School Newsletter 11-5-20

Newsletter 11-5-20

Regional Thanksgiving Food Drive

There is a regional Thanksgiving food drive at St. Stephen’s in Tinley Park, Saturday November 7. It’s safely organized and a great spirit of charity amongst those who have participated. Please refer to the flyer attached below for more information

In Christ,

Deacon Michael Fekete

Thanksgiving Food Drive Regional Information

2020 Maryknoll Student Essay Contest

Students in grades 6-12 are invited to participate in an essay contest on the topic “Pope Francis Calls Us to Build a Civilization of Love.” Click here for more information and essay details. The first prize is $1,000. The deadline to submit essays is Nov. 16.

Family Reading Night

Family Reading Night is celebrated across the state of Illinois each year on the third Thursday of November.  This year, it will take place on Thursday, November 19.  Reading together is one of the most valuable gifts a family can share. Reading sets people on a successful path for lifelong learning.

This year we are encouraging all of our St. Gerald Giants to participate in Family Reading Night.

Every student will get a Family Reading Night form.  Students should spend at least 20 minutes reading  for enjoyment on November 19.  They can read with someone, read to someone, or read on their own.  Any student that reads will record the time they started and ended, and the book(s) that they read and with whom.  A parent must sign off that the information is correct. The student should bring the completed form back to school on Friday, November 20 and he/she will receive a free out of uniform day on Monday, November 23.

Teacher Emails and Parent-teacher Conferences UPDATED

Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, November 24.  There is no school that day for students.  All conferences will be virtual through Google Meets, Kdg.-8.  Scheduling of conferences will be done online this year via Google Forms for each cohort/teacher.  In order to send you a Google Form to sign up for a conference, we must have a current email.  Please email your child(ren)’s homeroom teacher(s) using the list below so that they have a current email address on file for you.  We only need 1 email address per family; however, if you would like to supply one for each parent, you may.  The sign-up forms will be emailed on Tuesday, November 10 and should be returned by Friday, November 20.  Each virtual conference will be allotted 15 minutes of time and parents will receive a link to log on at the designated time. We have had some technical issues lately with Google.  We will try to send Google forms for parent-teacher sign-ups, but if we run into difficulty, we will switch to a different sign-up system and will notify you.

Mrs. Hosty – [email protected]

Miss Carmona – [email protected]

Mrs. McAcy – [email protected]

Sr. Ruby – [email protected]

Sr. Rose – [email protected]

Mrs. Quaid – [email protected]

Ms. Arnold – [email protected]

Mrs. Topor – [email protected]

Sr. Ann – [email protected]

Mrs. Warren – [email protected]

Mrs. Lumpkin – [email protected]

Mrs. Wilk – [email protected]

Mrs. Boyes – [email protected]

Mrs. Fiscella – [email protected]

Mrs. Slifka – [email protected]

Miss Kennedy – [email protected]

Mr. Montag – [email protected]

Out of Uniform Day

Our next out of uniform day is Friday, November 13.  Students may bring in $1 to their homeroom teacher and enjoy a day out of uniform! This collection will go toward Manna for the Christmas Caring Tree.  If you’d like to send in a larger donation, please put it into an envelope with you child’s name and homeroom teacher marked on it, as well as label it “Christmas Caring Tree”.

Christmas Caring Tree 2020

Over the years, the Family of St. Gerald has come together in charity and love for our community members in need. This year is especially unique due to the COVID 19 pandemic and the negative effects it has had on so many people who have lost jobs or are under-employed and struggling to make ends meet. We are asking for that same spirit of giving to continue this year but in a different way.

We have decided, together with our community partners to ask you to participate by purchasing gift cards. Because we are unable to participate in the usual way with the creation and distribution of ornaments on our trees, we ask you to consider this easy and efficient way of assisting the following community recipients:

Catholic Charities, St. Agatha, St. Peter Claver, Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, St. Vincent DePaul and our Parish School Families.

We encourage you to utilize the parish Manna program and have provided the order form with this letter and instructions for you to use. Also a percentage of purchases will go back to the school so this is a win-win for everyone! If you prefer to make a monetary donation that would be accepted and would be distributed among the receiving partners.

Please return the gift cards to the parish office the weekend of December 5th and 6th.

We are limiting the gift card purchases to the following businesses: Walmart, Kohls, Target, Jewel and Speedway. Let us all keep those in need in our community always in our prayers as I continue to pray for each of you and your loved ones. MANNA ORDER FORM

“St. Gerald….Pray For Us….Live Jesus in Our Hearts Forever!”

Blessings,  Deacon Michael Fekete & Committee

708-642-0647      [email protected]