Notes from Sister Therese Marie
WELCOME BACK !!!!!!!! A special welcome to our new students and their parents. The teachers prepared for this day for many weeks. Finally, the hallways were filled with eager students who were refreshed from the summer vacation, ready to begin the new year. Thanks to the Mothers’ Club for hosting the ‘Welcome Back Coffee’. Many parents enjoyed the get-together. The Mothers’ Club meeting after the coffee was well attended. May the Holy Spirit inspire and bless each of us during this school year. Newsworthy Notes Our weekly newsletter comes home every Friday with the oldest child in the family. Please read it carefully to keep up with school news. To submit your important announcements in Newsworthy Notes, please e-mail Mrs. McNulty at tmcnulty@olpillar.com by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday of a regular week and by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday of a short week. Anything submitted after those times will be saved for the following week. At the same time, please e-mail Judy Rieke at jrieke22@swbell.net for items to be printed on the school web site. Cafeteria Update Check out the Cafeteria information on the Cafeteria webpage.  Printable menus are available as well as other information about the program.  Also there is information about the "Buy Your Teacher Lunch" tickets. Permission Form Needed!! Students who walk or ride bikes from school must have a signed permission note in the School Office. Please send this by Monday, August 29. Insurance Forms If you are interested in purchasing insurance found in your packet, please return the form to the office by September 9th. Alumni News Cadet Daniel Spellacy, Class of ‘98, was honored for outstanding academic achievement at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Also, Daniel has been named as one of 18 new commanders to lead the Corps of Cadets as a company commander for the coming year. Bridget Atwood, Class of ‘98, has been accepted as a theology minor at St. Louis University. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa, the National Honor Society for Religious and Theological Studies. Reminder:  All emergency and student health information was to be sent to the School Office by Monday, August 29th. Thank you! Grocery Store Coupons Dierberg's and Schnuck's gift cards will be sold in the car pool line on Mondays and Thursdays again this year. Both stores now use the convenient gift card; no more paper coupons. Shop-n-Save will no longer be available. OLP earns 5% on all sales and all proceeds benefit our computer lab. Please support this simple fundraiser for our school. The earnings really add up! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at stm@olpillar.com	Mandatory Meeting If you are planning to work with children as a volunteer, coach, etc., it is mandatory that you attend “Protecting God’s Children”. There are many such meetings at different parishes. Note the times and dates for these meetings on the following web site: www.archstl.org/children/children.html Fall Fund Raiser The wrapping paper/candy fund raiser is well under way. Don’t forget to go out and sell. This fund raiser is important for our students and the school The monies received from the sale bring to the school the ‘extras’ that are not in the budget. Your interest and cooperation in this project are greatly appreciated. You can order from Innisbrook directly online or view the many products available by clicking on the link here: http://www.innisbrook.com/index.cfm Innisbrook.com is a great way to raise money for: OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR SCHOOL (#108973) Up to 50% of your total purchase price will be donated. Encourage out-of-town family and friends to supportyour school by ordering online using your school number - (#108973). Box Tops for Education Please continue to save box tops. The first pick-up will be on September 22nd and the three highest classes will have a dress-down day on September 29th. Remember to cut the "box top" coupon along the dotted lines. The box tops we turn in are those that have an expiration date on them. Sometimes the real Box Top coupon is on the back of a label or box. We do not turn in Betty Crocker points. Additionally, OLP earns Box Top funds when you purchase items online through the Box Tops Booster Club. One OLP family just purchased a computer through the Box Tops Booster Club. Log on to the boxtops4education.com website for details on how to support OLP with your online purchases. You'll be surprised at the amazing number of stores participating in this program. Eddie Bauer, Lands' End, Staples, Office Depot, Dell, Barnes and Noble -- check out the Marketplace online! SCHOOL NIGHT TO JOIN CUB SCOUTING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th 7:00 p.m. CHURCH BASEMENT Boys Grades 1 through 5! Join the adventure!   Join Pillar's Pack 490. Camping -- Hiking -- Canoeing -- Service to God and Country. A discussion of this year's activities will be presented to parents while new scouts participate in scouting activities outdoors. Questions?  Call Mark Milburn @ 314-997-6193 / 636-240-6196. Youth Choir and Bell Choir and Altar Servers Sign up now to participate in these activities offered through Our Lady of the Pillar Parish.  Deadlines are soon. For applications and information on these activities (practices,responsibilites) link here
Class News and Student Activities
Kindergarten News Aug 26 - We have had a wonderful start. Our children are happy and enthusiastic. They have eagerly begun work in their workbooks. We will be working hard with our letters and sounds. In Art class this week, we will be making dogs. To go along with this theme, we will celebrate “The Dog Days of Summer”. On Monday, the children may bring a stuffed dog, a picture of a dog, and a favorite book about a dog to share with the class. Third Grade News Aug 26 - Welcome to the Third Grade !!! It has been a busy and exciting week for us. Our reading and math groups, the RAMS and the CARDINALS are in full swing. We have started our voyage into English with sentences and are learning the correct way to put a heading on assignments. Ms. Joel and I are excited to see such beautiful handwriting ! (Thanks, Mrs. Cosentino) Your children have already received a Solid Gold Spelling List to keep at home to help them prepare for Friday spelling tests and spelling sentences. Hopefully the lists have been placed in a safe place. Have a great weekend. Fifth Grade News Aug 26 - School is off to a wonderful start for our 30 fifth graders. A BIG welcome to Katherine Taylor!!! We are working hard reading and following schedules, finding our classrooms, and adjusting to our new location at the other end of the building. All the students and I, Mrs. Atwood, are ready to have a great year after enjoying exciting and busy summers. (Cont.) We are looking forward to many new adventures in the science lab, Spanish and literature classes, and computer classes with the Smart Boards. We are preparing our own Prayer Corner in our classroom and are learning how important prayer is in our everyday lives. Later on this semester we will be doing research about our patron saints while we are learning new techniques on the computer. Life is so exciting!!! September is a busy month. The fifth grade will be starting the DARE Program and will make a field trip to visit the retired Franciscan Sisters who will be our Pen Pals this year. We are ready to make this year's school motto, "Be An Apostle", come alive. Have a great year, one filled with joy and excitement! News from Mrs. Ryan Aug 26 - Welcome to our new classmates, Berkeley Combs and Mary Cate O’Brien! You’ve joined a very positive, hardworking team and our Teamworks field trip is scheduled for September 13! The sixth graders have made some signs for our classroom. As part of our school theme “Be an Apostle”, these colorful signs direct us along our daily path, helping us to show we are God’s people! In Science we’re employing quantitative and qualitative methods to map the earth and sky. The fifth graders have jumped into problem solving in both Science and Literature. We’ve learned impossible things are happening every day because of Math, Science, Reading and Writing! (Yeah, Cinderella had that fairy Godmother, didn’t she?)	Seventh Grade News Aug 26 - We are off to a great beginning! We would like to welcome Tori Davis to our class, she is a wonderful addition. This year is Science Fair year and we are already brainstorming and choosing topics. We are also looking forward to working with a Science Outreach group that is sponsored by Pfizer Corporation. This will enable the students to have access to professionals  in the field and make connections to the everyday world. ¡ Bienvenidos al curso de Español ! Aug 26 - My name is Yajaira Guédez de Jurado and I will be your child’s Spanish teacher. I was born in Venezuela. I came to USA eleven years ago to do research in Immunogenetics of diseases at University of Tennessee, Memphis. More recently, I have been teaching Spanish in enrichment programs and summer camps at Catholic and public schools in Missouri and Illinois. Currently, I am working on my Master in Secondary Education (field; foreign languages, with focus on Hispanic culture) at UMSL. The methods that I will be using at OLP follow the International Educational Systems (IES) design. The methods recreate a process of language acquisition which is similar to the way children learn their primary language. Several things make the program unique: Games, activities, poems, drama, songs and cultural lessons (including craft, cuisine, celebrations and traditions from Spanish speaking countries) are used to make language come alive. Audio tapes and CDs with native speakers, workbooks, and activities provide reinforcement at home for what’s learned in the classroom. This helps students retain newly acquired vocabulary. The methods emphasize listening and speaking skills. The tapes are designed to tune student ears to the inflections of native speakers and immerse students in the language. I will encourage my students to listen to the tapes at home a minimum of 5 minutes a day. Family support and input is extremely important. The more students listen to the tapes the more they enhance retention, comprehension, and conversational development. The tapes will most likely be difficult to understand at the beginning of the course. It is normal not to understand everything. Over time and with repeated listening, students will understand more and more. Books of some of our curriculum (K-6) are almost completely devoid of writing. This is intentional. The purpose is to teach students to understand and speak the spoken language. The workbooks are designed to allow students to follow along with the audio tapes and to link spoken vocabulary with visual images. The material simulates an oral immersion learning process. Readings and writing activities will be gradually introduced in class to 3rd-8th grade students. I will be sending home the books, tapes, and instructions on how the students should use the material. Please feel free to contact me anytime (home phone #: 314-542-4276, voice mail #:314-993-6436 ext. 126, or e-mail address at yjurado@olpillar.com for questions or comments. I am eager to pass my love for language on to your child! Sincerely, Yajaira B. Guédez de Jurado