Patty Bajek / Thursday, March 2, 2023

Saints Speak - 3/2/2023 - The Lord Never Tires of Forgiveness

Please take a few minutes to reflect on today’s quote from Pope Francis:

“The Lord never tires of forgiving. It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness.”

Last week, Sr. Maria led our staff in a mini-retreat to begin the Lenten season. The retreat focused on forgiveness and the story of the prodigal son. The forgiveness demonstrated in this story, and shown by God in His love for us each day, is incredible. How comforting it is to know that no matter what, God forgives us. Our challenge is twofold: to have the courage to ask for his forgiveness and to show that same forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

Report Cards

Second Trimester ended today, and we will begin our third and final trimester of the school year on Monday. Second Trimester Report Cards will be sent home with all students next Friday, March 10.

Lent

This week we are encouraging our families to try out different Lenten meals from around the globe in place of some of our family favorites. These recipes can help our families appreciate all that God has given to us while recognizing the diversity within our world and what others sacrifice on a daily basis. Click here for some Lenten recipe suggestions.

March Updates

Our virtue for the month of March is mercy. Click here for more information on some home projects you can do to focus on mercy as a family this month.

Our social-emotional learning topic for the month of March is social awareness. Click here for more information on social awareness.

As I mentioned last week, we will not have a Person of the Month for March as we focus more on our Lenten promises. However, we do have a guest speaker coming to school on Monday! Nancy Goodfellow will be presenting to our Primary, Intermediate, and Junior High Academies for Disabilities Awareness Month. Ms. Goodfellow has a daughter with Down Syndrome and has become an advocate for the disability community. She will speak to our students about awareness, understanding, and acceptance. You can read more about Ms. Goodfellow here. Thank you to one of our very generous grandparents whose donation made these presentations possible!

Lunch/Recess Volunteers

We are in need of volunteers to help with recess, especially on Mondays. Can you donate 80 minutes of your time on a weekly basis? The weather is getting nicer, and it's a great chance to get some fresh air during the day! Click here to sign up if you are able to help. Thank you!

DDA Update

Did you get your DDA tickets yet? It’s not too late – click here to purchase them today! Please also check your child’s backpack tonight for a DDA flyer with more information on our exciting raffle baskets. There are 5 raffle baskets this year that we know our students will love! Tickets can be purchased using the flyer or on Givesmart.

STEAM Update

The STEAM Lab is an exciting place to be at All Saints! As you know, thanks to the generous donations made to last year’s DDA Fund A Need, we were able to add the Primary (K-2) curriculum component to our STEAM lab. Kindergarten-2nd grade students have STEAM class weekly and have been focusing especially on engineering projects. Click here for some pictures from their classes! Students created levers and cars with the K'Nex kits. Students were introduced to gears with our Gears in Motion unit. Students used the gears to create airplanes, motorcycles, and construction site excavators. Second trimester kicked off with an ASCA favorite Lux Blox. Students used the different movement blocks to create 3D shapes and castles. This trimester ended with the Goobi magnetic set. Students used the magnets and silver marbles to create 2D and 3D shapes. Students recently combined the shapes to build different types of houses. We are looking forward to beginning our Let's Go Code introduction to coding program in Trimester 3!

The second goal of last year’s DDA Fund-A-Need was to further expand our STEAM lab into a 21st century learning center, connecting with the library and creating a broadcast studio. Our initial plans of physically connecting the spaces by knocking down the wall between the two rooms has proven to be cost-prohibitive, but with the funds raised we are able to move forward with the creation of a broadcast studio. We are in the process of designing this space and planning for summer installation. Look for more updates as plans are finalized!

Health Office Update

Mrs. Fuller created this helpful graphic to determine when your child needs to stay home from school and when he/she is able to return after illness. Please click here to access the graphic. Thank you for following these guidelines!

Extracurricular Activities

Registration is now open for the spring session of Chess Scholars! Click here for more information or to enroll your child.

Saintly Acts

Congratulations to the following students who earned Saintly Acts this week: Brooks W. (Kdg), LT G. (7th grade), Zaara A. (3rd grade), Cate H. (3rd grade), Becket V. (1st grade), Beau W. (1st grade), Audrey K. (1st grade), Shyla T. (3rd grade), Ariana L. (Kdg), Charlotte H. (1st grade), Bennett S. (5th grade), and Evan B. (5th grade). Keep being saintly!

Margie Marshall