2016-17 News and Photos

Hablamos Español

An exchange student from Madrid works with a group of Spanish 1 students to write a skit.

Dunk Tank Results

For those who might be curious, the title of “Most Dunked” is awarded to Fr. Anthony!

The results of the unofficial Dunk Tank contest are as follows:

The Cistercian Booster Club wants to thank them again for helping make the Kickoff Carnival a great success! Click here for more photos.

Cistercian Varsity Cheer Team earns awards at NCA Cheer Camp!

This summer the cheer team earned top awards while competing against over 300 cheerleaders from 24 schools. The team won the Herkie Team Award, Champion Chant Award and Game Day Top Team Trophy. Senior, Emily K. won the Leadership Award and senior Alexa D and juniors Sarah O., Sarah S., and Jenna C. were named to the NCA All-American Team. Congratulations to all team members for being nominated to the NCA All-American Team!

Freshman Baptism

Following the tradition of so many classes before, the seniors and freshmen participated in the annual “Baptism”, which is the welcoming ceremony for all freshmen coming into high school. Both students and Form Master participate in the Cistercian tradition of being thrown into a swimming pool by the members of the senior class. Every freshman entered the pool safely, and no injuries were obtained.

Pro-Life Kickoff Rally

A student addresses members of the Cistercian and Ursuline pro-life clubs, CAUSE (Cistercian and Ursuline Student Effort for Life) at the Pro-Life Kickoff Rally on Saturday, September 10.

Spanish Activity

In Spanish class, Cistercian Juniors participate in an activity asking and answering questions in a series of short conversations with partners.

Ceromantia
An exhibit of paintings, drawings, and prints by Roberto Munguia

Reception: September 16, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Locale: Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Culture Center, 600 River St., Austin, TX 78701

"Like a diviner," states Mr. Munguia, "I am seeking for something not readily seen and not easily learned within my encaustic practice. The work in this show hints at an imagined primordial state of awareness, below the surface, root-like, having to do with both physical and metaphysical processes, dreams, myth, and the translucence of existence."

The exhibit runs through November 26.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read Reflecting on the divine thirst for our Catholic faith By Father Thomas Esposito, Special to The Texas Catholic

MS Cross Country Win

The Cistercian Middle School Cross Country team won their first meet of the season. Pictured are the top five runners with the award. Great work, guys!

Quiz Bowl

Congratulations to the six Cistercian Quiz Bowl teams on an excellent performance in the recent tournament at Greenhill. Pictured are the Juniors of "Team B" who placed third! Cistercian has now qualified three teams for Nationals in May, 2017.

Pétanque

Sophomores experienced the classic French game, pétanque, as part of their French 2 class. Similar to bocce ball, pétanque players must take turns tossing a ball as close as possible to a small ball called a cochonnet. One may use their turn to try to throw the ball toward the cochonnet, or they may try to knock the other player's ball away.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read Thoughts on conscience, community, and Catholicism by Fr. John, special to The Texas Catholic.

Architecture Elective

A Form V student presents his design to his class and a small group of professionals that his teacher brought in.

French 3 Projects

Students studied the regions of France for their Quarter 1 projects.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read Reflections on political elections on the long defeat by Fr. Thomas Esposito, Special to the Texas Catholic

Nutcracker

Momentum Dance Company brought its dancers to Cistercian and performed selections from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker for Forms I & II on October 21. The company director, Jacquelyn Focher, gave a lively explanation of the components of classical dance as part of the onstage presentation. The Irving-based company will be performing The Nutcracker over the Thanksgiving holidays at the Irving Arts Center.

Flash Fiction

In October the Library hosted a Flash Fiction contest. Flash fiction is an extremely brief story, typically only a few hundred words in its entirety. In the spirit of flash fiction, participants had to write a short story in one page, and the objective was to make it a scary story in the spirit of gentle terror inspired by Halloween. With Mr. Nied and Mr. Spence as difficult judges to frighten, two Form IV students took first and second place with their delightfully eerie storytelling. Given the strength of this year’s entries, an honorable mention was also awarded to a third Form IV student. Congratulations to the three students who received recognition and to all the participants!

Form II Dot Race

During the halftime of the October 28 Varsity football game, Form II competed in the Dot Race. Congratulations to the Black team on their win!

Texans for Life Dinner

Fr. Ambrose and several sophomores attended the Texans for Life Coalition's annual benefit dinner with speaker Dinesh D'Souza in October.

Hudson Walk

Dozens from the Cistercian community gathered at Campion Trail to help raise money for Children's Hospital of Orange County. Two Third Formers also contributed by painting addresses on the curbs of their neighborhood, donating all proceeds to the walk.

Pan de Muertos

On Wednesday, November 2, Fr. Mark made Pan de Muertos, or Day of the Dead Bread, for the sophomores taking Spanish.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read To vote, study well, pray, and choose in conscience by Fr. John for Texas Catholic

Physics Lab

Form Seven was making good use of the nice fall weather by heading outside for a lab on circular motion. They were testing the tension that a string develops when you twirl a rubber stopper over your head. By using counter weights to balance the rotating stopper, the students determined the force needed to keep the stopper moving in a circle.

Go Hawks!

A Hawk alighted on the flag pole at Cistercian just hours before Friday's SPC Championship game to be played against Fort Worth Country Day at All Saints' in Fort Worth. Go Hawks!

JPG at Dallas Opera

The Junior Patrons' Guild had a whale of a time at the Dallas Opera's production of Moby Dick.

SMU Hart Global Leaders Forum

Three juniors attended the SMU Hart Global Leaders Forum on Monday. The keynote speaker was President George W. Bush. The students had a photo-op with the president, participated in a Q/A with him and visited the George W. Bush library in the afternoon. They also heard lectures from two SMU professors in political science and history and attended a luncheon with dozens of other high school students from the Dallas Metroplex.

Hovercraft Ride

Cistercian seniors built a hovercraft in physics and Fr. Joseph got to ride! Visit our Facebook page to see the video.

Quiz Bowl

Congratulations to our Quiz Bowl teams on their great performance at the regional Quiz Bowl competition at Lovejoy High School! All four teams made it into Championship rounds, and advanced to different levels of the playoffs in the late afternoon. Cistercian B made it to the semi's and took a 3rd place trophy!

School House Rocks!

We hope everyone had a chance to see this year’s Middle School Musical, Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. It played to a full house in both performances and to rave reviews. Congratulations to all of our budding thespians and to their amazing director, Mr. Magill, for a job extremely well done!

Black Friday Brunch Bunch

Bob Haaser and some alumni from his Class of 2014 got together over the Thanksgiving holidays for a meeting of the "Black Friday Brunch Bunch."

Bishop Arts Caroling Group

Dr. Pruit and Mr. Saliga accompanied Cistercian students at the "Jingle Bells on Bishop" event last weekend. The group spent the whole evening singing on sidewalks and street corners, inside shops and restaurants, taking requests and singing from our stock list or traditional carols... all to eager and welcoming audiences.

Quiz Bowl

Congratulations to our Quiz Bowl team for their hard work at the recent Quiz Bowl competition at Seven Lakes HS in Katy, TX! It was a great experience as they prepare for NAQT Nationals to be held in Atlanta, Georgia.

French Movie Night

Last Friday, students from Cistercian and Ursuline attended a "French Movie Night" and watched Bienvenue à Marly-Gomont together. Also known as The African Doctor in English, the story tells about a man who grabs the opportunity to become a country doctor in a small French village.

Aquahawks!

The Cistercian Aquahawks glided through their first scrimmage at St. Mark’s last Thursday evening.

Diocesan Speech League

Congratulations to two Form II students who achieved perfect scores at the Diocesan Speech League competition!

Exchange students

Two students from Colegio San Esteban in Buenos Aires, Argentina, are attending classes at Cistercian for the month. During their stay, they will participate in the daily life of the school, learn to play some American sports, and visit attractions in the DFW area. The boys' visit coincides with that of two female students that will attend classes at Hockaday. In exchange for hosting these young men, two Form VI students get to travel to Argentina this June and attend classes at Colegio San Esteban. One of the visiting students will also get to travel with Cistercian's Pro-Life group this weekend. This is the first year for this exchange program, and Cistercian hopes to be able to offer the same opportunity to the sophomore class in the years to come.

Diocesan Spelling Bee

For the first time ever, Cistercian hosted the Diocesan Bee, welcoming 28 other schools within the diocese to our campus. A Form IV student from Cistercian took 2nd place and will now advance to the County Bee in February. Good luck!

Silent Sky lecture

Dr. Olenick, Astrophysics professor at University of Dallas, visited Cistercian and wowed the students in Forms I-III with a lecture on the science behind Silent Sky, a play those forms will see at the end of the month.

Athlete of the Month

Congratulations to a Cistercian Junior who was named the Maxpreps Athlete of the Month! Each month, Maxpreps selects one female and one male athlete that fits their criteria: bravery, dedication, perseverence, personal sacrifice, and being a positive influence in one's community.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read "Freedom and Discernment" by Fr. John Bayer, Special to The Texas Catholic.

Cistercian Monks in Texas Catholic

Click here to read "Monks' faith, service on display at Irving school," a Texas Catholic article about Cistercian in anticipation of Catholic Schools Week.

Quiz Bowl

Congratulations to our first place winning team from Saturday's Quiz Bowl tournament!

Silent Sky at Watertower Theatre

Forms I-III enjoyed a visit to the Watertower Theatre today as they viewed the play Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson. The play is an exploration of the life and career of celebrated astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt.

Religion Bowl

Cistercian students from each Middle School grade level did a great job competing against other area Catholic schools in the Religion Scholars Bowl today. Congratulations to our first place winners!

Dans la cuisine

Mme. Obels' sophomores enjoyed making crêpes as they learned about La Chandeleur (Candlemas) on February 2nd.

Lego Alamo

A Form III student recreated the Alamo out of Lego pieces after seeing a blueprint in class.

Form I Astronomy project

The boys will make a model of their astronomy object and also prepare a power point in computer class to present in front of their classmates.

Student Newspaper

The staff of The Cistercian Informer has been working hard on the next version of the student newspaper.

Adios to Joaquin and Pedro

Our exchange students, Joaquin and Pedro, have returned home. The host moms sent up king cake for Form VI to enjoy at lunch, as a means of having a little goodbye party.

Weekend of Service

What a beautiful weekend of service with the US preparing and distributing food for the Austin Street Shelter and Form IV clearing and mulching the Stations of the Cross Trial for use by all this coming Lent!

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read The Salt of the Earth: Knowing the Flavor of Our Faith by Fr. John, special to The Texas Catholic

MathCounts

Congratulations to four Fourth Formers who placed first in this weekend’s MathCounts Chapter Championship at UTA! They have earned the right to advance to the MathCounts State Championship to be held in Austin on March 25. Further, competing as an individual, a second form student placed 4th overall at Chapter, also earning the right to advance to State.

Language Studies

Form V students practice reflexive verbs through a conversational activity.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read A Journey Through the Lenten Season with Quoheleth by Fr. Thomas, special to The Texas Catholic

Community Service

Cistercian students collected hygiene items for the 718 homeless students who are currently attending the Irving ISD.

Robotics

Congratulations to the Cistercian FRC Team 6672 Fusion Corps for their outstanding accomplishment! They ranked first with a record of 11-2-1 and won the following awards: Highest Rookie Seed and Rookie Inspiration Award sponsored by National Instruments.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read The Difference between proselytism and Evangelization by Fr. John, special to The Texas Catholic

Eucharistic Adoration

Last Friday, students and faculty were invited to spend some special time in silent prayer with Christ. This month our service has been made extra special not only by Lent, but also by a special monstrance that we used, which was blessed by Pope St. John Paul II. It reminded us to pray for Jesus to bless his people with good vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Retail as Art

Congratulations to the Cistercian students who participated in the 2017 Retail As Art Photography Scholarship and Awards ceremony at the Goss-Michael Gallery! They took home 3 out of 11 total awards. A Senior won the grand prize, while two sophomores won the Special Judges Award and Honorable Mention respectively.

Texas History Trip

Form III met Medal of Honor winner James Taylor outside the LBJ Library.

A Word to Enkindle

Click here to read A healthy economy is not necessarily the most profitable, by Fr. John for Texas Catholic.

Award Recipients

Here is a picture of Fr. Peter, the Abbot Anselm Award recipient, the Claudius Mayer Humanities Award recipient, the Claudius Mayer Math and Science Award recipient, and Fr. Paul. These awards were given out at the Baccalaureate brunch this past Sunday.

Quiz Bowl

The Cistercian Quiz Bowl team competed at the 2017 National Quiz Bowl Tournament in Atlanta, GA, which was on Sat-Sun, May 27-28. Our A team tied for 65th place out of 304 teams competing from all over the country. Great job!