Naz Girls

You know the saying “Once a Naz girl always a Naz girl.” Lately I have been thinking though, what does it mean to be a Naz girl? Oh let me count the ways!

Being a Naz girl isn’t about just having a diploma from Nazareth and going to an all girls private school. Being a Naz girl means having that connection with all other Naz girls, no matter what graduating year. Being a Naz girl means having the confidence to walk up to any one wearing a Nazareth shirt, no matter where you are, and starting a conversation.

Being a Naz girl means going to a school with the diversity of a public school, mentality and education of a private school. Being a Naz girl means looking out for our sisters.

Being a Naz girl means having fun during school, being able to finger paint, play with play dough, and run to search for Easter eggs with out people looking at you weird (mostly either because they are doing the same thing or are extremely jealous.) Being a Naz girl means wanting to jump into a giant plastic ball pit any day.

Being a Naz girl means wandering around after you finished your lunch and none of the teachers have to worry about you getting in trouble. Being a Naz girl means daydreaming about Nazareth cookies before lunch and wishing you had another one after lunch. Being a Naz girl means eating pizza every Tuesday and pasta every Thursday.

Being a Naz girl means waking up and not fussing in front of the mirror for an hour (we don’t have to impress any boys!)

Being a Naz girl means doing stuff like turning pennies gold, having tug-of-wars on the front lawn, and decorating the school for special occasions.

Being a Naz girl means not liking EVERYONE in your class, but working hard to get along.

Being a Naz girl means coming together on that sad day our school closed and helping everyone get through it.

This is what being a Naz girl means. It means working hard, but still having fun. It means helping each other, getting along, and working together. That’s what I will miss when I walk into school next year.

~Miss Naz~

Good Luck to Our Teachers!

Yesterday was a very sad day for many Nazareth students. I would like to say congratulations to Mrs. Ziewers who found a new job in Buffalo… starting Monday. We will all miss you Mrs. Z and we are so sad that you could not finish the school year with us. But we do wish you good luck!

Also good luck to all of the other teachers who have found new jobs! Mr. Hendrick, Nazareth Academy’s AWESOME Physics teacher has found a job at Mercy! Also, the coaches, Coach Belmont and Vice Principal Mr. McKee, and also Mr. Miller, our chorus director, have all found jobs at Bishop Kearney.

I was actually pretty sad when I first found out and it was a little hard to be happy at the time. Since I am going to Aquinas, it’s sad when I hear that a teacher is going to a different school.

Which also brings up this question: Are any teachers going to Aquinas? I mean I am happy for teachers that have found jobs at other schools, but since this is a “merge” with Aquinas, why hasn’t any teachers been offered jobs there yet?

So here are the stats so far: Bishop Kearney: 3, Mercy: 1, Aquinas: 0.

I personally am a little nervous that so far this “merge” has brought no teachers. If you are student going to Aquinas next year, tell me what you think about this. Also if you have heard that any teachers are going to Aquinas next year, mention that too.

Congrats to all of the teachers who have found jobs again! We hope you like the new school as much as Nazareth! And Mrs. Z, good luck Monday, we are all praying for you!

~Miss Naz~

Enough With the Rumors!

I have heard many rumors about what happened that day when we found out that the school was closing. And you know what? I’m sick of it! Sure some are true! But most of them are so far off it just makes you wonder how they could have possibly been started! So here is my account of what happened:

I came into school that morning after hearing some small whispers and rumors spreading around Facebook the night before. How the news got out, no one is totally sure. I have heard that it was spread by the Aquinas students and I have also heard it was spread by the Nazareth students. But no matter how it was spread, students were not supposed to know until they announced it in the auditorium.

So anyways, back to the rumors and Facebook. Mostly I ignored the rumors, thinking it was false. When I walked into school, we were in the middle of morning prayer and the reader was crying. I knew right then that the news was true. Nazareth Academy would not be open for another year.

We gathered together in the auditorium that day and cried. The teachers told us to go and talk to our friends. After a few minutes of talking we all got up on stage, our whole small, yet mighty, family and sang the school song. After that, we gathered in a large circle, held hands, and prayed. As I looked around the circle of sisters, I noticed not I single one of us was standing there without tears and neither was I. This is the moment I realized that this would be our last year together as a family.

After sometime, the teachers told us it was time to go back to class. So we got up, and walked to class, ending the beginning of the saddest day of our lives.

But don’t forget our parents mind you! Some of our parents found out from Facebook, some found out in the worst way possible, aka the media. My parents found out while online while others found out when cameras were shoved into their cars and people screaming asking what they thought, mean while they don’t even know what is going on!

So that is what happened! That is the whole truth! So you can throw away the rumors about “Nazareth students refusing to go to class” or “Teachers tell students and parents in the auditorium so they don’t have to find out from media” because its not true! And yes I know the latter is sort of against my school but its the truth and this post is about the truth! (There’s something you wouldn’t expect to find on a blog!)

Tell me any rumors you may have heard. I’ll try my best to say if they are true or not. You readers are here because you want to know about Nazareth so you should hear what is true.

That’s it for this week. Happy Easter to you and your whole family and I hope to have you back next week on SOS!

~Miss Naz~

Wonderful Memories

Two weeks ago, I was given the idea, from one of my readers, to find ways to make this year great and think about some great memories.

I had to think for a long time about this! I have so many amazing memories at Nazareth but I wanted to pick one that was really special to me. So here is my favorite memory of Nazareth:

It’s the first day at a brand new school. I was coming from a pretty rough school (which I will not name since they have nothing to do with Nazareth.) When I left that school I was beginning to think, “Was it just the school? Or will I never make any friends?” I tried to shove away the fear of being rejected at yet another school and walked into Nazareth. I was identified as the new kid immediately. One of the students looked at me and I was terrified as they walked over.

Later at lunch time I thought my new Nazareth friends were going to drag me by the heels and chain me to the table if I did not come and eat lunch with them.

I think my favorite part of the whole day was when I was at home and I was thinking back to how terrified I was at the beginning of the day, but by the end of the day I had found the number one school for me. I also think that if I knew what I know now, that the school was going to close, I would have still gone to Nazareth. I would have started looking for another school sooner than I did, but I still would have gone.

I also agree that we need to make this year great, and after wandering around the school this past week and talking to a few of my friends, I found out some interesting things on our schools publications.

Number one, I found that we are having a double issue of the Gabriel. Also, the Spectrum will be much larger this year and as most of us know, they are really trying to get everyone in it this year. No news yet on the year book though.

If you went to Nazareth, please share your favorite memory of the school in the comments!

Thank you for reading SOS! Also a special thank you to the reader who suggested the topic for this week!

See you next week on SOS!

~Miss Naz~

Which school should I go to?

To be honest, I did not shadow Mercy. Not because I did not want to go there, but because I live pretty far away from Mercy.

Now that I have said that, let me say that when I talk about Aquinas and Bishop Kearney, these are my personal OPINIONS of what I saw at the schools. Please don’t hate me if you disagree.

First I will talk about BK since I shadowed there first. Just like Nazareth, BK has the 80-minute periods that we are all used to. Also when I went there I saw many people I knew! The people I knew were pretty welcoming and we were able to talk again.

Later I shadowed AQ. Aquinas was pretty fun. Everyone I met was very welcoming, although the shorter classes were hard to get used to. After my fifth class that morning, I felt like I had gone through two school days, even thought it was still before lunch time.

And now I have to decide. Well not now, I obviously already made my choice, but anyways. So did anyone notice when I was writing about BK, I said that the people I KNEW were pretty welcoming? (It’s ok, I’ll wait while you look.) I did not mention the people I did not know. At BK, there were only a few I talked to who I could really see myself going to school with. Did anyone else notice this or was it just me?

But, like I said before, I was honestly welcomed at Aquinas.

So then it comes down to this question: Would I rather go to a school that is honestly welcoming me and I feel comfortable at, or the one that I feel a little nervous at?

DUH! Of course I’m choosing Aquinas! On top of not only having nice students, their classes are very similar to Nazareth classes. Aquinas classes are right on track with Nazareth classes and some of them were even challenging. (I don’t speak French!)

Maybe BK is the school for you, maybe not. Tell me what you think in the comments. For me, Nazareth will always be the school for me, but Aquinas is a close second.

~Miss Naz~

........ummmm......

Maybe you have noticed that I haven’t been posting on the weekends. I’ll be honest, I need some more ideas! Please, please, please send me some ideas. Want me to get on my knees and beg? No, of course not. So to avoid that total humiliation, send me some ideas…

Also, come back next week! I’ll be telling my PERSONAL opinions of what I thought of different schools and be unveiling the school I have chosen. (Still thinking it over a little…)

Sadly, that’s all for this week. (awwwwwwwwww) Yes, yes I know all of my wonderful readers are disappointed by this (cricket, cricket) But don’t forget to keep reading SOS!

~Miss Naz~

Getting Stressful Yet?

Gosh! What a busy time this is! Shadowing schools all over the city, knowing there is a pile of make-up work waiting for you when you get back. Then once you finally get caught up, it’s time to shadow another school! Throw in the fact that some of us are also registering for SAT’s or worrying about other end-of-year tests like AP’s and now Regents (do those even belong in the same sentence?) a lot of us are hit with one big heaping load of stress!
Not that we didn’t have stress to start with! It seems like all of high school we have been looking or started looking at colleges. Now, just as we are starting to get a good idea about where we want to go, we have to stop and look for a high school. None of us, especially the juniors, should be looking for high schools!
I have to honestly say that this year is harder than all of my high school years and this is definitely NOT what I thought my last year at Nazareth was going to be like.
So here is your question. What is the most stressful thing you have to deal with this year? And please don’t just say “School closing” because we all know that is stressful.
Pass this on to your friends and please keep reading SOS!
~Miss Naz~