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St. Henry School Newsletter

 

October 20, 2006

 

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

                 and to give his life as a ransom for many.”                                 Mark 10:45

 

Just an update on our heating (or lack thereof) situation.  We have had people working here all week so the parish is certainly on the problem.  Please keep sending children dressed in layers.  Father promises we will have heat for the winter!  We will try to keep you updated.  But the layers “thing” works, especially if a solution is found soon and the rooms start really heating up.  Ah . . . just like at home, eh?  If it’s not one thing, it’s another.  Lest I forget to mention, next week, because of the short week, we won’t have an official newsletter from this office, but the weekly envelope will go home on Wednesday, nonetheless. 

 

Mrs. Harms is hoping that you are keeping up the charts for the Governor’s Challenge of children participating in a solid hour of physical activity five days a week for at least six of the weeks during the period from September 10th through Saturday, November 11th.  Please recall that all logs must be in school by Tuesday, November 14th at the latest. 

 

In your packets today, you will find SmileSafe Kids” safety ID cards.  Notice that the suggestion is made that you fill out pertinent information and then both Dad and Mom keep a card in their wallets in case – God forbid – you would ever have to contact police because of a missing child situation.  It’s a nice “bonus” from the company that does our school pictures and spring yearbooks. 

 

We will be sending home information requests fairly soon regarding our annual November conferences.  This year, as has been the tradition for quite awhile, you will have the choice of a time after school or evening the Thursday the week before Thanksgiving or the Monday of Thanksgiving week.  That’s November 16th and 20th.   We don’t do official spring conferences because teachers are in contact with so many parents throughout the year via weekly envelopes for everyone, as well as seeing quite a few of you before or after school, or by contact via emails and/or phone calls.  Please know that you can ALWAYS request a conference if you feeSl a need.  Of course we will say “YES!”

 

As you know, we all here really do think it’s important for us adults and for our children to participate in our parish’s weekend celebrations of the Eucharist.  Main reasons:  GOD himself must think it’s important since he made it one of the Ten Commandments; the CHURCH has made it one of its main obligations for its members for generations upon generations, and JESUS the Lord certainly demonstrated faithfulness to the obligation to worship on the Sabbath.  But I think this little excerpt from a third grade homework assignment of an eight-year-old from Chula Vista, California, might add another dimension to our motivation to make Mass a non-negotiable part of our weekend.  Danny Duncan writes in his essay to explain God  . . . “ You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there’s anybody you want to make happy, it’s God!  Don’t skip church to do something you think will be more fun, like going to the beach.  This is wrong.  And besides the sun doesn’t come out at the beach until noon anyway.  If you don’t believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely because your parents can’t go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can.  It’s good to know He’s around when you’re scared, in the dark or when you can’t swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.  But . . . you shouldn’t just always think of what God can do for you.  I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.”  Food for thought – and action!

 

SIXTH GRADERS HAVE BUSY SCHEDULES

 

The sixth grade students have done a wonderful job adjusting to their rigorous schedule this year.  It’s exciting for me to see the ways they’ve grown in the past years.

 

For the past two weeks the students have been focused on their ITBS tests.  I appreciate all of the effort they put into doing their best on these important tests.  We’ve been stretching our minds in other ways, as well.  Last week the students learned the basics of playing chess.  They learned the names of the pieces and their moves, and even had the opportunity to watch a classmate beat me.  The students are looking forward to having more opportunities to learn this fascinating game and to work on their strategies.

 

Religion has opened several interesting discussions.  The students have asked about and discussed such things as creation, faith, life after death, the existence of God, the miracle of the Eucharist, and more.  I think we’re all looking forward to seeing where our class discussions will take us in the months to come!

 

Miss Boettcher

 

PRESCHOOL PAINTS PUMPKINS

 

Happy autumn!  To help celebrate this beautiful season, we of course went to the pumpkin farm.  What a wonderful, windy, cold and very short experience it was!  In addition to our trip, we painted, cut and glued our own handmade pumpkins.  Our cutting skills have really improved in just two months.

 

We also painted some very cool pumpkins and bats with our fourth grade study buddies.  Besides having a great time with our buddies, we are also helping Katie Schroeder with the decorations for the Home and School Halloween Bash on October 25.th

 

October is also fire safety month.  We have been learning basic steps to keep us safe from fires.  Our favorite is “stop, drop and roll”.  To top off our discussions we will be walking to the firehouse to visit Tony Zinda’s dad who is the assistant fire chief.  How cool is that?

 

Have a wonderful weekend and rest of autumn.

 

Mrs. Kemp

 

Dates to Put on Your Calendar                  

 

OCTOBER

 

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

                                                Kindergarten field trip to Ebert’s

                                                Student Council “Wear RED Day”

HASA Halloween Bash for children through grade 5;  PC, 6-8:00 pm; all children

must be accompanied by an adult

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

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

Tuesday 31           Student Council Halloween Costume Day

 

NOVEMBER

 

Wednesday           01           All Saints Day – Holy Day of Obligation

                                                Grade 8 fills liturgical roles at 8:15 Mass

                                                Play Group meets in PC  9:30-11:00 am

Friday                    03           Second sets of AR points should be earned by today (Grades 4-8)

Sunday                  05           Children’s Cantor Choir sings at 10:30 am Mass

Monday                06           Student Council Food Drive for St. Vincent DePaul begins; ends Friday, Nov. 17th.

Parenting 911 at Riverside Middle School, 6:309:00 pm

Tuesday 07           Picture make up day

                                                St. Bernard/St. Henry subcommittee mtg., 5:00 pm, computer lab

Wednesday           08           Athletic Assn. meeting, 6:00 pm, computer lab (moved because of seminar on the 6th)

Friday                    10           All AR points must be earned for first quarter by today (grades 4-8)

                                                Student Council Blaze Orange/Camouflage Day

                                                HASA’s annual Kraemer Cheese fundraiser forms go home today.

                                                Market Day                                         

 

Scripture verse for two weeks of October 23 – November 3                                                      Mark 12: 29-30

“Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”