website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Set of weekly School Newsletters
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St. Henry School Newsletter
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“Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be
forgiven.” Luke 6:
37
What a wonderful evening
last Saturday’s Dinner Auction was. One
of the primary students’ moms for whom this was her first experience of the
biannual event commented, “I am so glad we went. It was such fun.” And FUN was the operative word. None of us can adequately thank the
organizers for their countless hours of work or express enough gratitude to the
donors and the purchasers for their great generosity. Jesus could handle that though. He promised in last Sunday’s Gospel, “Give,
and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken
down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” Many of you must be in for some mighty fine
spiritual returns. Again, thank you so
much.
I noticed today is
the birthday of George Washington. The
last few years I have had the opportunity to read a couple of fine, nonfiction
books on some of our Revolutionary War heroes and events. Human all yet
blessed with a courage and conviction that profoundly changed their world and
still affects ours. How much we owe
to so many in our past. May we live
lives that will bear much good fruit for the people of our generation and for
those to come. Maybe this Lent will help
us become better instruments for God to use to make that happen.
Speaking of books,
this year and last most of the teachers have been involved in really studying
how to best serve our students in forming them into more enthusiastic and
effective readers and writers. As a
matter of fact we will be using some federal Title I monies to attend a
workshop on Wednesday, April 18th. Because almost all of us are going, we will
need to have a NO SCHOOL day then. You might want to put that on your
calendar now, but as it gets closer it will certainly be mentioned a number of
times in our ongoing calendar. We are looking
forward to it. The seminar is officially
called, “6 Trait Writing.”
Someone recently asked, “What are the six traits anyway?” Permit me to
share: getting IDEAS for writing;
ORGANIZATION of them in a coherent and effective way; using the right VOICE
geared to one’s audience; WORD CHOICE; SENTENCE FLUENCY, and finally the
correct use of CONVENTIONS like capitalization and punctuation and the like. As
you can guess, those are challenges to teach, and this seminar promises to
share recent research-based practices that best help teachers help
students. Should be a very worthwhile
day for teachers – and ultimately students!
One of our upper
grade teachers took a course this past fall on “Supporting the Struggling
Reader.” She was so enthusiastic about it
that she is passing around some videos and written material from the class for
all of us to view and read. I have been
pleased in my viewing and reading to notice that many of the suggestions that
the professors make for teachers I have already seen in our own
classrooms. Always more to do, of
course. However, there is something REALLY IMPORTANT for every parent to do
and that’s READ, READ, READ to and with your children. Make it a super fun time. Most
children’s books today are as enjoyable for the adults as they are for the
children. A library card is an
absolute must for every child (and parent) and frequent trips to it should be a
regular part of the family’s agenda.
The best way for children to learn to read (and love reading) is to read
a lot and to read many, many books that are at their level and on topics in
which they are interested. So please,
for your child’s success in school now and in the future, read often with them! It should be one of the nicest parts of your
day. The memories will be priceless, and
priceless will be the long-term payoff.
A YEAR OF GREAT SPIRITUAL GROWTH
This is a year of great spiritual growth. Parents attended the first meeting which
begins their journey with their child to the reception of the Eucharist. Parents are important partners in this
process. On Sunday, February 4th the
second graders will be presented at the
All second graders are asked to sign up to take up the gifts at a
Sunday Mass sometime during this preparation period.
Celebrating the Eucharist is certainly very important at this
point and every opportunity in our lives.
We have already learned and memorized the responses to the prayers during
the Introduction and the Liturgy of the Word.
As we proceed with our lessons we will closely study the parts and
prayers of the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
We are also growing mathematically. Four children are well on their way to
mastering forty subtraction facts in one minute. It is hoped that those working in addition
mastery step up their dedication and practice.
We have had a very enjoyable Catholic Schools Week. We are all thankful to all who made this week
and all other weeks possible at St. Henry Catholic School.
Mrs. Menzia
PHYSICAL EDUCATION NOTES
With the end of January comes the end of our pickle-ball
unit. The younger students got a brief introduction
on the basics of pickle-ball, while the upper grades tried to fine-tune their
pickle-ball skills. So as we transition
into the cold month of February, we will stick with the idea of hitting
something over a net. From a wiffle-ball
to a birdie, we will make a smooth jump to our badminton unit. Once again the younger grades will get a
brief introduction to badminton, while the upper grades will attempt to master
the game of badminton while playing with a partner in a doubles
tournament. Kindergarten through grade
five will also be jumping back and forth between scooters and jump ropes in the
next few weeks.
Mr. Messmann