Updated February 2, 2012

February 2, 2012

Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.
~ Paul Bryant ~

Hello St. Mary Families.

With this being Catholic Schools Week, I had to have a quote that indicated that our children, our teachers and staff, our parents and families all make us a winning school! Catholic Schools Week has been fantastic, and I’d like to thank the teachers who put it all together. Your time, commitment and enthusiasm helped to make this week even better than usual! To all the teachers, you really are the key difference when talking about Catholic Education, and words cannot express how much it means to me, to the children and to the parents how grateful we are to have you in the classrooms! God has blessed us in having you here at St. Mary School!

To sum up the week, it started with a beautiful mass and open house with helpers, tour guides, and greeters working double time to make sure everyone felt welcome. Our 8th grade students really stepped up and were phenomenal in every way, showcasing their science projects, giving tours, and greeting guests … thank you to our 8th grade class for being such wonderfully talented, kind individuals! On Monday we had a pep rally to kick off the week, which was dynamic, and a prayer service to close out the day that was thoughtful and meaningful. Tuesday we had several guests arrive to visit, both prospective families and officials from Riverside and the surrounding areas, they were very impressed! Wednesday was our Blue vs. White day and the children loved this, the competition is good, as it teaches them about winning and losing, and doing both with grace; we ended the day with a sing-a-long which included songs like, This Little Light of Mine, Jesus Loves Me, The BIBLE, and America the Beautiful --- really a joy to watch the children singing. Today we end with donations to local food pantries, crazy sock day, and another pep rally for our Basketball and Volleyball players!

While a committee of teachers decided the events for the week, I must also give a shout out to our Student Council Members! They have gone above and beyond in assuring everything ran smoothly! They took charge of our opening day and closing day pep rallies, they helped with tours, made banners, created games, and were ever vigilant in showing their school pride, to all the student council members, thank you, thank you, and thank you!

Information:

Ø Sharon Leamy who is heading up the grant writing committee for the parish, is looking for people to help with writing some school grants. This is an endeavor that requires some expertise, experience and time, as it is not an easy task. Mrs. Cronin will help organize this, so if you are interested, please contact her at (708) 447.2712 or mcronin@ameritech.net .

Ø With the money collected from “Labels for Education” we were able to acquire footballs, soccer balls, basketballs and rubber balls for the playground! Thanks for contributing, keep sending them in!

Ø St. Mary Yard Signs are available for $20.00! Stop in or drop off a check made out to St. Mary School in an envelope marked ‘Lawn Sign.’ You will walk out of here ready to show your school spirit!

Ø CCW membership forms will be on our website. Please consider joining this wonderful organization. They are just rallying the troops again after a short hiatus, so they are looking for new members and new ideas! Please contact Mrs. Nikischer at (708) 447.5216 or cindymmjn@yahoo.com .

Ø Tax credit forms are available upon request in the school office, please call Mrs.Vrablik. Thank you for your patience with this.

Student news:

Ø Next week 2/6-2/10: Sixth grader, Grace Toriello, is raising donations and money for medicine and supplies to take to Guatemala. Her classmates want to help by selling lunch treats like - Strawberry flavored syrup ‘squirts’ into the white milk for $0.25, juicy drinks for $0.50, cookies/brownies (no nuts) $0.50 cents, and cake pops with icing for $1.00. All proceeds will be given to Mrs. Toriello to purchase medical/hygiene supplies for the mission in Guatemala.

Ø Congratulations are in order for more of our former students!
o Saint Laurence High School sent us their honor roll list, and Nicholas Paneral made the A Honor Roll and Zach Marcolini and Frank Tonika made the B Honor Roll! What fine accolades to them and again to St. Mary School, that so many of our graduates go on to do so well in high school!
o Immaculate Conception High School also has one of our alumnae on their High Honor Roll! Karla Ortiz seems to be doing very well, and for that she deserves to be recognized … good job Karla for working so hard and doing so well!
o St. Rita High School, another fine school our former students attend also has an alumna who achieved Silver Honors for his hard work! Congratulations go out to Raymond Tenorio for working hard and doing well!

Reminders:

Ø Family Dance tonight for grades Preschool thru 5th is from 6:30 to 8:00, children must be accompanied by an adult, and Jr. High students 6th thru 8th from 8:00 to 9:30 will be required to check in at the Link doors.

Ø Remember, no school tomorrow!

Ø Spring Fundraiser is fast approaching, so keep your eyes and ears open for more information! Check out the website for information!

Ø Please remember no dogs are allowed on school property, friendly or not, no one is ever sure how a dog will react with so many people around.

So it is with sadness that I close this letter, as the week of excitement is over, but it is my hope that with all the efforts of everyone, we see our enrollment grow, and our worries disappear! God is good to all of us, and in our hard work, our commitment and our desire to be the best; I believe He will bestow on us a bounty like no other! He will lead families who want more for their children to find St. Mary School, so we must continue to have faith in who we are and what we do, I know I have enough faith in this school for all of us!

Enjoy the nice long weekend with your children, as they are truly blessings from heaven!

Peace,
Ms. Diane M. Simonaitis
Principal
St. Mary School