Daniel Island 5K Race & Walk

By Contributing Bishop England High School Student Matthew Kuhn, ‘09

Get ready to lace up those running shoes because the Daniel Island 5K Race & Walk is fast approaching! Hosted by the Bishop England Track and Cross-Country teams, this annual event will take place on Saturday, March the 21st.

The race has continued to grow in size and popularity during its eleven-year history. Last year had more than two hundred participants, including several Bishop England athletes who placed at the top of their age brackets. Seniors A.J. Fitzsimmons and John Pasierbowicz each placed fifth and eleventh respectively last year in the overall standings.

Tony Colizzi, head coach of BE track and field, uses the race to prepare his long-distance runners for the state track meet in May. Senior distance runner Catherine Clarke-Pounder is optimistic about the upcoming season. “The boys have an awesome group this year, and even though the girls have lost a few top runners, both teams plan on winning big at state.”

Proceeds from the race will benefit the Bishop England track team. Registration fees are $15 until March 14th and $20 afterwards up until the day of the race. For an additional five dollars, participants will receive a t-shirt. The race starts at Bishop England on Seven Farms Drive at 9:00 am.

More information about the race including registration forms can be found HERE. .

Go, Grease Lightning, Go!

By Contributing Bishop England High School Student Matthew Kuhn, ‘09

The Bishop England Drama Department is ironing out the poodle skirts and dusting off the leather jackets. A school version of the classic musical set in the 1950’s is taking shape at Bishop England High School. Cast and crew began rehearsals the first week in February. In collaboration with the Bishop England band and chorus, the drama department will give their production a fifties rock-n-roll sound. Director and drama teacher Cathy Slonecki has high expectations for the performance: “We have great acting talent and are working hard to have a great set and authentic-sounding music.” Slonecki also added that the production would not be “modernized,” but instead stay completely faithful to the original time period. The production is scheduled for two performances: Friday, March 27th and Saturday, March 28th.

Bishop England Introduces SMART Board Technology

By Contributing Bishop England High School Student Matthew Kuhn, ‘09

At the start of the 2008-2009 school year, students and teachers at Daniel Island’s Bishop England High School encountered a new technological innovation present in their classrooms: Interactive “SMARTboards.” No longer hampered by the limitations of traditional chalk and marker boards, eleven teachers received the interactive teaching boards, which have a wide range of uses. Teachers can digitally display typed notes for their students with full-sized images. The SMARTboards also allow teachers and students to write onscreen with special digital pens, or even just their fingers.

The SMARTboards enable teachers to show movies and online videos to their students on large screens, eliminating the need for in-class televisions and bulky mobile VCR/DVD units. Teachers simply connect the SMARTboard to their computer and control it with a mouse and keyboard, or by using hand gestures on the board’s interactive touch screen. Bishop England senior Joshua DeLaporte finds the school’s new technology enriching. “It makes learning a lot more fun and it lets you to focus on the material that’s being covered,” he says. Bishop England is planning on expanding the number of classrooms with interactive SMARTboards over the next several years.