Newsworthy Notes
Vol. 17 Issue 4 September 16, 2004
| Notes
from Sister Therese Marie |
|||
|
The Archdiocesan Testing will take place in grades one through eight beginning September 20 through September 24. These are different dates than on the school calendar. The data received from the tests is a very important part of the student records. Hopefully, no one will be absent during those crucial days. A good night’s rest and a wholesome breakfast are sensible prerequisites for testing
Catechetical Sunday This Sunday,
the nineteenth, is Catechetical Sunday. At the 10:30 Eucharistic
Celebration, all the Catechists in the parish, which includes all
our OLPS teachers, will be given a special blessing for catechists
so they may continue to carry out their extraordinary task of teaching
the Word of God. Your presence will add to this prayerful occasion Dismissal
This is the
time of the year that we receive a check from Target. Your purchases
at Target using the Target Guest Card and/or Target Visa and designating
Our Lady of the Pillar School have made possible a check for $298.00.
If you are not part of the program, call Target at 1-800-316-6142 for information or click on the link here to register or shop online to earn $$$ for OLP.
WANTED!!! Current judges who do not have a red or green judge’s card must attend a meeting to update cards. New parents interested in judging must attend a meeting too. There are two dates available, Wednesday, September 22 and Saturday, September 25. If interested , please contact Anne LaVigne in the third grade room, or Tina McNulty in the office.
September 25 Yard Sale.....Collections have begun!! From now through Sept 22 you can bring items for the yard sale to the upper church parking lot during school hours and following weekend Masses. For more information, click here. HELP!!!!!!
WORKERS ARE NEEDED ON SEPTEMBER 25 TO ASSIST WITH THE YARD
SALE. Supplies needed: hangers, shopping bags, empty coffee cans and moving boxes. Thanks! Mother's Club Thank You A big thank you to Patty Winkelmann and Tina McNulty for all their hard work facilitating the Grocery Store Coupon sales during the 2003-2004 school year. Their efforts and those of the many others who sold in carpool line throughout the year brought in $6213.00. This money, which directly benefits the students, was used to purchase new computers in the computer lab. Thanks also to everyone who purchased grocery store coupons and please keep on buying! |
Back-to-School Night Back-to-School Night was another successful evening with our parents and the teachers. Your presence at the classroom sessions and your interest in the goals and expectations of the teachers show your support and interest in the school. It always makes for a good beginning of the school year. It was also a good opportunity to thank you for your generosity in giving of your precious time, energy, and the sharing of your amazing talents. The funds generated from all your activities have made possible our attractive school, of course, the air-conditioning, and all the teacher/student “extras” beyond the budget. Fall Fund Raiser
Boys and girls, watch out for the monkey!!!!!!!!!!!
Classes
with 100% Participation will be
Please continue to save box tops. The first pick-up will be on September 24th and the three highest classes will have a dress-down day on September 30th. 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!
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! Help
Wanted to Sell Coupons
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at stm@olpillar.com |
||
| Class News and Student Activities |
|||
|
Kindergarten News Thanks to all who attended Back to School Night. We love to see you. Sept 3 - Our Kindergarten class is making wonderful progress. Everyone is turning in their homework. We are very responsible.
First Grade News Sept 10 - The first graders are learning about each other. They are making large posters that tell "All About Me". It's fun to learn likes and dislikes and thoughts about what the future might hold. Stop by the hallway and take a look.
Second Grade News Third Grade News Sept 16 - The Honor of Mary Medal moves this week to Grace Winkelmann. Nice going, Grace !!
Next week we will be taking the Iowa tests. The children may bring a healthy snack on Monday - Wednesday. Please plan schedules so that the children get plenty of sleep and a healthy breakfast. Also, please make sure that your child has several sharpened #2 pencils and a book to read. The book report for September is to read a book of their choice, that is of grade level and that the child hasn’t read before. Once the book is completed, forms are available in the room with directions for how to write the report. The book reports are due September 27, but may always be turned in early.
We got over the hurdles of the first Math and Language Arts tests this week. We also led our first Mass on Wednesday. The readers were great and the singing very enthusiastic !!! Sept 3 - Our Honor of Mary Medal has been passed on to Ryan Glazer this week. Good going, Ryan !! We are working hard to under-stand place value in Math, and we wrote our first spelling sentences of the year this week. Have a nice, well-earned, long weekend !
September will be a musical month here at school. Here is what each grade can look forward to doing in music. In Kindergarten we will be learning a song about meeting people called "Say Hello". We also are learning to count and keep a beat with "Steady Beat Shake-down". "Peanut Butter" was a big hit, because we got to use the instruments! "Get up and dance", showed us how to echo sing and that we could move to the music, something we love to do. There were some great musical opportunities for 1st grade this summer. Since we are excited about the Cardinals, we sang a song called "Barnyard Baseball". Imagine that! We will also learn to sign letters and phrases. Second grade also pictured and wrote about their summer music experiences. Way to go 2nd grade! We listened to "Getting to Know You", from The King and I. 2nd grade loves learning that this musical is based on a true story. We will also learn to sign letters and phases in 2nd grade. Third grade sang a song called "Music Bus". It was a challenge because it is written in three parts. One of the parts is a rap. We had to go fast and keep the beat! We are also going to do signing in the third grade. Fourth grade
learned a song called "Music Express". It is very upbeat
and jazzy. We even provided our own accompaniment. Next we will
learn a patriotic partner song called "Spirit of America ".
It will be a challenge Fifth grade
also learned "Music Express" . They even performed it
for Sister Therese Marie! She loved it, especially since it had
solo parts too. "All Aboard for Broadway" is another snappy
show tune we are learning. "Reach for the Rainbow", shows
us we can do anything if we try. Seventh grade has begun to study musical theater. We will see what it takes to put on a musical. We will also learn about various composers in musical theatre. Eighth is learning about time periods in music. Our study has begun with the influence of African music of long ago. We will then explore ragtime and jazz.
|
Fifth Grade News Sept 3 - The first week of school went really fast. This week we are learning about the Nominative Case and how to diagram nouns used as subjects and subjective complements. We are also writing letters to the Sisters at Carbarry Campus. On Thursday, September 9th we will visit the Sisters and treat them to a K.F.C. lunch. England is our choice for International Day on April 8, 2005. We are looking for some unique ideas so if you are interested let us know. We would like to thank the Mothers’ Club for the generous gift of $100. We will put it to good use. God bless you and have a great and safe Labor Day. News from Mrs. Ryan Sept 10 - The sixth graders are looking forward to our TEAMWORKS field day on September 15. Remember to pack only a nutritious sack lunch, a bottle of water, and a light jacket (if the weather turns cooler). Also, do not forget your thinking cap, since every member of each team needs to participate in the problem solving. The 5th grade scientists must demonstrate skill in recording accurate and reliable observations. On Wednesday, students shared lists of quantitative and qualitative observations which we used as clues to identify “mystery” objects.
Both groups are progressing with Literature assignments, and the fifth graders wrote vivid first drafts about a very unlikable chap named Eustace! The sixth graders are also reading a novel, The Word Eater, and each student will complete a writing assignment about the characters and theme. News from Mrs. Jones Sept 16 - The seventh grade is energetically creating their own colony in Social Studies. They ‘re learning that it may not be that easy to be a colonist, and there is much preparation involved. The finished products look to be very creative. Action is the byword for Science right now. We are working on experiments in pairs and will be presenting the findings to the entire class, to polish oral presentation skills. Eighth
grade is researching specific topics using Pagemaker on computers.
Individual topics may include: Ironclads, Civil War medical practices,
Spies, The fifth grade will be working on long term goals of essay writing in the historical context. In math, we’re working on the everybodies favorite: FRACTIONS. Sept
10- The 7th and 8th graders are
working hard at this time, adjusting to new classes and bigger expectations. When parents come for Back-to-School Night, be sure to check out our display of Native American Folk-Tales, near the Science room. The fifth graders used great creativity in these presentations, while expanding research. Eighth Grade News Sept 10 - Father Tobin joined us for a prayer service and signed each eighth grader with holy water, saying, “You are called to be a leader.” Refreshments followed ~ Mrs. Rodway’s wonderful sherbet punchand Mrs. Wankum’s delicious Rice Krispie treats. Thank you both!
Computer Bits & Bytes Sept 10 - Greetings! The school year has gotten off to a wonderful start. With two weeks of classes behind us, all the students seem to be settling into their new routines very well. Our Kindergartners are learning how to have better control of the mouse as they practice stamping the alphabet in Kid Pix. The first graders have just completed their Assessment Tests in Jump Start First Grade and are moving into the program this week at their respective levels. Several of them are proving to be very good at math and have won trophies in Turbo Math already! Second graders are learning about the keyboard and using Reader Rabbit 2 to enhance their language arts and math skills. Besides continuing to improve key-boarding skills, third graders have been enjoying the Adventures of Clue Finders while sharpening their language arts and math skills. Fourth grade students are improving not only typing skills, but also grammar as they use Type to Learn and Grammar Games. The fifth grade class has been creating a Kid Pix Slide show describing their summer. Sixth graders have done a review in word processing and are currently creating a “How-to” Hyperstudio stack. Seventh and eighth graders have created colorful schedules in Excel. Seventh graders are also working on a review of Power Point, while eighth graders are doing a review project in PageMaker. I am looking forward to helping the students utilize the computers in their studies during the year. Panther Prints started on Tuesday, September 7th. Thanks to the Mothers’ Club for the generous class gift. God’s blessings.
Interested in Scouting? We have 1st through 6th grade troops and would love to add a Kindergarten troop. If you are interested in co-leading a new Kindergarten Daisy troop or would like more information, contact Diana True, 569-9456. |
||
| News
from the Office |
|||
|
I would like to thank parents for their respectful feedback regarding our Pillar uniform shoe policy. We understand that there are many factors to consider when purchasing ‘back to school shoes’. Price, fit, comfort, durability and color are all important criteria by which to evaluate your purchases. In an attempt to maintain respectable continuity in our uniform policy, it is important to provide guidelines. However, it is not my intention to create hardship for our parents. Please do not rush out and buy another pair of new shoes for school. However, if you did not purchase your new school shoes for this year, please select a white tennis shoe that is free of fads or decorations (i.e., lights, ribbons, beads, shocks, cartoon characters, strips, color tips, stripes, color heels, etc.) If you have a new pair, please select a white pair for your next purchase. We do thank all those who did follow the guidelines. Thank you again for your thoughtful input on this and all matters that concern our school children. |
Students who walk or ride bikes from school must have a signed permission note in the School Office. These were to be turned in by August 30. Insurance Forms If you are interested in purchasing insurance found in your packet, please return the form to the office by September 10th.
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. |
||
Archdiocesan
Testing 
When
you make the curve toward the Parish Life Center, please display
your car pool number so the teachers and patrol students can
readily see it. The two rows of cars near Lindbergh must alternate
moving out and merge into one line.
Cafeteria
Update 
Buzz
Book
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 Your interest and cooperation in this project
are greatly appreciated. The sale will end on September 21st.
Don’t
Forget 
Grocery
Store Coupons 
September
Sept
16 - We are excited to start our series of star students.
This helps us get to know one another. Anthony Boveri is our first
star. We learned that he has one sister and two brothers. He enjoys
baseball and fishing.
In
religion class, we are talking about our special names. When the
discussion led to St. Joseph, one of our children volunteered that
a carpenter makes carpets. 
We
also have painted lady caterpillars eating their way to chrysalises
in our room. We are learning about insects and have started a collection
in our room of insects the children are bringing in. And of course,
reading is lots of fun!!!! We are getting better at figuring out
new words and writing sentences.
I’m
sure that your children have told you that we are experiencing an
epidemic in our room. We are missing several children each day to
an illness that seems to last several days and often involves a
high fever. Please take this into consideration if your child complains
of not feeling well.
Sept
10- The Honor of Mary Medal moves to Cooper Hudspeth
this week. A classmate caught her performing an act of kindness,
and for that we applaud her !!!!
The
composer of the month will be studied in all grades each month.
This month we will learn about Billy Joel! You can learn more about
him by visiting the 
Sixth
graders have used topographic mapping skills and have visited 
Girl
Scouts at OLP
Reminder:
All emergency and student health information were to be sent to
the School Office by Monday, August 30th. Thank you!
Uniform
Shoes
Permission
Form Needed!!
Newsworthy
Notes