100 Blogs and Counting

They went “Around the World in 80 Days.”

There were “99 Luftballoons.”

One might be the loneliest number, but three IS a crowd.

“What’s YOUR number?” the investment company asks about retirement savings.

“On a scale of 1 to 10…”

It is human nature to measure experiences numerically. Test scores, grades, rankings, ratings. It is no different in the world of blogs.

As one who manages NDP’s beloved Bluenote Blog, I am constantly tallying how many people clicked on a link and what the most popular stories are. And with today’s particular blog, we hit a special milestone:

THIS IS THE 100^TH BLUENOTE POSTING NDP HAS PUBLISHED!

 

 

When it was conceived three years ago, there was no clear goal as to how long Bluenote would last. As long as there were stories? Well, given that we publish close to a story a week, there is no dearth of tales to tell. When we changed format to community authorship, we wondered if enough people would be interested in being guest writers. Concerns were alleviated when more than enough teachers, students and alumnae took on the challenge of writing a blog. And as the stats below indicate, guest bloggers wrote some of the most popular Bluenote entries of all time.

Since its inception, Bluenote has covered a host of subjects–student life, academics, spirituality, sports, arts, music, service and more. And the one common reference point? Notre Dame Prep.

Over the years, Bluenote has offered a space for personal reflections and education. It gave glimpses into classrooms, alumnae reunions, club meetings, and beloved traditions, and brought to life—through different voices—the NDP experience.

As with any seminal anniversary, here is a retrospective look of the Top 10 of the most popular blogs that have run on Bluenote.

1. How Pain Becomes Hope–more than 6,600 individuals viewed this loving tribute Catherine Barthelme ’06 wrote about her classmate Yeardley Love and the educational efforts of the One Love Foundation
2. The Person You’ve Become; The People We Are—this tribute to Chastity Dunnaville was viewed by more than 5,400 people
3. Blue Ribbon Year—5,100 people read the blog about NDP’s 2012 Blue Ribbon honor
4. The Uniform—NDP’s iconic dress garnered 1,720 reads
5. One Story: Minnie Jang—more than 1,180 views for this 2014 grad
6. One Story: Em McCarthy—like the blog about Minnie, this story on the 2014 grad earned more 1,180 views
7. One Story: Jamie Watson—a little more than 1,000 individuals read about the Class of 2013 alum
8. Reflections on Forty Years—Science teacher Tom Peri engaged more than 1,000 readers with this post
9. The Parable of the Blue Dress—Junior Jill Bateman’s story about the importance of sisterhood enticed 1,025 readers
10. Say Yes to the Dress—Nearly 1,000 people—including many prospective families—read this essay on the importance of an NDP education

 

All told, more than 25,000 views were paid to our top 10 Bluenote blogs. Such a number is testament to the deep interest and love people have for Notre Dame Prep. Thank you for making Bluenote so successful! Here’s to our next 100 blogs…and the 100 after that…and the 100 after that…!

 

Is your favorite Bluenote blog among the top 10? If not, what is it? Is there something about which you’d like to see written or a topic you’d lie to tackle? Message us here and let us know.