Father, just as You sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus, help me to clear the path in my heart, too. Show me the distractions in my life that block me from all-out worship of You this Advent. Lord, I await Your coming! As I celebrate the first Advent––the first coming––I look toward the day where I will see You face to face. I imagine what it will be like. Give me a heart, Lord, that looks for Your coming on a daily basis. Help me to live my life where I'm constantly seeking Your presence. My offering to You today is my righteous life for I know I am only clean because of Jesus. Show me today how I need to be refined, purified, forgiven. Give me the strength to ask for forgiveness and to then change my ways.

Attached is the flyer that went home.

All ornaments and money in the envelope should be returned by December 17th.

Students are learning all about different countries and how they celebrate Jesus' birth.

Throughout Advent we will learn about some of these different traditions and customs.

Here are the countries for the 3rd week of Advent.

Below are some pictures of students joined together learning about the traditions.

ADVENT WEEK THREE

December 13 Sweden

On December 13th, Christians in Sweden celebrate Sankta Lucia or Saint Lucy. The youngest girl in each family dresses in a white robe with a red sash and an evergreen wreath of candles on her head. She then serves her parents Lucia buns and coffee. On Christmas they invite a lonely person to dine with them.

December 14 Kenya

Kenyans who live in big cities visit their families in the country. There they help prepare a Christmas Eve feast. After an all-night prayer and services, they eat. People in Kenya will greet each other saying, “May the Lord be born within you this Christmas.”

December 15 Haiti

In Haiti, people will clean their shoes, fill them with hay, and leave them on the porch in hopes that Papa Noel will take the straw and leave presents. Many people stay up all Christmas Eve by going to midnight services, launching fireworks, and singing carols.

December 16 Venezuela

Catholics in Venezuela start celebrating Christmas with an early morning service on December 16. Each day until December 25, firecrackers and bells call them to church. People will tie a string to their big toe and hang the other side out their window. The people roller skating to church will tug on strings to wake up their friends!

December 17 Poland

In Poland, Catholics will begin to fast on Christmas Eve day. When the first star appears in the night sky on Christmas Day, they feast on a twelve course meal; one for each apostle. They will also leave one seat open in case a stranger stops by.

Thank you!

Students might be bringing home the form to fill out to enter their poster. They may come home to work on their poster as well. If your child does not bring home the form and you would like them to create a poster, please reach out to the school office and we can get you the information and paper.

Have a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year!

As the weather gets colder, please remember appropriate coats, gloves, and hats. Once the snow hits we will also need boots and snow pants! We do try to get outside as much as possible, and we don't want any of our students to be cold. Please contact the school office if you need help with winter gear!

Holy Trinity is planning their Christmas Concert for Monday, December 20th.

We will have an afternoon concert at 1:00 P.M. and an evening concert at 5:30 P.M.

The afternoon concert will not have our 3K and 4K students performing. They will perform at the evening concert at 5:30.

There will be a few pre-concert performances beginning a half an hour prior to the concert. Ten minutes before the concert we will have the 5K students perform the Nativity for us.

Dress: Please dress nicely in Mass clothes.

School doors will open at 5:00 P.M. Please arrive between 5 and 5:15 to drop your child off and then you can find a spot to sit in church. 5K parents please watch for an email from Mrs. Simon regarding a time to be here to prepare for the Nativity.

After the concert, students will be picked up in the church basement.

Fun “Christmas Sweater” Day

All students and staff are invited to wear a fun Christmas sweater or shirt on Wednesday, December 22. Red/Green outfits are also acceptable.

Holy Trinity Catholic School is looking for adults interested in substitute teaching. If you are interested, please contact the office. We have a Substitute Teacher Handbook with information regarding substitute teaching available along with an application that can be filled out. We would love to have you come and help out!

% Positive Out: 0.0%

% Out due to quarantine: 1.31%

Please continue to closely monitor your family for symptoms of COVID. We are still seeing illnesses occurring in school.

The Holy Trinity families have been doing well in keeping kids home when ill. Please do not let up and notify us right away. We encourage you to have a negative COVID test or doctor's note when you return as there are many different illnesses occurring.

This has been our best mitigation yet! – Closely monitor, track, and isolate the situation so that it does not spread to others.

December 2nd - Doug Scannell

December 3rd - Bryn Schairer

December 6th - Macy Fleischman

December 7th - Catherine Tetzlaff

December 8th - Caitlin Rejholec

CONGRATULATIONS!

December 14th - Reconciliation Grades 3-8

December 17th - Envelopes and Money due for Operation Christmas Shoebox

December 20th - Christmas Concert, 1PM and 5:30 PM

December 22nd - Las Posadas

December 23rd- No School, Christmas Break Begins

The season of Advent provides many wonderful opportunities for families. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, which simply means "coming." There are many devotions and traditions associated with Advent that help us commemorate the coming of Jesus into the world. Many families have an Advent wreath and light candles for each Sunday in Advent. Advent calendars mark each day as we count down toward Christmas. A Christmas nativity scene may be set out, leaving the manger empty until Jesus is born on Christmas day. Another activity is having a manger that children can fill with straw as they make little sacrifices. Christmas caroling is a longstanding tradition throughout the world. All of these little things remind us of what Christmas is really about and give us an anticipation for the coming of Jesus.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel into our school, our families, and all of our hearts this Advent Season.
Our school is decorated and we have symbols of the wonderful season around the building to help us stay focused on the birth and life of Christ.

Each classroom has an advent wreath and we will pray for Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy in our classrooms and with our entire school each week. The Advent season is a great time for the children to learn about how the birth of Jesus came to be as we read in the Old and New Testament of the Bible.

Focus on Jesus keeps us directed to what is important. We are so lucky to be in a school where this focus is alive year-round but it is also such a special gift to be in school during this season. You cannot get this in all schools.

Thank you for being a part of this Christmas gift for our children, staff and families.

Blessings,

Mrs. Longden