The Gerald Gazette for 12/11/23
Advent Wreath Prayer: Dear Jesus, you entered our world on Christmas as the Prince of Peace. This Advent, as we strive to become the-best-version-of-ourselves, fill us with a deep and abiding peace. Help us share that peace with everyone we encounter, especially those who need it most. Amen.
Important Upcoming Dates:
Monday 12/11: SGAC Board meeting at 7pm
Tuesday 12/12: Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass at 8:30am
Wednesday 12/13: School Board/Open House Committee Meeting at 6:30pm in Arnold Hall
Friday 12/15: Dress Down for Charity for St. Jude’s
Friday 12/15: 8th Grade Field Trip to Drury Lane
Friday 12/15: Kindergarten’s Polar Express Day at 1pm
NO EXTENDED AFTER CARE ON THURSDAY 12/21: STUDENTS ARE DISMISSED AT 1:30PM.
Christmas Programs: Grades 1 thru 8 will be performing twice on Tuesday 12/19, at 1pm & 6:30pm in the Church, all are welcome. Preschool and Kindergarten will have theirs on Thursday 12/21 at 10am.
Christmas Parties: Preschool will have their classroom party on Tuesday 12/19 at 9:30am, Kindergarten’s will be Friday 12/15 at 1pm and then Grades 1 through 8 will be on Wednesday 12/20 at 1pm. All parents are welcome to volunteer, but must be Virtus compliant, please reach out to your room parent to assist.
Advent Wreath Candle Lighting: The Breaking of the Bread Ministry is having an Advent wreath candle lighting Mondays during Advent at 5pm in the Church. Come join us for a time of prayer and peace as we prepare our hearts for Christ's coming.
Dress Down for Charity/St. Jude’s Donations: Please consider donating to this amazing cause: https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?team_id=302637&fr_id=133399&pg=team
Christmas Teacher Fund: Donations to the HSA Christmas Teacher Fund are due by this Friday 12/15.
Catholic Schools Week Mass/Open House: Please mark your calendar for our Annual Open House on Sunday 1/28 to kickoff Catholic Schools Week after 9:30am Mass! This is open to new and current families!
Blackbaud/Tuition: Please moving forward if you have any questions regarding Tuition/Blackbaud direct those to Mary Ellen Bizzotto, at [email protected].
Dress Appropriately: Please be sure all students are dressing appropriately for the weather. We will go outside for recess if the ‘Feels Like’ temperature is above 31 degrees.
Manna: Why not shop using Manna gift cards?
1st & 3rd Sundays in Arnold Hall 9am - noon
Wednesdays by Door 10 6pm - 7:30pm
Fridays in the school office 8:15am - 9:30am
St. Vincent DePaul—Here to Help St. Gerald Families
St. Vincent De Paul is one of our long-term ministries serving St. Gerald families and our community neighbors in need. Any St. Gerald parishioner, school family or neighbor within our community in need can request help from St. Vincent De Paul. You may have lost a job and are behind on bills; or have extra medical expenses due to an illness or have other issues causing a need for help with tuition etc. The process is without judgement and is strictly confidential. It is meant to be Emergency help, Temporary and limited. St. Vincent De Paul has a dedicated, private voice mail for personal requests. The requests must come from the individual in need. A friend or family member cannot recommend someone in need, but they can certainly refer them to the private number (see below). St. Vincent De Paul is funded via donations to the poor boxes in church and via the monthly collection envelope in our St. Gerald packet. Our parishioners are very generous and therefore, St. Vincent De Paul strives to maintain a firm effort to serve St. Gerald parishioners and families in need. They are grateful for the funds and have helped numerous families and individuals. Christmas toys for children; clothing; food vouchers; gas cards; help with rent; financial aid for our school lunch program is just some of the ways they help. It is all done behind the scenes, with sincere privacy and compassion. The team is very resourceful with recommendations about state and local programs as well as financial and material needs, they provide on a case-by-case basis. St. Vincent De Paul (private voicemail) Call anytime --708-422-0234 (press #113)
Virtus: This is mandatory for all individuals who want to coach or volunteer in any capacity this year. If you are unsure if you are compliant in Virtus, please reach out to me directly. The website to use is www.virtus.org.
Student Walkers at Arrival & Dismissal: PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. We will continue blocking off McNichols Dr/94th Ave. for both Arrival and Dismissal for student safety. No student should be crossing 55th Ct. unless it is at the designated corners where there are crossing guards. I have seen too many students cross in the middle in front of school and almost get hit. For the safety of our students, please leave your car, get them, and walk them over.
Yearbook: Parents may log in to their existing account or create an account using the passcode on the flyer. All books must be ordered online. Books may be pre-purchased, and pages can be customized all the way up to the order deadline of June 10, 2024. Books will be ready for pick up at curriculum day in August. Feel free to upload into tree ring and make sure to click shared photos. You should then see a place to choose a shared folder to load them to.
Updates from Classrooms:
1st Grade: This week in religion we have been learning about the season of Advent and ways that we can grow closer to God during this special time. In math we are reviewing addition sentences to 12 and subtracting to find differences from 12. In spelling and phonics, we are building words that follow the CVCe pattern such as 'bake' and 'rope'. We remember that 'magic e' is silent in these words. In language arts, we are reviewing nouns and verbs and will soon learn about adjectives (words that describe nouns). In social studies, we are learning about goods and services. In science we are learning about ways to help the Earth. In our December journals, the students are busy writing about snow, Advent, and their Christmas wishes for Santa!
Kindergarten: We are so excited for our Kindergarten Polar Express PJ Day (or green and red day) on Friday, December 15th. We will watch the Polar Express, drink hot (but not too hot) chocolate and enjoy some delicious cookies. From 1pm-2pm, we will finish our day with our Kindergarten Christmas Party. Thank you to the parents that volunteered to join us for some North Pole games. Christmas tree decorating, and maybe even some jingle dancing!!!
7th/8th Grade Science: The seventh graders used several colors of clay to create an animal cell model. They learned about the various parts of the cell. Flags were made with toothpicks and paper to label each part of the cell. The students enjoyed working with clay and their creations turned out very well. The eighth graders completed a lab to find out which brand of paper towels absorbed the most water. Students followed a lab sheet and used 6 brands of paper towels. After observing each brand of towel, they developed a hypothesis as to which brand would absorb the most water. Upon completing the lab, students checked their results and concluded which towel absorbed best. Results varied, but Member's Mark and Bounty Essentials were at the top of the list.
5th Grade: The 5th grade Religion class is studying the meaning of Advent. The class looked up the meaning of the 4 candles that are used for the Advent wreath. The candles represent the themes for the 4 weeks of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. The 5th grade Religion class will also be working on service projects throughout the year. Our first project was completed this week. The students made beautiful holiday cards thanking healthcare workers for their care, compassion, kindness, and gentleness to their patients. The cards will be given to the healthcare angels at a special care facility. For Reading we've studied the genre, informational text, and this week we finished a realistic fiction story, an excerpt from Hatchet. The class knows that a realistic fiction story has characters that have feelings, thoughts, and actions that the reader can relate to, the setting of realistic fiction is a place that the reader is familiar with, and actions in the story are experiences that the reader may have been through as well. The D.A.R.E program has been a highlight each week for the 5th grade. Officer Tom keeps the class engaged with videos, group work, and role-playing dramatic situations. The class has written reports to remind them about the importance of keeping their bodies healthy, how to stand up to bullies and to help someone that is being bullied, how to respond to peer pressure and problem-solving techniques. The class has also interviewed an adult in their life that had experienced a problem that needed to be solved. They learned how this adult might have asked others for help and how the problem was resolved. D.A.R.E graduation is soon!
Art: We have been busy in the Art Room!
1st grade have made gingerbread men and Rudolph. 2nd grade has painted Christmas lights and did a drawing of Santa. 3rd graders have been working on a draw along project of a reindeer. 4th grade painted Christmas trees and did drawings of gingerbread houses. The fifth graders drew snow globes. 6th grade created snow globes with construction paper and also designed trees for a winter wonderland. 7th grade used Posca paint pens to design winter trees.
Mrs. Warren: The 5th graders have started dividing decimals by whole numbers. They learned that this is similar to dividing whole numbers, except that you do not write a remainder in the quotient. They also discovered that you may have to annex zeroes in the dividend and keep dividing. 6th grade has been rounding fractions and mixed numbers and will adding and subtracting mixed numbers with like and unlike denominators.
2nd Grade: This week, second-grade students are exploring diverse subjects. In their religion class, they explore the meaning of Advent, the Advent wreath, the significance of four candles, and ways to prepare their hearts for Jesus. In reading, the focus is on answering questions about key details, and retelling stories with emphasis on key elements. In phonics we are learning about words with -ight, - aught, and -ought. In math, the students are engaged in adding three-digit numbers. Meanwhile, in language arts, they are learning about main verbs and helping verbs.