website  watertownhistory.org

    ebook  History of Watertown, Wisconsin

     Set of weekly School Newsletters

 

 

 

 

 

St. Henry School Newsletter

 

October 19, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

“The Lord will guard you from all evil;

he will guard your life.

The Lord will guard your coming and your going,

both now and forever.”

Psalm 121: 7-8

 

The St. Henry clothing items that had been ordered by many of you, courtesy of HASA, did come in and are going home with your youngsters at the end of the day.  You might want to check backpacks or ask for them.  By the way, this is NOT a fundraiser; HASA just charges enough to cover costs.  What a nice project.  Also, if you have a child in school with a sibling who graduated last year, he or she will bring home the graduation picture if it wasn’t picked up over the summer.

 

What a busy weekend coming up!  The Home and School’s Blood Drive is tomorrow (Saturday) in the Parish Center between 8 and 2.  If you forgot to sign up, stop anyway.  They usually can work you in.   You’ll notice that the Scholastic Book Fair will be open during that time. This weekend will be the last time to avail yourselves of the excellent bargains. After the Masses, the wonderful volunteers (thank you!) will be packing them up until next year.  If you enjoy volleyball, head over to the High School tomorrow for the league tournament being hosted by St. Henry between 8 and 3.  Good luck, Girls, and have FUN!!  Many, many thanks to those who spent hours and hours organizing this event and to those who will be helping out tomorrow.  God bless ALL our volunteers; you are priceless!

 

Sunday is, of course, the parish’s farewell tribute to Fr. Bernie.  Sounds like a delicious lunch (cheesy potatoes!) is being served after the 10:30 Mass.  Hope many of you can make it.  Otherwise, if you’d like to get a card off to him, the address is 412 N. Fourth Street, 53094.  He’ll be leaving for his new mission after Mass on Wednesday so time is getting short!  He originally didn’t think he was going to be here on Wednesday because of the diocesan Parish Leadership Days, but his move is preventing his attendance at them.  We are not “preparing” any roles for the children that day because we thought we weren’t having Mass, but many of the classes will be going over to pray with the rest of the morning Mass folks for his very last Mass.  We did remember him in special prayers in last Wednesday’s Mass. 

 

Father certainly seemed to be touched by the students’ celebration in his honor at lunch on Thursday.  The SAYONARA song – in Japanese, the vocation hymn “You Are Called to Tell a Story” with a few words changed to match our sentiments for Fr. Bernie, and the “Irish Blessing” (“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always with you. May the sunshine warm you always ‘til we meet again.”) filled the cafeteria.  The Student Council tribute was lovely and well deserved, and Father immediately put on the students’ gift to him:  a beautiful silver watch with the words from our school Scripture “act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly” and “St. Henry Students, October, 2007” engraved on the back.  We then enjoyed both his company and the special meal and decorated cakes at lunch.

 

Lastly, a plea as you purchase or create Halloween costumes for your children.  Please be conscious of our dress code and weapons policy before sending them to school in costumes on the 31st.   The weapons’ policy forbids even toy or pretend weapons so no swords, knives, guns, etc.  (May seem silly at times but it is pretty standard procedure now throughout all the nations’ schools.)  And, please, NO scary, ugly, demeaning masks or themes.  There is a big difference between fairy tale Casper the Friendly Ghost characters and horror movie mass murderers and truly frightening monsters.  We do have four, five, and six-year-olds in the building that don’t need unsettling images for nightmare material!   Storybook characters, saints, and admirable historical characters would be so much more appropriate.  Thank you for understanding.  Enjoy your weekend.  Give at least an hour of it to the Lord and join your parish community in Eucharistic worship.  There is NO prayer more powerful in this world or the next!

 

BASEBALL STADIUM IS RESEARCHED

 

The eighth grade went to Miller Park today to get a “behind the scenes” tour.  Students experienced an exclusive tour that included the dugout, luxury suite level, clubhouse, press box, Bob Uecker’s broadcast booth and other behind-the-scenes attractions.  Now that we know the history of Miller Park, students will research another baseball stadium in the United States as a writing project.  Thank you to the volunteers who drove us to Milwaukee. 

 

We just finished the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for reading class.  The students participated in great discussions during the reading of the book.  We even researched singers from that era, like Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Bob Dylan.  We listened to these artists’ songs and discussed how they fit the themes of social injustice, ostracism, and peer pressure that the author relayed so well in her book.  It was definitely a class favorite to read.  Since it is the month of October, we will be reading short stories and poems by Edgar Allen Poe. 

 

The sixth and seventh grade students have been getting to know the Six Traits of Writing in English class.  Each class has put together a portfolio that will hold all of their writing pieces that we do in class.  The students are enjoying the class since examples from children’s books have been used to teach a particular trait.    

 

A very big thank you to all of the parents who donated snack and drinks for the students while they took their ITBS exams.  We truly appreciated your generosity. 

 

Mrs. Harms

 

FIRST GRADERS VISIT THE FARM

 

The first grade has had a very busy start to our year.  In the month of October we learned about the farm.  The children were surprised to learn that nearly everything we have is from a farm of some kind.  To end our unit, we took a trip to Glacier Rock Farm where the children had a wonderful time seeing, touching and even smelling the farm animals.  We ate our lunch at a new Dodge County park, Harnishfeger Park, near Ashippun and had fun playing on their huge playground.  We also walked down to the river and learned that it was the same Rock River here in town!  We looked at a map to see the curvaceous route it takes!  We ended our day with a trip to Honey Acres in Ashippun, where we learned that without bees, we wouldn’t have many of the foods we enjoy.  We also got to view the factory, watching the workers put honey into jars.  Then was the yummy part – sampling different kinds of honey and honey spreads.  I learned that even though Watertown is a very “rural”town, many children today do not have the “farm experiences” that many children of my generation did. 

 

  Mrs. Fortlage

 

Dates to Mark on Your Calendar

 

OCTOBER

Saturday    20    Home and School Assn. Blood Drive, PC, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm

                  St. Henry hosts volleyball league tournament at high school

Sunday      21    Middle School Rally (mandatory for grades 7 & 8)

                  Fr. Bernie Rott’s farewell lunch and reception

following 10:30 am Mass

Tuesday     23    Student Council “WEAR RED DAY;” part of Red

Ribbon Week activities

Wednesday   24    Grade Three trip to Octagon House

HASA Halloween Bash, 6:00 – 8:00 PM (P-grade 5); PC; one

parent must stay

Thur-Fri  25-26   NO SCHOOL

Friday      26    Parish Youth trip to Frightfest, Six Flags

Saturday    27    St. Henry School Children’s Cantor Choir lead congregation

in singing at 4:30 pm Mass

Monday      29    Student Council NFL Sports Apparel Day

Wednesday   31    Halloween – activities in classroom toward end of school

day; watch for teacher communications

NOVEMBER 

Thur-Fri    1-2   Accreditation Visiting Team here.

Thursday     1    Second grade fills many liturgical roles for 8:15 Holy Day

Mass  -- first Mass with new pastor as a school!

Friday       2    Second set of AR points due today.

                  Market Day

Tuesday      6    Picture Retake Day – early morning

Thursday    15    Parent-Teacher Conferences –late afternoon and early evening

Monday      19    Parent-Teacher Conferences – late afternoon and early evening

Tuesday     20    11:30 Early Dismissal – Students off for Thanksgiving

Break until Monday, the 26th

 

St. Henry School’s VISION: 

    Responsible and resourceful graduates, rooted in faith and alive in Christ!