As part of his World Religions class at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School, Matt Cerio '12 visited the Buddhist Temple of Alameda. He shared his thoughts below.

Going to the Buddhist temple was an eye-opening experience for my class and me. Many students find studying the book doesn't satisfy a student's appetite to learn, because learning something fully requires hands-on learning.

For our class, our hands-on learning meant going to a Buddhist temple to learn from a Lama about the Buddhist faith and Temple. In doing this, we learned many significant things about the Buddhist religion and faith from a practicing Buddhist, allowing us to appreciate the faith more fully.

Visitors to the ASL Café at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School learned how to order cookies and were able to say please and thank you to their wait staff.

The silent café was set up in a classroom by the students in the American Sign Language 2 class, and they were able to practice their vocabulary and phrasing for ordering food in a restaurant.

The students were preparing for a future visit to the deaf-owned Mozzeria restaurant in San Francisco.

Other visitors to the café included Principal Simon Chiu, Dr. White and Mrs. Norris, who also learned the signs for "hungry."

If it's Friday, there must be an explosion somewhere on campus at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School.

No need to worry, though. It's just Mr. Fong showing his chemistry classes how sodium chloride reacts with H2O.

"So many of our students have shared in the experience of a 'Mr. Fong explosion,' and few of them will forget that experience - or the learning and science behind it," says Principal Simon Chiu.

"I like it when he blows things up," said Dion Harris '13. "He always surprises us. I thought chemistry class would be more about the periodic tables, but he makes it interesting."

Most students who have had classes with Mr. Fong can recall a good explosion or a surprise he pulled off for the students.

"He pulled a real rabbit out of a box in my class," said Karissa White '12. "I was so surprised. It was great."

SJND is a leader in the Bay Area with its science program and college-level facilities in the Aiello Science Center, complete with labs and equipment for independent research.

SJND is also at the forefront of promoting science education in the community, especially among middle-school students.

The school hosts the annual Diocese of Oakland Science Fair each winter, with hundreds of middle school students coming to campus to present their science projects in a juried competition.

Table tennis? We've got a club for that. How about surfing, cooking or gaming? We've got clubs for those, too.

Freshman students are invited each fall to rush for clubs in a September tradition at SJND  that gives students the opportunity to stretch themselves outside the classroom.

While music plays and the campus takes on a festival atmosphere, students visited the different booths and have the opportunity to join some 23 different co-curricular clubs.

The clubs include one for cooking and baking called "The Foodies" and another for learning how to craft or create just about anything, called "Make."

There's also a guitar group and a club called "Interact" for students who want to get more involved in community service.