Alumni writes another book

Greg Borowski, Messmer Class of 1985, has completed his third book, a collection of six heartwarming Christmas stories. The book, A Christmas Wish, is a follow up to his award-winning book The Christmas Heart, published in 2005. Borowski is also the author of First and Long, the story of the groundbreaking Messmer-Shorewood football partnership. The stories in Borowski's new book are part of an annual tradition, in which he writes a new story to include with his Christmas cards for family and friends. The stories are also published in the Journal Sentinel, where he has worked for 10 years.

Borowski has several book readings scheduled, including Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at Schwartz Books in Shorewood, 4093 N. Oakland Ave., and at 2 p.m. Dec. 14 at Little Read Book in Wauwatosa, 7603 W. State St. The book is available in many bookstores and can also be ordered online at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and, of course, through the publisher, Badger Books (www.badgerbooks.com). There is more information on the book on Borowski's own web site: www.thechristmasheart.com.

Recent Messmer graduate featured in UWM Ad

Brad Hopgood, a 2005 Messmer High School graduate,was recently featured in a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee advertisement. Brad is a Junior majoring in Electrical Engineering and minoring in Spanish at UWM. He is the first recipient of the C.G. Schmidt Constructionand Faith Technologies scholarships at Messmer High School.

In addition to his studies, Brad is currently participatingin a co-op program with Rockwell Automation. In his spare time, he serves as a tutor for Math and Science at UWM and in their Upward Bound program that helps high school students transition to college. He is president of UWM’s branch of the National Society of Black Engineers. Brad looks forward to returning to Messmer to volunteer and work with students at his alma mater.

Students lead workshop at Archdiocesan Liturgy Day

Messmer High School and Marquette University High School students led a workshop called "Youth Friendly Liturgy" at the Archdiocesan Liturgy Day, co-sponsored by the Federation for Diocesan Liturgical Commissions at the Wyndham Hotel and Convention Center in Milwaukee on October 18, 2008.

The workshop featured a summary of the eight principles from Age to Age; The Challenge of Worship with Adolescents, a paper published by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in 1997. The seven students broke open the Liturgical principles by telling their own stories and giving their own perspective and suggestions to over 40 workshop adult participants.

To learn more about this program, click here.

The Great Debaters

For the first time in decades, over 15 Messmer High School students are competing in an intellectual tug-of-war through the Milwaukee Debate League.

The Debate Policy Team topic this year is a resolution on whether the U.S. Federal Government should increase incentives for alternative energy resources. At meets, one team must take the affirmative, arguing in favor of the resolution while the other team defends the negative, opposing the resolution.

Debaters learn how to effectively structure their arguments by asserting a claim, defending the point they are arguing, providing warrants or reasons for their claim, and backing up their warrants with solid evidence or data.

The Milwaukee Debate League hosts high schools from across Milwaukee every third Saturday. Each tournament consists of three 80-minute debate rounds. At the end, the top teams and speakers are announced. In addition, Messmer students compete in the Wisconsin Debate Coaches Association competitions on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the fall.

Six Messmer High School students and two teachers participated in a two-week debate training program through the Marquette University Debate Institute this past summer.

The team is coached by CapCorp volunteer and teacher, Corey Mehlos, and Messmer teacher, Gail Burkel. Mehlos and Messmer senior, Desiree Hardy, offered non-partisan feedback on the last presidential debate through JSOnline. To read their feedback, click here.

Building peace, one crane at a time

Throughout the month of October, students at Messmer Catholic Schools will be constructing thousands of origami paper cranes to build peace awareness in their community and around the world.Their efforts are part of the Peace Crane Project that began to honor the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and the famous story Sadako Sasaki. Origami cranes became famous around the world through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who was 2 at the time of the bombing and was later struck by leukemia.

According to Japanese legend, if you fold 1,000 cranes, you will be granted a wish. Sadako wished to get well and folded over 600 cranes before she died at age 12. To honor Sadako, her friends completed the remaining cranes. Her story and the crane became a symbol of peace around the world. To learn more about the story of Sadako Sasaki, click here.

Messmer students are building cranes as a symbol of their desire for peace among those near to them and throughout the world. This spring, students will send their cranes to Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan where their cranes will rest on the soil once devastated by war but now full of hope for a peaceful world.To join Messmer students in building peace, click here to watch a short demonstration on how to participate by creating a crane.

Messmer President, Brother Bob Smith, honored by Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Br. Bob Smith received the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Legacy Award on May 8, 2008. The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is dedicated to being the premier organization in Black Higher Education that develops and prepares a new generation of leaders by providing resources, opportunities and advocacy to historically Black colleges, students and alumni. The Legacy Award is given to individuals who have been committed themselves to creating opportunities to individuals both locally and nationally. Recipients like Br. Bob have left a legacy which generations will remember in the areas of education, law or civic duty. For more information on Br. Bob’s professional accomplishments, click here.

Messmer President, Brother Bob Smith, speaks with Mike Gousha at Marquette University Law School

Br. Bob Smith joined Mike Gousha at Marquette University Law School in March 2008 to participate in a regular public policy series called “On the Issues with Mike Gousha.” Br. Bob discussed the state of urban education today and shared his views on how to get more minority students to graduate from high school and go on to college. To listen to this entire presentation, click here.