Patty Bajek / Friday, December 9, 2022

Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 12/8/2022 - The Proclamation of Salvation

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

“A beautiful homily, a genuine sermon, must begin with the first proclamation, with the proclamation of salvation. There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation.”

When I first read this quote, my initial reaction was that it doesn’t apply to me (or most of you!) because we are not giving homilies. Then I started thinking more about this and asking myself, are there other ways that I give sermons? Do my daily words proclaim that Jesus Christ is our Savior? I’m reminded of a well-known quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” Today, think about how your words and actions proclaim the message of our faith.

Christmas Celebrations

We have just ten more days of school until the Christmas Break! The students are very excited and full of energy at this time of year. We continue to focus on our academics, but we also have several fun activities to look forward to in the next few weeks!

Next Thursday, December 15th, is our Kindergarten-5th grade Christmas Concert! I’ve really enjoyed listening to the students prepare – they sound fantastic! We hope you can join us for the concert. In case you missed the email from Ms. Sipll, doors open at 5:30 (enter at Door 1) and students should find their seats in the bleachers by 5:45pm. Students should wear dress clothes and leave coats and any other belongings with their parents for the duration of the concert.

Tuesday, December 20th, is our annual Ugly Christmas Sweater contest! Students may wear out of uniform bottoms with their “ugliest” Christmas sweater to show off their holiday spirit. We’ll pick a winning sweater for each grade level.

Wednesday, December 21st is our Preschool Christmas Concert at 8:30am in McSherry. This is sure to be an adorable performance by our littlest Saints!

Thursday, December 22nd we will have our class Christmas parties. These parties, led by our room parents, will be at 2:15pm for K-8 and at 10am for preschool. This day is also an out of uniform day for the Class of 2024 fundraiser, so any students who paid to participate may be out of uniform. If your child did not pay in advance for all the days, you may still turn in your money and participate for just one day or for the rest of the year!

Safety Reminders

Since returning from Thanksgiving we have witnessed or been contacted about several safety concerns related to driving on and around campus. Please take a moment to read these protocol reminders and follow them to ensure the safety of all.

We received notice from the police that cars are stopping on Aurora to let traffic in and out of the ASCA parking lot. Please do not do this. While we realizing you are trying to help, traffic is moving at 40mph+ on Aurora, and those unfamiliar with ASCA are not expecting you to stop suddenly. It is also dangerous because both lanes of traffic will not always stop, and someone may not be able to see that traffic is still moving in another lane.

During arrival/dismissal times, the WEST driveway is ENTER ONLY and the EAST driveway is EXIT ONLY. All traffic leaving campus must turn right (west) at these busy times.

The speed limit on campus is 5mph. Please obey the speed limit and use the drop-off pick-up lanes only to let children get in/out of cars.

If you are picking up your child at Door 1 at the end of the day, you must get out of your car and walk up to the coned area to pick up your child. As the weather gets colder, we realize it is less attractive to stand outside and socialize, but it is not safe to have children walking through the parking lot without an adult.

Science Fair Judge Request

Please read this note from Assistant Principal and Science Teacher Maggie Detwiler and consider helping out as a Science Fair judge!

Our students have finished putting together their Science Fair papers and are ready to present their findings to their classmates next week!!! For any of you who know me, this is by far one of my favorite things to do with the kids. It’s a lot of hard work, but so rewarding in the end!!!!! The kids are excited because they get a chance to show off all the work they have done!

We are hosting our local Science Fair this year on Thursday, January 26th in the morning. I know a lot of you have volunteered to judge in the past and I am eternally grateful for your help. We have about 60 students who are presenting and each presentation needs two judges!! That means a lot of hands are needed.

You may be asking yourself, I would love to help but I am not a scientist! No worries!! I will teach you how to do the scoring! All you need is to have a love for working with the kids and seeing the hard work that they have done!

Please use the Signup genius link to let me know that you can help!

Diocesan News

The Catholic Education Foundation’s Women’s Giving Circle is hosting an event on December 13th at St. Raphael called Women, Wisdom, and Wealth. You’re invited! Click here for more information.

Student Recognition

At lunch throughout the first trimester our parent volunteers and lunch coordinators have been asking the students to be the hands of Jesus by assisting with cleaning the tables after eating. The 4th grade class has been excellent at doing this, with nearly every 4th grader voluntarily assisting. Thank you! Thanks especially to three students who have gone above and beyond to assist: Owen S. (4th grade), Billy M. (5th grade), and Brady C. (4th grade).

Congratulations to the following students who earned Saintly Acts recently: Norah G. (5th grade), Quinn T. (4th grade), Britta H. (7th grade), Annabelle S. (1st grade), Camden K. (1st grade), James C. (1st grade), Kieran M. (5th grade), Johann Y. (5th grade), Charlotte M. (5th grade), Emmett E. (5th grade), Analena S. (4th grade), Danny S. (5th grade), Brady C. (4th grade), Hasan Q. (5th grade), Simone D. (2nd grade), Aiden K. (2nd grade), Luca R. (2nd grade), and Leyla W. (2nd grade). Keep being saintly!

Warm regards,

Margie Marshall