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St. Henry School Newsletter

 

October 13, 2006

 

 “Fill us at daybreak with your kindness (and) prosper the work of our hands for us.     

  Prosper the work of our hands.”                                                       Psalm 90:  14 and 17

 

I was wishing to do this a little earlier in the newsletters, but there just hasn’t been room.  So I apologize if your reaction is, “I wish you would have said something sooner.”  And the something is . . . could you please be conscious of keeping Halloween a CUTE “holiday,” at least for children.  While friendly ghosts and happy witches enjoying rides on broomsticks are probably not much of a problem, gruesome masks of vicious killers are truly overboard.  Children – and even adults – do not need those kinds of images in their heads.  Sometimes people wonder where nightmares come from!  Now I am not even a tiny bit knowledgeable about the origin of dreams, but my common sense says my brain would have a hard time concocting images of horrible things if it had never seen any.  Am I way off there?  On this same vein, one can’t help wondering why some parents would allow videos of horror movies to invade their children’s psyches.  I think another reason for trying to limit access to those types of images is that while fairly stable older people can handle some disturbing images on a very occasional basis, what about those who aren’t so stable?  If there are tendencies toward violent behavior – for whatever reasons – it can’t be good to feed those tendencies with a multitude of violent images.  Less has to be better.   Same for pornography, don’t you think?  Interesting that we ask God to “lead us not into temptation,” but we go merrily on our way leading ourselves to where Jesus couldn’t possibly approve. 

 

Sorry, some of the above is a digression from my main point which is this . . . please don’t let your children come in costumes that bring to mind ugly images of murder and mayhem to either the Home and School Halloween Carnival here at St. Henry’s on Wednesday evening, the 25th, or send them along in such outfits on Costume Day, Tuesday, the 31st.  We have four-year-olds here, so what might be borderline OK (or not) for fourteen-year-olds are definitely not OK to expose to younger ones.  “So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”  If we have any reservations about something a student is wearing, they will have to take it off.  I’m hoping, thanks to your parental monitoring and good Christian common sense, we won’t have to say a thing to anyone.  Thank you.  Thank you. 

 

11:30 Dismissal Day this coming Monday, October 16th!

 

Did you notice the wonderful opportunity for parent education being offered by the Watertown Unified School District on Monday, November 6, at Riverside from 6:30 to 9:00 pm?  It looks marvelous, and they are even offering free childcare.  The main talk, given by a person from Rogers Memorial Hospital, is “Helping Kids Deal with Today’s Stressful World.”  The sectionals offered all look so interesting and informative:  Internet Safety; What about Violent Computer Games?  Parenting with Love and Logic; Elementary Bullying: How to Help; How to Get Your Kids Off the Couch; How Do I Get My Kids to Eat More Carrots and Less Cheetos?  Dark World of Drugs: How Do Kids Get Involved? Symptoms? Helpful Resources;  After the Divorce: Taking the Stress out of Co-Parenting; Research and Realities of Teen Alcohol and Marijuana Use; and Dealing with Conflict: Calmly Communicating with Your Teenager.  Don’t they sound excellent?  I do have a call out to the president of the Athletic Association to arrange a change for our normal first Monday of the month meeting to free that night up for those board members.  I sincerely hope many of you put this night aside for this seminar.  Becoming the best parent you can is one of your greatest priorities, I’m sure.  It seems as if participating in this evening may help you in that goal.

 

CRITTERS COME TO VISIT KINDERGARTEN

 

The kindergarten class has settled into a nice routine.  The beginning of the year brings us new friends, old friends and learning to play well together.  An important part of kindergarten is playing and learning about our friends’ likes and dislikes.  We have been practicing how we should keep our hands to ourselves and how to be quiet in the halls.  These things may seem small to adults but they are big to us.

 

The eighth graders help the kindergartners go through the lunch line and clean up after themselves.  The seventh graders are working with the kindergarten class on a bird unit.  We get together and look up a specific bird each week.  So far we can identify a robin, a blue jay and a cardinal.  Keep your eyes open for new birds.

 

Show and share has started.  Please check the calendar so you know when to bring in an item and the letter that it should start with.  Last week we had special guests in our class.  They were a family of snails, a spider and a snake.  How exciting for our class.  Thanks to all who brought them.

 

Please check your monthly calendars for upcoming activities, letters of the week and meeting days.  Homework folders go home on Mondays and should be sent back on Fridays with the practice papers completed.  Thanks for your help.

 

Mrs. Lapp

 

FIELD TRIP TO HORICON IS A HIT

 

The seventh grade took the classroom outdoors last week while participating in a field trip to Horicon National Wildlife Refuge off Hwy 49 near Waupun.  Ranger Erin of the US Fish and Wildlife Agency was our instructor.  God provided a beautiful day for us to enjoy.  Despite the lack of water the students were able to learn how to recognize signs of wildlife around them by viewing a slide presentation on the tracks, scat, and other markings of animals found in and around the marsh.  The class then learned binocular basics and went bird identifying along the auto tour and boardwalk.  There were a variety of birds to see even though the water level is lower than it has been in years.  The students did observe some other wildlife including snakes and frogs – dead and alive - and the class favorite of the day, caterpillars.  After lunch the students participated in a game about diversity in nature and learned more about Canada geese and using a goose call.  The students purchased a duck stamp to help support the purchasing of more wetlands to help preserve the environment.  Thanks to Mr. Keller, Mrs. St. John and Mrs. Van Duser who were able to chaperone this trip.

 

Mrs. Smedema

 

Dates to Put on Your Calendar                  

 

OCTOBER

 

Friday                    13           Mid-quarter reports go home

Mon-Fri            16-20         Standardized testing continues for grades 2-8.  Spread out over two weeks. 

Saturday 14           Parish Octoberfest Celebration

Monday                16           11:30 dismissal

Mon-Wed          16-18        Home and School Book Fair during the day for the school children

Wed                        18           Grade 3  has liturgical roles during 8:15 am Mass

Thur-Fri             19-20        Grades 7 & 8 to Camp Gray Retreat Center

                                                Preschool classes going to the Fire Station

Fri                           20           Grade 3 field trip to the Octagon House

Saturday 21           HASA Blood Drive in Parish Center, 8-2

                                                Parish Youth Group Bonfire and Hayride

Sunday                  22           Second grade parents at Reconciliation mtg., 9:30 am, cafeteria

Monday                23           Red Ribbon Week begins (anti-smoking and anti-drug use messages)

                                                Mandatory VIRTUS class for volunteers, St. Jerome School, Columbus, 6 pm

Wednesday           25           No Mass – Fr. Bernie gone to Msgr. Swain’s ordination as bishop

HASA Halloween Bash for children through grade 5

Thur-Fri                 26-27     NO SCHOOL – Public School Teachers Convention Days

Fri                           27           Some grades 6-8 students going to FrightFest with Parish Youth Group

 

NOVEMBER

 

Monday                06           Parenting 911 at Riverside Middle School, 6:30 –9:00 pm

Tuesday 07           Picture make up day

 

Scripture verse for week of October 16-20                                                                                                    Mark 10: 45

          “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve

and to give his life as a ransom for many.”