Author Sr. Krista von Borstel

A Reluctant Return to a Childhood Vacation Memory

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

I enjoy spending time with my family during Christmas vacation while also taking care of my religious duties and obligations which are also an important priority for me.  This year I spent time with two of my nieces at the Oregon Coast and we had a great time together.  One of our adventures included a trip to the Sea Lion Caves.

SIDEBAR: I read a book about making films with iPhones during this time as well and decided to try it at the beach.  Synopsis of the book:

  • 1.  Take only the pictures you want to use.
  • 2.  Minimize editing
  • 3.  Plan out the shots you want to take the night before
  • 4.  Make it short, sweet and to the point
  • 5.  Do NOT use a tripod (I thought this was odd)
  • 6.  Take 10 seconds of film per clip
  • 7.  Use only the film you need to tell the story well.

OK…I did all of this, brought it home, downloaded it into my computer and decided to share it with you for my New Year’s Day post.

Hope you like it – Happy New Year!

Welcoming the New Year – Have you settled on a Resolution?

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Regular self-reflection has been helpful to me in coming up with a resolution for the new year!  I have settled on a couple of ideas for self-improvement and they fall into the categories of spirituality and gratitude.

To kick off these resolutions, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my blog this year.  I greatly appreciate your responses, kindness, support, and your friendship.

Let us look forward to the new year with a renewed passion to be the very best witnesses of Christ that we can be! God Bless YOU!

With genuine appreciation,

Sr. Krista

P.S.

What is YOUR resolution?

Mary & Jesus

Merry Christmas from the Convent 2012

Sr. Krista von Borstel 17 Comments

Scheduling CYO Basketball Games…How we do it…

Sr. Krista von Borstel 3 Comments

12.12.12

CYO Basketball Scheduling – How We Do It…

The Basketball Scheduling Process is a mystery to individuals and I have always wanted to write about it so that people would understand that it takes time to put the schedule together and explain that the process is predicated by several factors:

  1. Registration of teams must take place. Registration of teams requires the Athletic Director from each club to come into the office and register the teams with CYO where we make sure each team has certified coaches, proper number of players, payment is made for individuals, etc. Fall Sport championships are going on during the beginning of registration for basketball.
  2. BXB Jamboree must be registered, scheduled and played as this helps teams determine which league they should be in the schedule.
    1. For each grade and gender there are four levels of play.  Blue, Green, Orange & Red.
    2. Blue: Highest level – very competitive
    3. Green: competitive yet not as advanced as Blue
    4. Orange: developing skills and fundamentals.
    5. Red: Several players who have not played and have few skills.  This level is great for this group as they receive a lot of playing time.
    6. Register 65 High School Basketball teams as part of the process
      1. Some of this process is done on-line, some of it requires the team representative to come in to CYO.  Player uniforms are handed out at the coaches meetings.
      2. BXB Commission comes to the office to bless the seeding process of the teams, which is determined by where the team finished last year and the composition of this years team.
      3. After the jamboree for 3,4,5,6,7,8 is completed, coaches and AD’s have until Monday at noon to let CYO office know if they want to change leagues.
      4. CYO then begins to schedule the first week of 3&4 bxb as they play a week earlier than the other teams because their tournament starts a week early.
      5. Assemble coaching packets for High School, third and fourth graders and hand out at a coaches meeting.
      6. Begin scheduling the rest of the schedule for 3,4, and add 5,6,7,8.
      7. The scheduling process for some 350 teams takes a while to complete.
        1. We give ourselves a week to accomplish this simply because this is all the time we can allot ourselves after the jamboree and before we get the schedules out.  If we had a day or two more, we could do more checking for errors.
        2. Once we begin the scheduling of teams into leagues and place them in the grid, we cannot make changes to team leagues.  This is like putting together a quilt.  Once we sew the teams into place, they are VERY difficult to extract.  We draw the line to changes at noon on Monday after the jamboree.

10. When we are actually inserting teams into the schedule this is the order:

  1. We go week by week
  2. We go through the entire schedule giving home teams home games as long as

i.     They made their gym available that Saturday

ii.     They can play the game in their gym (can’t play 7&8 grade boys in small gyms)

iii.     They have a gym!

  1. Then we go back through the week the second time and give the visiting team the game if

i.     They made their gym available

ii.     They can play the game in their gym

iii.     They have a gym

iv.     It hasn’t been filled with their home games round 1

  1. Then we go back through the schedule and place the games in gyms that are available.
  2. There is not a single club that has room for all of their home games EVERY week.  Every club has games facilitated by other clubs.

11. FINALLY it is the night to hand out the schedules.  We work right up to that moment hoping we will get a chance for dinner before the meeting!  The schedules and coaches information is stuffed into packets and handed out at the meeting.

12. The process began November 5th this year and was finished December 12th

 

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All of the leagues are woven together into one huge schedule.

All of the leagues are woven together into one huge schedule.

If everyone had to help with this they would have a much better understanding of why it is time consuming!

If everyone had to help with this they would have a much better understanding of why it is time consuming!

Jolie keeps questions answered at the office and helps with behind the scenes work on the schedules.

Jolie keeps questions answered at the office and helps with behind the scenes work on the schedules.

Stuffing the packets - Jeff and Stacey help stuff all the packets.

Stuffing the packets – Jeff and Stacey help stuff all the packets.

Packets are stuffed with schedules, sorted and packed for the meeting

Packets are stuffed with schedules, sorted and packed for the meeting

Working on the basketball schedule

Working on the basketball schedule

Games checked and checked again

Games checked and checked again

NAIA Nationals in Vancouver and Local Runner Qualifies as a Frosh at Carroll College!

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Connor Garcia to run in NAIA National Championships in Vancouver Saturday!

Connor Garcia is a freshman at Carroll College in Montana.  He did something special this fall…he qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Cross Country.  Connor, a CYO participant,  graduated from Valley Catholic High School this past June, was a counselor at Camp Howard during the summer and left for college this fall.  What an amazing accomplishment!  Read about his amazing race here:

http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/cross-country/carroll-cross-country-shocks-with-sweep-of-frontier-team-titles/article_6e18484e-257f-11e2-aa33-001a4bcf887a.html#.UJV184GZmHs.email

This Saturday, November 17th – Connor and the Carroll Saints Men’s XC Team will be running in the 57th Annual NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships. The race is being held at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, WA.  The race starts at 11:45 AM (PST). The team will be competing against 32 other teams as well 105 individual qualifiers.
Come cheer on Connor and the Carroll Saints!

How the BIG ONE got away!!! Gee Whiz!!!

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

Sam Brentano is a good friend of mine from Stayton, OR.  I have known Sam since 1999 when CYO brought back the Football program.  Sam was the first “Head Coach” at Stayton “Region 8” and he is fiercely loyal to OSU, Regis High School and Fishing. About 5 years ago, Sam started inviting me to go fishing with he and his sister Kay who happened to be on the same floor as me at OSU when we were freshmen in college.  Small world huh?  What a great reunion we have every year as Kay and her husband, Ted, join us for a great fishing expedition!

Sam is an avid fisherman and he is remarkable in his ability to manage four fishermen in his boat at a time, keeping the poles untangled, baited, rigged, in the water, and his people catch a fair amount of salmon to be sure.  As for me, I have yet to catch a fish and his friends in Stayton always want to know if “Sister” caught a fish this year.  They are actually giving him a bad time so he invited me twice this year in hopes I could put him out of his misery with his friends and catch one for pete’s sake!!!

When we go fishing with Sam, we get into the boat in the very early morning, it is still dark out.  We fish till dark.  We give it all we have rain or shine.  Sam works the river all day doing his best to make us successful.  We tell stories, joke, catch each other up on what we have been up to and have a great time – all the while FISHING…

Well…this year something happened to me that has not happened in 5 years!!! I got a bite! Not only did I get a bite, the fish really hooked itself on my line!  I had a fish to bring in.  I was reeling it in while my coaches were telling me what to do.  I followed their instructions.  This was a BIG FISH hooked on my line!!!!  Wow…it takes a LOT of strength to bring a salmon in especially one as BIG as the one I had on the end of my line!!!

SIDEBAR…While I may never have caught a salmon before, I certainly knew my fish.  I grew up in Central Oregon and we used to buy our salmon from the Warm Springs Indians who fished for them on the Deschutes River at Shearers Bridge near Tygh Valley.  I learned to clean them at an early age.  One time, a truck load of fish was donated to my grade school.  We got a call to go to the school and help clean them.  We took our knives and worked all afternoon and evening getting them cleaned and wrapped for the school to serve to the kids.  I can easily tell how much a fish weighs by looking at it.

OK…back to the story.  I am reeling in my fish.  It was nearly 50 pounds!!! It’s girth unlike anything I have ever seen in a salmon!!!  It is a mighty warrior of a fish.  Surely one of the biggest to be given up in Tillamook!   Silently wondering to myself if this fish is ever going to give it up.  My gosh, I am exhausted!  I kept reeling.  Finally I have it up to the boat.  Sam is working the boat, Larry and Jack are watching carefully and they have the net ready to help me get it into the boat.  Jack puts the net over the side of the boat just as the fish darts under the boat.

Some of you know the rest of the story.  Fishing lesson 205…when a fish goes under the boat, put your pole down into the water even if you have to go all the way to the reel.  The bottom of the boat has barnacles and jagged little attachments and guess what.  In a flash the fishing line snaps as if cut by a sharp knife.  That’s all folks.  the fish swam away and I was left with a lifeless pole void of the attachments.

That was the only bite we got all day and it got away!!! Shucks!  I know if I got another chance I could bring it in.  So Sam…lets go again! 🙂

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Scheduling CYO Championship Games is a science at CYO

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Scheduling Championship tournaments is much more than what it looks like to the person picking up their child’s schedule only to wonder what CYO was thinking!  Some of the issues we face each year include the following:

  • Gym availability – was the gym given that particular night?
  • Is the gym the right size for the grade playing?
  • Is the gym conducive to volleyball?  (How low is the ceiling?)
  • Are the teams playing at a location close enough in ability that the same official can do both games?
  • Where are the teams coming from who are playing in the game?
  • Is the home team opening the gym? Closing the gym?  (Maybe round one if at all possible)
  • Do games have to be played on Sunday?????
  • We worked very hard not to have championship games played on Sunday this year but the trade off was late nights for some kids during the week which we have already heard about….We will have to play on Sunday during basketball to get all the games in.
  • Can you work around our school auction? (this is very very hard to do especially since we don’t know who will win or lose!)
  • Can you work around our SAT score tests? Can you work around our placement tests?

CYO is always looking out for the best interests of the teams.  This is always our intention.

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High School Basketball Program Ready for Registration

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Jenna Bass, CYO Director of Basketball and Volleyball is getting ready to schedule high school basketball teams.  The CYO High School basketball program is a wonderful way for high school youth to stay involved in CYO sports and have a LOT of fun doing it too!  Most of the games will be played at the HOOP facility.

The High School program plays on Sunday afternoon and some 500 to 600 players generally turn out for the program.  If you are interested in putting a high school team together, contact Jenna Bass at the CYO Office at 503-231-9484.  Packets will be available at most of the area Catholic High Schools next week.  You do NOT have to attend a Catholic High School to participate.  Put your own team together, the registration includes reversible jersey, officials fees and facility rental.  CYO will schedule your team into the proper grade.  Teams are put together by grade and gender.  Girls play in one league but boys have a league for frosh, soph, jr and senior.

 

Karen Reflects on Outdoor School as they Conclude another Session at Camp Howard

Sr. Krista von Borstel 11 Comments

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One of the best parts about Outdoor School is tradition.  This program has been running for almost 50 years.  It has been a ground breaking pilot program for environmental literacy in the state and nationwide.  What makes Outdoor School special at Camp Howard is that this is the original site, and has been hosting Outdoor School the entire time.

Since 1966, 6th graders have loaded up on big yellow busses and spent a few days exploring the forest and splashing in the pond.  They have had opportunities to get to know students from other schools, to learn outside of the classroom, and in many cases, have been able to simply have their basic needs met, like three balanced meals and a warm place to sleep for the first time.  Outdoor School serves most of Multnomah county, and most schools include it as not only a rite of passage for their students, but an essential part of teaching their 6th grade science curriculum.

Something I have noticed is the sense of community that is felt when Outdoor School lives at camp.  I can hear it in the endless songs that kids sing from place to place, I can see it during mealtimes, when students use table manners, help with chores and show appreciation to not only each other, but to the cooking staff as well.  As kids leave with their arms reaching out the bus windows, promising to return in four years to be a high school student leader.

There are always things I hear or see in passing when running around site.  This week for example, we have a student whose father was on staff when Coho, the Site Supervisor currently, was a high school leader.  And Coho herself was a 6th grade student here at Howard.  Last week there was an exchange student from Indonesia able to be a high school leader that “ just appreciated that everyone here is so positive”.  A student whose “favorite part of Outdoor School was being able to get away from problems at home”.  Students that are not normally successful in classrooms find that being taught in the Outdoors they can be successful.  Every week students plant a tree to commemorate their week, Camp Howard has the very first tree planted by 6th graders for Outdoor School, it lives strong and tall at the far end of the main field near the sand pit over looking the bluff.   All of this happens at beautiful Camp Howard.

Outdoor School can be a transformative process for students and their memories reside here at Howard.  Ask almost anyone that grew up in Portland and they can recall their Outdoor School experience.  They remember their high school student and the place they attended.  Howard lives on in their memories.

It is special to have Outdoor School roam our trails and sit at our campfires.  Outdoor School is a part of Oregon’s history.  Parents, and in some cases now, grandparents, have sent their children off to Outdoor School for the past 50 years, and they have been coming to Howard the entire time. The stories that these cabins could tell! It is so wonderful to have such a rich history continue on here at our site.  My hope is that Outdoor School can live on for many, many more years to come and students can enjoy the benefits of community and education, the splendor of Oregon, and Camp Howard.

Camp Howard Staff to visit Seattle CYO Program

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Monday October 15th the CYO Staff will be leaving from the CYO office at 6:00 am for a trip to Seattle to visit the CYO camps and athletic department.  Our goal is to see how the Seattle programs operate, share information on how we do things and maybe get some new ideas in the process.

Last spring the Seattle CYO visited the Portland CYO and Camp Howard where the two staffs were introduced for the first time.  It was a lot of fun to get to know our Northern counterparts.

Who knows what might come from these visits.  I look forward to the possibilities!

In the next few days we will report on our adventure.