Our Lady of Grace couple Dan and Sheryl Moran spoke to BSM seniors about marriage. (Emma Eldred)

Vocations classes host speakers from the Archdiocese

May 11, 2012

Giulia Imholte and Katie Sisk

The hype turned out to be more than the actual event. In November the Archdiocese announced plans to have speakers on marriage visit all of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Catholic Schools, and what students expected to be a controversial discussion––after reading about the heated question and answer session at DeLaSalle––ended up being an uneventful,... Continue Reading

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Ryan Collins is one of two sophomores that have recently made the decision to play for the U.S. NTDP next school year. (Emily Kruse)

BSM hockey players weigh options for their future in the sport

May 9, 2012

David Nelson and Peter Best, Staff Writers

Hockey is a fast-paced sport that lives off choices that need to be made in milliseconds. It’s a sport where one wrong choice can be the difference between success and failure. Sophomores Jack Glover and Ryan Collins were given the opportunity to play in the USA National Team Development Program (NTDP), based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This decision... Continue Reading

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(Emily Kruse)

Shannon Stroh

May 21, 2012

Leila Aboussir, Online Photography Editor

Lights come up, voices start ringing, and the band starts playing their instruments. Shannon Stroh has been an avid member of the BSM theater department since her entrance into the school, but is rarely seen on the actual stage. Yet, Shannon’s dedication alongside her sarcastic, witty personality has made her an extraordinary member of the tremendous... Continue Reading

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The band experimented heavily with hip-hop inspired beats and auto-tune––though Ruess’s crystalline voice doesn’t need it. (Vinyl Records)

Fun. releases ‘Some Nights’ album

May 2, 2012

Lauren Effertz, Staff Writer

Three years after dropping their first album, “Aim and Ignite,” the New York-based indie pop band fun. released “Some Nights.” fun. is a supergroup of sorts; lead vocalist Nate Ruess formed the band after the break-up of The Format, guitarist Jack Antonoff also serves as the frontman for Steel Train, and keyboardist Andrew Dost is from Anathallo. Overall,... Continue Reading

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Anna Landis, Juliet Beckstrand, Rachel Hogen, and Sian Last represented BSM at the State Speech tournament where they all placed in the top eight. (Maura Brew)

Four speech members place at State tournament

April 30, 2012

Shannon Galvin, Staff Writer

On Saturday, April 21, BSM speech team members headed to Chanhassen High School to participate in the Minnesota State Speech tournament. At the end of the day, four students, seniors Anna Landis, Juliet Beckstrand, Sian Last, and junior Rachel Hogen, all placed in the finals. Landis placed third in Poetry, Beckstrand placed second in Great Speeches,... Continue Reading

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Graduating seniors give advice about college

The Road to Prom

Boys’ hockey takes home the State championship

Pond Hockey tournament organized to raise money for Jablonski

Rising actors partake in Les Miserables performance

Sport	Date	Opponent	Result	W/L
Boys Lacrosse	Tue, May 15	Spring Lake Park	21-0	W
Baseball	Tue, May 15	Bloomington Jefferson	7-5	W
Softball	Mon, May 14	St. Francis	3-4	L
Baseball	Mon, May 14	Fridley	13-2	W
Boys Lacrosse	Sat, May 12	Minnetonka	6-16	L
Baseball	Fri, May 11	St. Louis Park	7-3	W
Softball	Thu, May 10	Blake	23-1	W
Softball	Wed, May 09	St. Louis Park	18-6	W
Boys Tennis	Wed, May 09	Robbinsdale Armstrong	1-6	L
Baseball	Wed, May 09	Irondale	10-2	W
Boys Lacrosse	Tue, May 08	Totino-Grace	13-3	W
Girls Lacrosse	Tue, May 08	Spring Lake Park	13-11	W

Sport	Date	Time	Opponent	Location
Baseball	Mon, May 21	4:15	Holy Angels	Home
Boys Track	Tue, May 22		NSConference Opponents	Totino-Grace
Girls Track	Tue, May 22		NSConference Opponents	Totino-Grace
Girls Track	Tue, May 22		NSConference Opponents	Totino-Grace
Boys Track	Tue, May 29		Section Opponents	TBA
Girls Track	Tue, May 29		Season Record	TBA
Boys Lacrosse	Tue, Jun 05	1:00	TBA	Chanhassen
Girls Lacrosse	Tue, Jun 05	1:00	TBA	Chanhassen
Boys Tennis	Tue, Jun 05	1:00	TBA	Baseline Tennis Center
Softball	Thu, Jun 07	1:00	TBA	Caswell Park
Boys Track	Fri, Jun 08		TBA	Hamline University
Girls Track	Fri, Jun 08		TBA	Hamline University

Abstinence only in health classes not realistic

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Theresa Lau
February 9, 2010
Filed under Opinions

We attend a private Catholic school and with that, we are going to have to accept certain things: Prayer, Mass, religion classes, Catholic ideals, fine. Despite all of this, I feel it is necessary for BSM to teach both safe sex and abstinence in health classes.

To create healthy, educated adults in our modern world, this school must look at the reality; sex is everywhere. It’s in our music, movies, television, even our clothes. The school doesn’t have to become a part of this, but it must deal with the fact that it’s there.

Abstinence should be one method of safety that is taught, not the only one. Abstinence can be stressed as what the school feels is the right choice, but it shouldn’t be given as the only option. Rather, health classes should teach students about condoms, birth control, and other forms of contraceptives. It is the job of the school is to educate students so they can make good decisions in the future and know what the options are.

In this day and age it is simply irresponsible to preach to students about abstinence rather than to teach them about safe sex. Yes, we go to a Catholic school and the Catholic church tries to teach abstinence; however, teaching safe sex is not necessarily promoting students to have it. It is simply a precautionary measure.

In high school there are a lot of pressures, sex being a big one. Sex is an inevitable part of life and because of that fact this school should be responsible enough to teach its students how to be safe. We cannot just sweep this issue under the rug and pretend it is not there. Not addressing sex doesn’t make it go away, and it doesn’t stop people from doing it; it simply leaves our students to fend for themselves in finding out how to be safe.

We must teach students how to protect themselves if and when they decide they are ready. Maybe this shouldn’t be something freshmen learn, but juniors and seniors are nearing college, where it is essential to know how to be safe. Students must leave Benilde St. Margaret’s prepared for the world; giving them only abstinence as an option is not the way to do that.

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3 Responses to “Abstinence only in health classes not realistic”

Amelia Wallace Says:
February 18th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
I agree completely! This young, Catholic woman has a valid point. Our schools have a responsibility to reinforce God’s teachings, absolutely; however, we have a responsibility to prepare our children for the world they are living in now. Ignoring the fact that sex is bombarding our teens will not prepare them for a situation in which they lose control.

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Kylie Hammell Says:
February 26th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Thank you for writing a story about BSM needing to improving the sexual education program. Not only are they depriving us of the experience to practice putting condoms on bananas, they are exposing us to the possiblity of contracting a STD or having to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Just because we learn about sex and the proper protection in high school does not mean we are going to go out and have sex right away. If we aren’t going to learn about how to use a condom and other types of birth control in a required class, when would we learn. I know that the sexual education at Benilde-St. Margaret’s have improved since when my brother took it, when he was taught that you shouldn’t have sex because condoms don’t work, but there still needs to be a lot changes, at least in my opinion.

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John Says:
April 12th, 2010 at 9:05 am
It seems like someone is forgetting that Benilde is a Catholic school. It is not at all appropriate for funds to be spent on something (teaching about the use of condoms, birth control, and other forms of contraceptives) that is contrary and incompatible with Catholic teaching. The Church is clear about this subject and if Benilde were ever to endorse this it’s difficult to see how it could even be considered in good standing with the Church any longer.

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