event, because it’s basically just one enormous logic puzzle.” Sydney Kellgren, another sophomore on Varsity, agreed that “the events I focused on at Duke went well, but the competi-tion was steep.” However, she said “while there’s always more to be done, I feel well enough prepared for the regionals.”Erin Macalintal, a senior on Varsity, said “I’m ready for most of my events. Anat-omy and Physiology is my favorite event because I want to go into the medical field, so this really interests me and will help me in my future.” Like these students said, the competition from other schools is fierce, but Charlotte Catholic team members are determined to succeed this year. The main purpose of Science Olympiad is for students to learn new concepts and skills and get a feel for college tests. Even if the team doesn’t win, they will have learned much along the journey.

Mardi Gras Madness Makes MemoriesTESS MULLIGANStaff Reporter

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Mardi Gras is an opportunity to eat delicious food and spend time with friends and family. Fat Tuesday, the day when Mardi Gras is celebrated, preludes Ash Wednesday, markingthe beginning of Lent, a period of fasting for 40 days. Mardi Gras is celebrated around the world. The season starts on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas. New Orleans, Louisiana is especially known for its celebrations, which entail lavish parties and colorful parades. However, the first Mardi Gras celebration took place in Ala-bama. Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, a French explorer, celebrated Fat Tuesday in 1699 in alocation that he named “Point du Mardi Gras.” For several years, other French explorers returned to the loca-tion specifically to celebrate the event with parties and masquerades but the Spanish shut down the celebrations when they took control. A classic treat associated with

Mardi Gras is king cake. The cake is doughy, and glazed,typically with purple, green and gold sprinkles or icing on the top. The most notable attribute of the king cake, is the baby figurine baked inside. According to HuffPost, the person who finds the baby in their piece of cake is blessed with being the king for the day-but also has to purchasethe king cake for the fol-lowing year. This tra-dition of finding a baby in your cake is steeped in centuries old traditions. Before Christianity, pagans would hide a bean in their cakes, which was used for voting purposes, but as Christianity proliferated, the tradition

shifted to a porcelain figurine. Thanks to the Mistik Krewe of Comus, a secret society in 1800’s New Orleans, Mardi Gras is what we know it as today. In 1857, the society threw balls, parades and parties to bring excitement to the holiday. For hundreds of years, Mardi Gras was

can-celled due to raucous parties, but the elation the Mistik Krewe of Comus

sparked support for the tradition and because of it, the celebrations would go on to make New Orleans famous for their Mardi Gras.According to History.com, in 1827, students wore vivacious costumes and danced in the

streets of New Orleans and ten years later the first Mardi Gras parade floated down the road. Though Mardi Gras is a celebration for Fat Tuesday, it actually dates back to Roman times, where something similar to it celebrated spring and fer-tility, along with other holidays such as Saturnalia and Lupercalia. Later, Christianity adopted the holiday, and from there it spread to other Euro-pean countries. Whether it’s called Carnival, Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, this celebra-tion is a time forhaving fun and eating the foods we love before we enter a period of fast-ing. The lively colors green, purple, and gold mark the feeling of excite-ment we all feel.

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EditorsEmma Gatewood

Taylor Flesch

Reporters Erin Arthur

Tommy CusackRachel DeRochi

Joseph FlynnJulia Grzeskiewicz

William HicksMichael Hussey

Lucy MartinTeresa Mulligan

Alexander NewellPJ O’Connell

Samantha PeanEmma Reilly

Margaret SizelandPatrick SullivanFranny ToccoRobert Verrier

AdvisorDavid Smith

Ash Wednesday has arrived, and the students

of Charlotte Catholic are ready to start their

Lenten journey. Every year, Catholics around

the world abstain from or “give up” certain

indulgences and treats to honor Jesus’ sacrifice

on the cross.

The 40 day Lenten journey begins on Ash

Wednesday. On this day, Catholics receive

ashes on their foreheads, meant to symbolize

penance, mourning, and mortality. As a person

receives the ashes, from the burned palm

branches from the Palm Sunday of the previous

year, the distributor says, “Remember that you

are dust and unto dust you shall return.” This

statement is a great reminder for Catholics that

they are not immortal and must repent and turn

to God to be saved.

Along with a

person’s individual

Lenten promise,

Catholics are required

to abstain from all

meat on Fridays dur-

Volume XXXIV/Issue VI March 13, 2020

Features Staff Lent Lights Up the Way for Easter

CCHS Students Save LivesLUCY MARTINStaff Reporter

Photo Credit: The Charlotte Observer

On a chilly evening in December I headed to Ballantyne Meadows with fellow Charlotte Catholic students Tony Nassar, Josh Perry, and Made-lyn Petho. The four of us had nothing to do, and we decided to visit Tony’s old house. Madelyn was driving, I sat next to her, and the boys were in the back seats. I looked out the window, enjoying the company of my friends, and admired the light blue sky tinted with orange as the sun was about to set. As we listened to music and talked, we suddenly came upon two stopped cars on Ballantyne Commons. One car was in the grass in front of the sign that said Ballyntyne Meadows, and the other one was still on the road. A young teenage girl next to the car in the grass frantically screamed for help as she jumped up and down pulling on the door to the driver’s seat. Madelyn quickly pulled over and the four of us rushed over to the scene.

The accident was terrible. I remem-ber seeing a man who came from the car on the road with blood dripping from his forehead and his hand. Near the other car was a girl, yelling that her grandmother was stuck. Josh ran straight to her and with the help of another man, pulled her out. Tony as-sisted him, and the man gave instruc-tions on how to perform CPR. At the same time, another teen-age girl had been pulled out of the car and was laying on the grass, unconscious. Madelyn approached the first girl who was panicking over her grandmother and held her in her arms as I ran back to the car to grab a phone. When I returned, I handed the phone to Faith, the girl that Madelyn was with, and she called her family. Coincidentally, another teenager who attends Charlotte Catholic, An-thony Johnson, happened to be at the right place at the right time and called 911. Soon, the unconscious girl, Harmony, became responsive, and

Madelyn and I talked to her to try to comfort her before the ambulance came. She told us that she lost her glasses in the crash, so I went back into the car to attempt to find them. Inside the car, I saw drops of blood, the large white air bags that went off with impact, and a shattered wind-shield. Tony came to help me look for the glasses. Then we checked in front of the car and saw the totaled vehicle with sparks coming out of its exposed wires. Thankfully, the girls’ parents had arrived along with the ambu-lance. Most of the paramedics went straight to the grandmother, and some stayed back for the girls. I went and grabbed my jacket and let Harmony use it to

cover her legs as it was beginning to become very cold. Josh gave her his hoodie and let her keep it too. We stayed at the crash for about an hour and answered the questions asked by the firemen who had arrived. They shook our hands as did the parents and thanked us. Although it was a nerve wracking situation, I am very thankful that Tony, Maddy, Josh, An-thony, and I were able to help these people when they were in need.

Photo Credit:Google Images

Taylor FleschStaff Reporter

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ing Lent. Catholics between the age of 18 to

60 are expected to fast on Ash Wednesday and

Good Friday.

What someone decides to give up for Lent

should be personal, in order to show their de-

votion to Christ and their acknowledgement of

his sacrifice. There are a variety of things that

a person can choose to give up. When asked

what they planned on giving up, students listed

items including sweets, fast food, and technol-

ogy.

Lenten promises aren’t solely about giv-

ing something up. Some people decide to do

something proactive and beneficial to bet-

ter themselves and their surroundings. For

example, some people promise to keep their

rooms clean or help out around the house more.

These promises are just as valuable as giv-

ing something up because they are improving

some aspect of a person’s life, making positive

reforms that improve their character and help

them to live more like Christ.

Everyone’s Lenten experience means some-

thing different to them. Ella Futch, a junior,

said, “Lent is a time where I can better myself

and grow stronger in my faith by learning

and grasping a stronger understanding of the

sacrifice Jesus made for us.” She added, “It is

a time where I can reflect on my faith and truly

appreciate all the amazing gifts in my life.”

The challenge of giving up a favorite treat

will not be easy in these next 40 days, but the

students at Charlotte Catholic are

ready to take on the challenge.