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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“When you send forth your spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.” Psalm 104: 34
This
Sunday is the great feast of Pentecost. Jesus
and the Father send the Spirit, and the Church is “born!” What a gift we have in our Church. There is no historical doubt that the
beginnings of the Roman Catholic Church can be traced back to this day. The four gospels – written by different people
and in years spread over approximately four decades – make it clear that
authority was given to the apostles, with Peter as their head, to teach,
govern, and lead the infant community to sanctity. The writer of Acts and St. Paul also make
that clear. For many thoughtful converts
to the Catholic Church careful study of its history (and the stirrings of the
Holy Spirit) have led them into the Church, sometimes to their great
astonishment since they grew up with deep prejudices against the “evil” papacy
and all they thought it stood for.
Taking the time to research showed them that God continued to work
through and in this Catholic community that has always (of course) contained
imperfect human beings galore – present company included! Jesus’ original group of disciples often
provoked exasperation in the Lord himself.
And yet, HE stood by the plan and knew that despite the faults, foibles,
imperfections, sins, and even crimes committed by its members, participation in
this community offered access to the largest treasure of gifts God choose to
give His beloved people: sacraments
making it possible to live a life filled with His strength; the sacred
Scriptures, written -- with guidance from the Spirit -- by this community and
for this community’s growth and guidance; and leadership offered by the
authority coming down from the apostles themselves. Converts who studied the
history of the Church through the ages became convinced of the truth of the
“one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic Church.” They became convinced because of the clear
evidence to them that God has been able to bring numerous people to great
holiness and keep His God-given truths intact throughout the centuries in this
very Church despite evil and incompetence. May all of us really try to live in
such a way that we don’t keep others from discovering this gift by our own
lukewarmness and unappreciation and lack of commitment to be what we profess.
May we live our Roman Catholic faith to the fullest degree possible, and not
let the prevailing cultural attitude that religious practice is peripheral,
unimportant and even stifling keep us from being true disciples of the living
Lord Jesus. Much has been given us; He
expects much in return!
We
have had some concerns for the safety of children in the parking lot
after the school day’s dismissal time.
Please, if you have little ones (translate “short” and not easily seen
by drivers in big vehicles), insist that they wait for you to come and get them
and escort them to your parked vehicles.
Please
do not allow your children to run back and forth from your cars to the
equipment areas. Once to the cars, they
should stay in them until you leave or at least until the patrols are off duty
and there are very few cars left and you take on full responsibility for their
safety. We ask that everyone follow the
guidelines for entering and leaving the lot.
And if you see children acting unsafely, please speak up and say something! You remember the saying, “It takes a village
to raise a child.” So true. If adults see behavior that is not
acceptable, by not saying anything, we give tacit approval. WRONG message. You can stay in control, even be friendly –
and at the same time help children grow straight and strong.
Many,
many thanks to the (far too) few ladies who spent an hour/hour and a half
cleaning up the playground and lot after school on Thursday. It must have been a little disheartening not
to have more parents in grades two and seven help, but you did a GREAT
job. God bless your hearts. He will.
EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR
Last Friday, the eighth graders traveled to the Wisconsin Dells
for the annual Safety Patrol Trip. I
would like to thank the Home and School Association for their monetary donation
that allowed the students to participate in many awesome activities throughout
the day. We truly appreciated the
generosity. We would not have been able
to travel to the Dells without the help of these wonderful chaperones and
drivers: Connie Gudenkauf, Terri and Jim Heese, Shannon O’Gorman, Ralph Peirick,
Jeff Ready, and Jose and Carmen Valadez.
Thank you so much, parents! We
hope you enjoyed your day as much as we did.
The eighth grade graduation is less than three weeks away and the
excitement is escalating as each day passes.
The students have been working diligently on an autobiography project,
and their binders are filled with many memories and wishes for the future. These binders are great representations of
the events that have taken place so far in their lives and it also allows a
glimpse into their “projected futures.”
Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!
Mrs. Harms
ENTER THE WORLD OF DINOSAURS
First grade has been living in prehistoric times – specifically the
Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous Periods. We have learned that dinosaurs were either
herbivores or carnivores and you can tell which a dinosaur was by looking at
their legs and teeth. The children were
interested to learn how bones turn into fossils. Our fifth grade buddies helped us research a
dinosaur. We also used Model Magic to
make a dinosaur. You can view our
“dinosaur museum” next week in the cafeteria.
Next week, first and second grade will be starting our plant
unit. We will be learning how a seed
changes, what plants need to grow and live, and about different kinds of
plats. A field trip to Ebert’s
Greenhouse Market will be the culmination of our plant unit. We will even try growing some seeds.
In June we will be traveling to the Watertown Public Library for a
preview of their summer reading program and a tour of the children’s
library. I highly recommend their summer
program – it motivates the children to keep reading over the summer. I have challenged the first graders to see if
they can ready every day this summer!
Research has shown that children who read over the summer retain more of
what they learned and will start the next grade with greater ease. Keep reading. I look forward to seeing St.
Henry children at the library this summer.
I’m there often.
God bless you on this patriotic weekend,
Mrs. Fortlage
Dates to Put on Your Calendar
MAY
Monday 28
NO School Memorial Day
Wednesday 30
May Crowning after
dress up and have liturgical roles
Preschool class on field trip
to farm
Thursday 31
Grades 1 and 2 visit Ebert’s Garden Market
K and preschool parents help
clean up playground
after school – HASA schedule
St. Bernard and St. Henry Band
and Choir Concert,
JUNE
Friday 01 Last
day for APPLICATIONS for 07-08 TUITION AID
with all required paperwork to be in.
Student Council voting day on
Seven Wonders
Monday 04 Athletic
Assn. mtg., computer lab,
Tuesday 05 Grade
4 to Old World Wisconsin
Wednesday 06 Grade
6 has many liturgical roles for
Thursday 07 Grades
1 and 2 make afternoon “trip” to public library
Spring Program, preschoolers through grade
6 in it,
Friday 08
ALL Accelerated Reading points must be earned by
today
(grades 4-8)
Monday 11 School
Awards Assembly, PC,
Graduation,
Tuesday 12 Last
day: Mass at
fun games &
activities,
Sunday 17 Protecting
God’s Children workshop for volunteers,
St. Bernard’s Watertown,
Saturday 30 All
tuition for 06-07 due. (Please see
contract.)
JULY First monthly
payment for 07-08 tuition sent to
SMART company this month. For those who pay
07-08 tuition in full, due this
month. May be mailed
to St. Henry School.
Sat-Sun
14-15 St. Henry Parish Picnic! (St. Henry’s feast day is
actually July 13th.)
AUGUST
Saturday 25 Back-to-School Packets available in church
after Masses.
Please pick up and have requested
paperwork ready to be
brought back first day of school. (Thank you!)
First annual (?) HASA ALL
School Families Back-to-School
Picnic after
SEPTEMBER
Tuesday 04 07-08 school year begins
Thursday 06 Parent orientation mtg.,
information that at least one parent
should be
in
attendance to hear. PLEASE set aside the
evening.
St. Henry School’s VISION:
Responsible and resourceful
graduates rooted in faith and alive in Christ!