The students and faculty at Bishop Stang High School were treated to an inspirational music performance to cap off Catholic Schools Week on Friday.
Tony Melendez and the Toe Jam Band had the crowd on its feet, clapping, dancing and doing the wave to classics like “Twist and Shout” and “La Bamba” in addition to some religious-themed songs. What makes the performance even more remarkable is that the lead singer and guitar player was born without arms.
Melendez moved to the United States from Nicaragua as a child in order to be fitted with artificial arms. His condition was caused by his mother taking thalidomide while pregnant. The sedative drug caused severe birth defects and was banned for a number of years. He disposed of the prosthetics when he got older, realizing “I could use my feet to do so much more.” The 48-year-old taught himself how to play the guitar with his feet as a teenager.
“There wasn’t any teacher who I could go to and say, ‘Hey can you teach me how to play guitar with my feet?’” said Melendez. “My dad played guitar and I inherited that from him. I was about 16 before it really started to sound like music.”
Melendez continued to hone his craft over the next decade before getting the opportunity of a lifetime in 1987: the chance to play in front of Pope John Paul II. He went to an audition and played a couple of songs. We was told they would give him a call if they were interested. Melendez wasn’t sure if anything would come out of the audition. Three weeks later, he was performing at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles in front of the pontiff and a crowd of some 6,000 young people.
“I thought I was going to be part of a 200 person choir,” said Melendez. “If you use a hamburger as an analogy, that’s the meat. It took my career not only nationwide but worldwide.”
At the end of Melendez’s performance, the Pope told him, “Tony, you are truly a courageous man. My wish is for you to continue giving hope to all people.”
Nowadays, Melendez tours the country performing 150 shows per year at schools, concert halls and churches, among other venues. He has played in every state and 42 countries. As a composer and musician, Melendez has recorded several well-received Christian albums in English and Spanish. Melendez said he loves performing in front of all audiences, but he has a special affinity for school-age groups.
“I really love the youth,” said Melendez. “They have a lot of energy.”
Fellow musician Tim Carrigg, a Stang junior, was amazed by Melendez’s performance. The Westport native has played the piano for 11 years and knows full well how difficult it can be without a disability.
“It’s really impressive to see someone who can play like that,” said Carrigg. “It’s hard for any musician. You get so stressed out because you want to do your best. It was inspirational to see him on stage. He was just having a good time.”
Melendez also performed for Catholic middle school students on Friday at Stang. He has one more performance in southeastern Massachusetts, on Sunday at 3 p.m. at St. Lawrence Church in New Bedford. Admission for the event is $5.
E-mail Derek Vital at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
What's Happening?
| Course Registration for Grades 9, 10 & 11 7pm in the cafeteria Tue, Feb 9th |
| After-Prom Meeting 7pm Wed, Feb 10th |
| NHS Nominees meet during Homeroom Thu, Feb 11th |
| Progress Reports mailed Fri, Feb 12th |
| President's Day Holiday Mon, Feb 15th |
| Business Office Hours 8am - 1pm Tue, Feb 16th |
| Business Office Hours 8am - 1pm Wed, Feb 17th |
| Ash Wednesday Wed, Feb 17th |
| Business Office Hours 8am - 1pm Thu, Feb 18th |
| Business Office Hours 8am - 1pm Fri, Feb 19th |
Bishop Stang High School
Inspirational musician strikes a chord at Bishop Stang
DARTMOUTH —
Stang's Connor Murphy chip off the Old Block
By TIM WEISBERG
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
December 11, 2009 12:00 AM Driving is a big part of Connor Murphy's life, whether it's driving off the tee at Bethpage or the 50-minute drive he makes twice each day with teammates and friends from his West Barnstable home to Bishop Stang High School.
But beyond even that is his drive to become a professional golfer, and even though he's just a sophomore, it's already on the career path.
It's something he's been bred for, but more importantly, it's something for which he's willing to put in the work. Because of that drive and the season that resulted from it, Murphy is the 2009 Standard-Times Golf Player of the Year.
"He's just a natural golfer," Spartans coach Tom Kennedy said. "I've known that since his first practice as a freshman when he shot even-par on the front nine of CCNB."
Stang Students Pull Together to Feed the Needy
By
November 26, 2009 12:00 AM
There are young people who are busy making hip-hop videos that threaten cops. And there are young people who are busy putting together Thanksgiving dinner for the lonely and the homeless.
The high school students at Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth are in the latter category.
For some 30 years now, members of the Stang community — everyone from students to faculty to parents — have been cooking turkeys, peeling potatoes and preparing the rest of the fixings for charity Thanksgiving dinners.
The event is one of the year-long service projects run by the 800-pupil regional Catholic high school's Student Council.
So after the prep work was finished Wednesday morning, some of the senior students took a bus — and delivered everything from the turkeys to canned vegetables to pies and cookies to the Market Ministries homeless shelter in downtown New Bedford.
They also had prepared family food baskets for the home consumption of disadvantaged families of the students at St. Vincent's Home in Fall River.
"One of our missions, as a Catholic high school, is charity," said Student Council President Corinne Ainsworth of Westport. "This is really putting charity into action."
(continued view source article)
Laplante chooses lax, Quinnipiac University
By
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Having done so well in all three sports, Laplante was forced with a tough decision to make regarding which one she wanted to continue playing after high school days were over.
She went with her newest sport—lacrosse.
On Monday afternoon, Laplante signed a letter of intent to attend and play lacrosse next year at
“Quinnipiac has always been a top choice since I started looking at schools because it has my major which is biology and it's Division I competition and my sister goes there,” said Laplante. “I loved the campus and everything about it.”
Laplante's older sister, Ivy, is a sophomore at Quinnipiac.
“I wasn't planning on following her footsteps, but it just adds to the excitement of going to the same school as her,” said Laplante, who earlier this year was named The Standard-Times Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year after recording 112 goals and 37 assists.
Laplante first picked up a lacrosse stick her freshman year, but it's almost as if she never put it down since then. Although it's only her fourth year of playing the sport, she's worked to become a Division I college player.
“Determination and hard work is really what made it come through, I think,” she said of her development. “Since the end of sophomore year, I knew I wanted to play lacrosse in college.”
The newness of lacrosse factored into Laplante's decision to keep playing.
“It started when I came to high school and I think that's why I want to continue playing in college because it's still so new and I can learn so much more about the game,” said Laplante, who has been playing soccer and basketball since she was five. “All along I wanted to put effort into all three sports so I could be good at all three of them, but basketball and lacrosse are my two favorite. I decided last year that I wanted to continue playing lacrosse in college, but I'll definitely miss playing basketball and soccer.”
Bishop Stang High School turns 50
School named for diocese’s first bishop
By Deacon James N. Dunbar, News Editor
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — For much of the first 50 years after the 1907 death of Bishop William Stang, the founding bishop of the Fall River Diocese, whenever Catholic education or the need for parochial schools was talked about, the late bishop’s pastoral letter on education was quoted.
The pastoral, his third, written just months before Bishop Stang died following surgery in what was a short, two-year and barely nine-month episcopacy, addressed the timeless principles and values of a solid educational system, his preference for a school in every parish, and elaborated on parental rights, paying double education taxes, the duty of laity, virtue, and the role of young people in the kingdom of God.
Even more poignant, in a prophetic letter written the night before the catastrophic surgery, in what was actually his last will and testament, Bishop Stang dedicated one of its eight paragraphs to the children:
“This year’s Pastoral Letter will be my last will and testament to my people. May it sink deeply into the Catholic hearts of my beloved children. They will be grateful for it when their own end approaches.”
(continued view source article)