St. Mary's Catholic School
School Newsletter: October 26 - 30
Halloween is coming soon! Did you know there are so many amazing Catholic connections to Halloween?
Sunday Gospel, reflection and prayer
Gospel reading:
Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Reflection: Love the Lord. . . . Love your neighbor. (Matthew 22:37, 39)
What a rough day! From the start, Jesus had to contend with groups of religious leaders trying to trip him up. First came the chief priests and scribes, then some Pharisees, followed by some Sadducees, followed by even more Pharisees. And all the while, Jesus was trying to preach to the people—including “the blind and the lame”—who had gathered around him (Matthew 21:14).
How ironic! Jesus faced a parade of dignitaries trying to trap him instead of asking how they could better care for the people surrounding him. Their very actions showed how blind they were to what it really meant to love God (Jesus) or their neighbor (the people). Of course, we shouldn’t single them out as especially evil or misguided. We can all point to times when we have overlooked opportunities to love, even when they are staring us in the face.
Why would that be? Part of the reason is that we may have a narrow definition of Jesus’ command to love. We might tend to reduce loving God to attending Mass or getting our prayer times in—walled-off situations that are limited in time and not very demanding. As for loving our neighbor, we can fall into the trap of deciding for ourselves who our “neighbor” is. Maybe he’s our husband but not the coworker who rubs us the wrong way. Maybe she’s our sister but not the in-law who is always offering her advice, whether we want it or not.
Jesus came to expose the indifference that lies at the heart of our failures to love. But he didn’t stop there. He also overcame it as only he could: by pouring himself out in love for us. May we take up his example and pour ourselves out as well.
Prayer:“Jesus, teach me to love all my neighbors.” Amen +
This week we said farewell to Mrs. Fronde Dubuc who will be moving over as secretary at St. Martin's and we welcomed Mrs. Pauline Halina who will be taking on Mrs. Dubuc's role as Library Tech. and Secretary. We are so blessed to have Mrs. Halina joining us and we wish Mrs. Dubuc all the very best of God's blessings in her new role!
Parent Council - Mask Fundraiser is coming!
Parent Council is pleased to announce our Mask fundraiser!
As you can see from the photos, there are two main styles available.
The mask with a logo on only one side can be customized with student initials or sports number, phrase, etc..
There are preset phrases to make it easier and also so there will be no mistakes on last names.
Available phrases/personalizations:
-Go Saints
-Volleyball
-Basketball
-Badminton
-Sports Number
-Initials
The website is tubmasks.com for information about ordering, sizing, and style - the cost will be $14.99 each plus $2 for shipping. More information and order form will be posted soon!
Upcoming Dates:
October 30 - Halloween - dress up in appropriate costumes for our Covid-protocol following Halloween costume celebration (get points for wearing a costume!) and there will also be some activities and decorations! Spooky!
Looking Ahead
November 3- Parent-Teacher-Student interviews to be held after school via phone or videocall from 3:00 - 9PM. A Link to the sign up through the school interviews website will be sent out soon.
November 5 - School Awards - held at school class by class to follow AHS protocol - pictures of winners will be made available on our social media and via the newsletter.
November 6 - Remembrance Day Ceremony held on class by class basis / virtually.
November 8 - Catholic Education Sunday
November 9 - 13 - Fall Break - School closed to students.
November 18 - 1:30 - 2:30 - School Picture retakes and pictures for any online students
November 18 - 6PM - Parent Council Meeting (Virtual)
November 26 - ELAA Virtual Post Secondary Fair (meet virtually with 28 institutions from across the province to gather info and ask questions) time TBA
Important information about Diploma exams (Grade 12) and Provincial Achievement Tests (Grade 9)
Diploma Exams
As you likely have already heard via social media and the news, Alberta Education is providing students and parents with the option of choosing if they write their diploma exams for the November 2020 administration. Here at St. Mary's we do not have any students writing November diploma exams.
At this time, diploma exam administrations for the balance of the 2020/21 school year are expected to proceed as usual. Alberta’s government will continue to monitor the situation and potential adjustments to future diploma exam administrations will be considered one administration at a time.
Our students will still move forward as originally planned for the January writing of diplomas unless we are directed otherwise by the Alberta government.
Provincial Achievement Tests
In addition to the diploma exam announcement, the decision was made that EICS will not participate in the administration of the PAT exams during the 2020-2021 school year.
It continues to be the expectation that students in Grade 6, 9 and 12 receive a final exam in each of their core courses. Although the exam may not have the same rigor and standard setting as a government exam, it is the expectation of our school and school division that the final exam be comprehensive and aligned to the programs of study.
If you have any questions regarding this updated information, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Check out some great Jr. High shop projects!
Below please find links and images of our updated AHS Covid-19 documents - both information on the stay home from school protocol and an updated screening checklist. Thank you parents and guardians for using and following this information.
Click the link below for the MHCB (Mental Health Capacity Building) October Newsletter!
Hey Students in grades 7 - 9, here is the list of upcoming AFTER HOURS events! Check it out!
Reporting Student Absences - School Messenger
Did you know that you can make these unwanted calls go away even if they are marked as unverified in error? You can! If you report your child's absence through the school messenger app, it communicates directly with the office and saves you time (and hopefully saves you some frustration too!)
Signing up is easy online through a computer and so is using the app!
Go to: https://go.schoolmessenger.ca/#/account/signup or search the app store / google play using the term "school messenger" to get started!
All you need is the email address the school has on record (the same one that we send this newsletter to will work perfectly!)
St. Martin of Tours Info
Confirmation classes start in January for April's Confirmation celebration - call the parish to sign up!
Contact
Website: https://stmy.eics.ab.ca/
Location: St Mary's Catholic School, Vegreville, AB, Canada
Phone: (780)632-3934
Twitter: @stmarys_veg