Author, Donna Morrissey - January 16, 2014

The Sacred Heart Alumnae/i Association is pleased to present author, Donna Morrissey, at the Sacred Heart School of Halifax on Thursday, January 16th from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

Tickets are $25 each and are available at the main reception desk at the school or by calling 422-4459.

Don't miss the opportunity to meet and hear Donna read from one of our books.

About the author:

Donna Morrissey has written five vivid novels cradled in the Newfoundland culture and yet universal in the emotional upheaval and transcending of its characters.

She has received awards in Canada, the U.S. and England and her novel, Sylvanus Now, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize.

Reviewers have compared her depictions of Newfoundland’s terrain and people to the worlds summoned up by Hardy and Faulkner.

Donna’s fiction has been translated into several different languages.

She is also a scriptwriter:  Clothesline Patch (a short story) won a Gemini for best production and was nominated for best writing.

This past year she released a children's story, Cross Katie Kross, that was illustrated by her daughter, Bridgette.

And she released her latest novel, The Deception of Livvy Higgs which has been shortlisted for the Ontario Evergreen Library Award and The Dartmouth Book Award, and the prestigious Atlantic Canada Award, The Raddal. (Rad-dal)

Meet a Nova Scotia Student with a Way with Words!

Rory Flynn interviewed on CTV News at Five last night.

Click here

Rory Flynn on CTV News

Rory Flynn, Gr. 10, was featured for 2-3 minutes on CTV News at 5pm on January 15, 2014. To watch it, go to this link and choose the video titled:  Meet a Nova Scotia student with a way with words: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/ctv-news-at-5

Rory Flynn: Canada's Best-Ever High School Debate Champion

Brian Casey's Account of Debating Milestone
January 13, 2014

Sacred Heart had another outstanding debating tournament this weekend at Queen’s University in Kingston.
First, I need to recognize the work done by Air Canada to get us there.  Because of mechanical problems, the plane we were booked on was replaced with a smaller plane.  A ticket agent who was re-ticketing the entire flight managed to get all six of our debaters (and me!) on the flight—remaining cheerful, professional and courteous throughout the three hours it took.  It was comforting (given our anxiety about possibly missing the tournament) to have the reassurance and support at the airport.

212 debaters from across Canada took part in the tournament;  Rory Flynn placed 1st and her partner, Mattea Roach was 2nd.  In addition to placing 2nd in the senior category, Mattea was also the best under 15 debater at the tournament.  They placed 2nd as a team, however, losing in the final round to a team composed of students from two Toronto schools, Bayview and Richmond Hill.
(One of the debaters on the team that placed first declared he would get a tattoo that said “I beat Rory Flynn”.  “Yes, I said – and the good thing is, there won’t be very many people with the tattoo”.  I also enjoyed the look on Rory’s father’s face when I asked him if Rory had told him “about the tattoo”.)

Rory and Mattea were not the only Sacred Heart debaters to acquit themselves well, however.  Alexander Sapp defeated 137 other debaters in a strong individual performance, finishing one point out of 10th place.  Andrew Mayo and Sebastian Young tied, finishing 1 point out of 16th place.  Emma McLean finished 1 point out of 32nd place.  Because of the size of the tournament, large numbers of debaters are bunched up at approximately the same result;  these are in fact very fine finishes in a large and competitive event.

In the team standings,  Andrew and Emma did very well, missing the octo-finals by one debate.  (They lost to the same team from Bayview/Richmond Hill that eventually defeated Rory and Mattea).  Alexander Sapp and Sebastian Young beat 54 other teams, missing the octo-finals by one round.

This marks the 5th time a Sacred Heart team has made it to the final round in the 10 trips we have made to the tournament and the 5th time a Sacred Heart debater has finished 1st individually (Neesha Rao took 1st twice, and Sophie McIntyre once;  Rory repeats her 1st place finish from last year.)

The 2nd place finish is a personal best for Mattea in a Canadian tournament (although she was also 2nd at Cambridge, last year).
There are distinct advantages to being partnered with Rory Flynn, of course (you get to the final round at each tournament you enter, for example).  There is however a significant drawback, too:  you always take the smaller speaking time in the round.  (One debater usually gets a longer speech than the other, or the opening or closing role.  At Queen’s, for example, Rory had a 10 minute speech in each round, Mattea 7 minutes;  Rory got to open or close each round for her team.  It is harder to score as well with a 7 minute speech as a 10 minute speech, and harder from the smaller role.  For that reason, at many tournaments, Mattea will be lower in the rankings than she would be if she were on a team of her own with a weaker debater.)  In placing second, Mattea has demonstrated it has not held her back.

Rory has placed 1st individually at more tournaments than any other debater in Canadian history:  McGill (twice), Queen’s (twice), the junior nationals (twice), Dalhousie (twice), the Donahoe (once), Hart House (once), the Nova Scotia provincials (four times), Cambridge (once), Moses Coady (once). 

Brian Casey
Debating Coach
Sacred Heart School of Halifax

Rory Flynn Makes Canadian History: Media Interviews!

Sacred Heart School of Halifax grade 10 student, Rory Flynn, has placed 1^st individually at more tournaments than any other debater in Canadian history!  She will be on CTV News Live at 5 tonight as well as CBC TV News tonight with a one-on-one with Amy Smith.  She will be interviewed live on CBC Information Morning tomorrow around 8:15 and live on the Rick Howe Radio show on 95.7 FM at 12:30 tomorrow.  There will also be an article in The Herald Wed. Jan. 22^nd on her written by education editor Francis Willick.  Rory is an amazing young lady and we are so very proud of her accomplishments as well as the accomplishments of all of our debaters.  A huge thank you to Brian Casey for all he does for our Debating Program!

Rory Flynn Makes History!

Sacred Heart School of Halifax grade 10 student, Rory Flynn, has placed 1st individually at more tournaments than any other debater in Canadian History!  Congratulations, Rory!  You are an amazing young lady!

Today is Congé

It is no surprise that my personal mission statement includes this line:

"work hard, play hard, pray hard ... sleep well."  

I will sleep well tonight because today we prayed and played ... and, thanks to hard work, we kept the secret & shocked the students and high school faculty when we announced after an all-school mass in the Cathedral that ... TODAY IS CONGE!

I will never out-grow the joy of Congé ... relay races, an all-school photo, cache-cache, Congé cakes, and a colourful t-shirt for every child and adult - it was awesome.  My first congé was in October of 1976 on the Feast of Mater Admirabilis.  I was in Grade 9 and got to be on the planning committee - we served 4 kinds of pink ice-cream that day! I'm still that young Grade 9 girl at Duchesne, full of school spirit, and excited beyond words for the thrill of a Sacred Heart tradition that dates back to 1800.

I want to thank Stephanie, Jessica, Kelly, Maura, Shauna, Heather, and Pat for the quiet months of planning that made today so special. Our parents and vendors adjusted lunch service, Donald made sure all elementary students had milk in their homerooms, Brian hung the Congé banner. Pat had colourful napkins to go with the cakes, our 4-5 year olds set the tone with their ongoing chant "con-ge, con-ge, con-ge...." as they gave high five to all of the Gr. 1-12 students upon return from the Cathedral.  I am grateful that every cool Gr. 12 girl and boy is still young enough to don a t-shirt and fully entered into the spirit to make it a fabulous day for everyone.

At one point during a hotly contested game of cache-cache, I was huddled under Ms. Scott's desk with Rachel in Grade 4. They were after us, and the Principal's Office seemed the only option for hiding. I looked at Rachel and thought - What am I doing? Though my knees were not happy, I thought - I'm playing with the kids & teaching them a tradition that must be carried forward. I can call this work. I asked Rachel if she thought her father was having as much fun today at his job!

The coordination of events was outstanding. Our liturgy committee did an amazing job, our students led the music and prayers, proclaimed the word, and served in many ways. Steve Tugwell expertly organized the relays - no small accomplishment!! Barb orchestrated the photo & then posted a bunch of pictures outside the gym. Teachers stepped up to lead activities and a good time was had by all!  Our theme this year "We've Got Spirit!" was on display in every way.

I must say - it ranks among the best of Conge's since I entered Sacred Heart as a student 38 years ago!  To top off the day, our Jr. and Sr. basketball teams both won their home games this evening.

My Happy Heart sends love and gratitude.

Now, I need some sleep!