Happy almost Christmas SMA!!!

Merry Christmas!

Our break started early this year due to weather conditions, but that just means more snow and better skiing up on the mountain! This past weekend was my first time going up to the mountain alone on our bus, and it was extremely fun. Sadly our bonding weekend overnight trip this week was cancelled, but nonetheless I'm still looking forward to heading up this Saturday for a one day trip! I hope all off you are taking advantage of the snowy weather as well.

Our winter concert was a huge success, and personally I think it was much better than last year's! I hope some of you attended and watched our wonderful orchestra and piano ensemble play, this was my first time playing with the orchestra and it was great! We've already started preparing for our spring concert, I hope to see you there.

In the spirit of Christmas all of our TA's were assigned Christmas families, and this Wednesday we packed them up, wrapped them, and delivered them to our Christmas families. While we were wrapping a singing Christmas telegram stopped by the commons with gifts and a wonderful student written song. Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season SMA!!

Piano ensemble attire
Wrapping for Christmas!

Hello St. Mary's Blues!

I hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving break. At our house we had turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce and we invited over some friends to have dinner with and watch a movie.

I just took my drivers Ed test today, and I passed! All I have to do to get my listen every now is take a safety test at the DMV and then I'll have my license. I'm excited to be able to drive around on my own!

So far ski team has been going great, we've been up on the mountain almost every weekend. I'm relearning a lot of things because I haven't skied in so long, but I think I'll be ready in time for racing season! My new skis and equipment work great, and I just got my racing helmet yesterday.

Piano ensemble is going well too this winter, and our winter concert is this Sunday in the Auditorium at SMA. It's completely free, come to see us playing Christmas carols and to watch SMADco and our dancing classes dance to Christmas music! Hope to see you there!

Me in my ski gear at timberline

Hello again SMA, happy thanksgiving! 

I hope your mindfulness week is going well! Many teachers have been having electronic- free classes all this week to help us be more aware of dependency and appreciation of the resources we have. In English for mindfulness week were supposed to do a project on how where we live and our region affects or forms who we are and the values we hold as important.

The juniors also went on encounter this week, and in the morning they loaded into the busses! I'm excited for when I get to go on encounter. It's supposed to be a secret in- the- moment trip so the juniors who have gone have to keep the activities a secret from everyone else. 

Our first ski team meet was a few days ago as well! It's been a long time since I've exercised so much, and our ski coach says we might not be going up to the mountain this weekend yet but as soon as it snows we'll be up at timberline preparing for the races. I can't wait to finally get on snow! 

Mindfulness week English project 

Hi SMA Blues! 

I hope you all are doing fine! There's been a lot of stress at school lately, but I hope all of you are pushing through and taking the time you need to relax and keep going. Stay strong!

Winter sports are starting soon, and I'm so excited for ski team! I'm still working on figuring out how to juggle ski team, piano ensemble, driver's Ed, and all my homework while keeping my grades up but I'm sure it will work out. Our first ski meet is this upcoming Tuesday, and I'm excited to meet my new alpine skiing teammates. I went to the ski swap at the expo center this weekend and bought ski gear as well as a pair of racing skis, and they're currently in the shop getting the bindings attached. Hopefully they'll be ready by the time we go up to the mountain! 

One of the many perks of being an ambassador is having the opportunity of hosting shadow visits and incoming/ prospective students. This Monday I had a shadow from my old school, Celia, come in for a visit. We caught up on everything that's been going on at arbor (including all the latest news on the arbor goats) and talked about her favorite activities (reading and rock climbing). She got a chance to see what English, Spanish, biology, and theology classes are like here at SMA and I hope it was a great first shadow visit experience for her! 

See you next time, Hannah 

At the ski expo
At the ski expo 2
Free snow shoes?!

Hey again,

Happy end of the quarter! Our final first quarter grades are finally being put not the grade books, a first for our new freshmen. I hope everyone is staying calm and stress-free during this often stressful time

We had a great founders day, and it was wonderful to see graduates and alumni from as long as 80 years ago! Our founders enjoyed a much anticipated reunion before the assembly, and everyone cheered them on as they walked to the front of the auditorium. Our students and faculty really made them feel welcome and appreciated, and I can't wait until our class alumni get to return to SMA for our founders day in the future! 

Another thing that I've been busy with (I forgot to mention this in my last blogpost) is drivers Ed. I'm so close to getting my license, and I've been getting better every day! SMA hosts drivers Ed classes as well as central catholic. All the paper and in class classes are held at St. Mary's, and all the drives are done starting at central catholic and go through Portland and the downtown area. It's a great way to learn all the new traffic rules (and to get a better deal on insurance parents :) ). And if you complete drivers Ed with a cumulative 80% or higher, you automatically get your license, no DMV testing!

In piano ensemble we've been preparing for the winter concert. So far we've decided that we're going to play "canon in D" and "Carol of the Bells". You should come to get a sneak peek at our music programs, SMAD Co and others will be performing dances and other pieces as well! Hope to see you there. 

As well as practicing for the concert, I decided to try something new and joined our ski team (very nerve wracking, I don't usually participate in many sports). Even though I'm not a very sporty person, all my ski team friends and previous alpine ski team members have been very supportive. I'm excited to get to know them better while learning how to ski!

Good luck with everything lady blues, Hannah Kapoor 

Dressed up for picture day
Our pill bugs from the biology lab

Hi Lady Blues!

We just had a wonderful open house, and all the prospective students looked so happy to be there! Helen, Jasmine, and I were at the
snack bar and we handed out snacks to all the prospective families. Luckily there were some left overs :) I hope all of you also had an
amazing SMA open house experience!

After Open House, we had our spirit week and BBW walk to raise money for our scholarship and financial aid programs as well as to keep our music programs like the Marians and piano ensemble funded and running smoothly. It's never too late to donate, all donations are appreciated! Here's a link to my donation page: Blues bridge walk donations SMA

During our fundraising walk, we all dressed up in our class colors and walked to the waterfront to help fund raise. After a long week and a half of fundraising we reached our goal! Thanks you to everyone who helped raise money, volunteers, parents, and anyone who got involved.

anatomy lab integumentary system photo

Sera and I in our class colors for BBW 

Hi SMA Blues!

Welcome back to school! So far we've been off to a great start. We had our first all school assembly Friday and all four classes showed their SMA spirit through their great skits and performances. The teachers shared their spirit as well through the "SMAlympics" as students cheered them on (go Peterson!). 

Clubs and after school electives have started as well. This week we had our first piano ensemble meeting, and we met the new freshman recruits while playing get-to-know-you games and warming up our piano skills from our long summer break. Make sure you come to the spring concert for our first performance of the year! 

I hope you guys have been having a great year so far too, 
Hannah Kapoor 





The first day of school:
http://m.imgur.com/99G69nl

The pac after our first piano ensemble meet:
http://i.imgur.com/51B6gbw.jpg