Pilgrim Lutheran School News
November 27, 2019
Happy Thanksgiving Pilgrim!
Today, November 27: Pilgrim dismisses school at 11:45; NO PAS. Please collect your child(ren) at 11:45
November 28-29: Pilgrim offices closed for Thanksgiving Break
December 6: Santa’s Workshop
- Deadline for monetary donations to Toy Drive
- Mrs. Gates’ Homeroom sings for Pilgrim Seniors Holiday Party
December 7: Holiday decoration of Church and Church grounds, 9:30 a.m.
December 8: Dad’s Pancake Breakfast; Greenery Sale Pick-Up
December 10: Winter Band Concert. Pilgrim Band performs at Agassiz School.
December 13: Pilgrim 1/2 Homeroom and 7/8 Elves visit Pablo Casals School
December 18: Christmas Service Dress Rehearsal at 9:00 a.m.
December 19: PM Pre-Kindergarten Christmas Service at 2:00 p.m.
- Christmas Service at 7:00 p.m. Students arrive/Church Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
December 20: Christmas Break starts at 11:45; NO PM Pre-K; NO PAS today
The Pilgrim Season of Giving is upon us
Thank you to everyone who was able to contribute to Coat Angels. This project is a great way to help others in the cold and snow of a Chicago winter. So far, we have collected $890 and a huge mountain of coats. Special thanks to Lori Kraft Shores for coordinating the project for both school and church. Today is the last day to make a coat contribution. If you would like to make a monetary donation, go to the donation page of the Pilgrim Church website, www.pilgrimchurchandschool.org .
If you missed the Coat Angels appeal, there is still time to contribute to the Pilgrim Toy Drive. On Friday, December 13, Ms. Stone’s 1st & 2nd Grade homeroom, accompanied by select elves from the 7th and 8th Grades, have a play date at Pablo Casals School of Excellence, where they will share the toys collected. If you want to purchase a toy, look for something appropriate for ages 4-8, any gender; nothing too large or small; for an average of $15 per toy. If you would rather leave the shopping to others, donations are being accepted in the school office or can be made on-line on the Pilgrim Church donation page. Donations are being accepted through the end of next week.
Pilgrim Global Read Aloud
Mrs. Tighe’s English/Language Arts classes are engaged in a global read-aloud. The 4th Grade book is Front Desk by Kelly Yang; the 5th Grade book is The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman. Fourth and Fifth Grade Students all over the world are reading about the young people in these books. Pilgrim students not only make connections with other text they know, but they also are in communication with students around the world reading the same book. The discussion is lively, and the postcards received opens a world of ideas to our students. If you would like more information about Global Read-Aloud, go to https://theglobalreadaloud.com/. Students at all grade levels can participate and the recommended books are awesome!
Pilgrim Sports
Pilgrim 5/6 Basketball is playing great! Pilgrim Boys and Girls teams played in the St. John’s Tournament last weekend, and Boys took the 3rd Place trophy; Girls placed 4th . Both Boys and Girls played again at St. John’s for a regular set of games on Monday, December 2. Boys play Grace Christian Academy at St. Paul’s/Austin on December 5. Both teams play in the St. Philip Tournament, the weekend of December 5-7. Come out and cheer on the teams! Thanks to Boys Coach Carl Doerfler and Todd Zima, and Girls Coaches Glenn Williams and Jim Volkens. GO WILDCATS!!!
BOE
Pilgrim School Board meets Tuesday, December 3. This is a change from what is stated in the PTL Calendar. The main topic for discussion is tuition and fees for 2020-2021 school-year. Thanks to all our parents for using Smart Tuition! Our reports for tuition income have been spot on!! If you have any questions about School Board, please contact Principal Comella or School Board Chair Bianka Hardin.
PTL News
Pilgrim Parent-Teacher League is planning for events through the Winter and into Spring.
- If you have not paid for your greenery purchases, you may drop a check in the School Office or pay at pick-up on December 8.
- Additional greenery items are for sale on December 8, but supply is limited.
- PTL hosts a cookie and treat reception after the Christmas service on December 19. All are welcome to contribute.
- And, planning for a Winter Family Night Event has begun. PTL is changing the concept of a “Winter Carnival” into something a little different. If you have ideas for some new games or activities, please let Shellie Riedle, Alison Hays or any of the PTL Officers know. If you would like to help with party in January, please contact Shellie or Alison.
Coat Angels
Final Call, Angels! You have until December 1st to donate to Pilgrim’s annual coat drive on behalf of Coat Angels. If you would like to make a monetary donation, go to the donation page of the Pilgrim Church website, www.pilgrimchurchandschool.org . Please see previous newsletters for detailed information.
Also, a special thanks to Andrew & Cooper Mueller and Joe Shores for participating in last Sunday’s “bag & sort” afternoon at Coat Angel’s sorting facility. The nonprofit is still seeking help delivering coats on December 5th and December 6th, 9 am - 3 pm. If you are interested, please contact Lori kraftlori95@gmail.com.
Staff Christmas Bonus
The PTL would like to remind you to please drop your Teacher and Staff Holiday Bonus contributions in the Office anytime before Monday, December 16th.
Shellie Riedle and Alison Hays
Co-Chairs, Pilgrim Parent Teacher League
Toy Drive
Christmas shopping already? Don't forget the Pilgrim toy drive. We need 200 toys for our partner school Pablo Casals. We can do this Pilgrim!
Our Toy Total as of today:
Girl: 17
Boy: 6
Either: 11
Total: 34
Every year for the past 15 years the Pilgrim community has helped bring Christmas joy to children at Pablo Casals Elementary School in Humboldt Park. This year we are aiming high and hope to collect enough toys for not only the 50 first graders with whom our 1st and 2nd graders will spend the afternoon but also gifts for all the Pablo Casals preschoolers, kindergartners and 2nd graders-a total of at least 200! We can reach that goal but obviously we need as much help as we can get.
Click here to see how you can help:
https://pilgrimchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Toy-Drive-2019-1.pdf
Santa's Workshop
It's almost time for Santa's Workshop to return to Pilgrim Lutheran! A long standing tradition that's lots of fun! Students will have the opportunity to pick out gifts for their loved ones on Friday, December 6th. Head Elf, Jennifer Goolsby, is working hard with her team of elves to make this another special year. More info will be sent home with the kids closer to the event. If you would like to volunteer at the workshop, please look for sign-ups sheets that will be posted on the doors leading to the lower grade classrooms the end of next week. Or email Sally Benson at sbeegirl@hotmail.com.
To help wrap the many many gifts, if you have spare tissue paper, gift bags, ribbons or plastic bags (for the kids to carry gifts home), any donations would be appreciated. Please drop them in the school office. If you have any questions, please contact jhgoolsby@gmail.com. Ho, ho ho!
Pilgrim Dad's Pancake Breakfast
Join us Sunday, December 8th for a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and more. All of this will be cooked and served by our very own Pilgrim Dads.
All proceeds will go towards Pilgrim Kids Care. Kids Care was started by our students when they felt called to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. This fund continues to help our student service learning projects today, stockings for the food pantry and our trip to Feed My Starving Children, just to name a few.
The Kiss Game, with candy kisses, will happen again this year! A fun game for kids to win prizes! Bring your coins!
When: December 8, 2019
Where: Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School - Maring Hall
What: All you can eat, suggested donation of $5 per person at the door
1st Serving at 9:00 AM & 2nd Serving at 11:30 AM.
Eat a hearty breakfast before or after the 10:30 am Worship service when Pilgrim's Gospel Kids (PK-3rd Grade) will sing. See you there Pilgrim!
Greenery Pick Up
Christmas Caroling, Hot Chocolate & Chili
Pilgrim's Christmas "FUN" draiser
Want To Get Started On Holiday Shopping??
Then please consider shopping online at
http://boonsupply.com/180646 and help support the 7th graders fundraise for Washington DC.! The items are ADORABLE and 40% of ALL purchases go to help these great kids.
Check out some samples at the school entrance and check your kids backpacks for catalogs!
Thank you,
7th Grade Parents!
Gift Cards
Christmas is Coming, the Goose is getting fat! Buy a useful gift card for Aunt or Uncle Pat!! It's the time of year when we have to start thinking about Christmas shopping and what we need to buy for whom. Pilgrim has you covered with gift cards in value from $5 Starbucks to $500 Amazon! The traditional green forms are in your mailbox or on the table in the narthex. We will be placing orders the first 3 Mondays in December with pickup the following Friday or Sunday.
Can't come in for the physical cards? Call Anne for different pickup options or use your phone to find "cards" to download in line at the store for the exact amount of your purchase, send them to others by email or print for gifting or your own use by going to www.benefit-mobile.com/causes/pilgrim-lutheran-church-and-school. Register with Pilgrim 60613, pay with your bank account or a credit card and Pilgrim benefits. Last month Pilgrim made $139 in profit from Benefit-Mobile.
Please contact Anne Barsano at 312-972-9040, cbarsano@aol.com or 773-472-6037 with any questions about additional cards available. Merry Christmas from Operation CIP!! Thank you to everyone who is using smile.amazon.com. You can sign up and all your benefits from Amazon.com will transfer to your account with smile.amazon.com.
Christmas Worship
School Christmas Service
Wednesday, December 18th, 9:00 a.m. dress rehearsal
Thursday, December 19th, 7:00 p.m. Doors open and music begins at 6:30 p.m.
Blue Christmas Service
remembering those we miss during the holidays
Saturday, December 21st, 4:00 p.m.
Worship Celebrations
Sunday, December 22nd, 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Christmas Eve Services - Tuesday, December 24th
4:00 p.m. (new earlier time) Family Candlelight
7:00 p.m. Candlelight
10:00 p.m. Candlelight
Christmas Morning Worship
Wednesday, December 25th 9:30 a.m.
Lessons and Christmas Carols
Sunday, December 29th, 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
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Thanks for all that you do to make “Academic Excellence with a Heart” a true reality!
Chris Comella, Pilgrim School Principal
Finally, if you missed the list of ways that parents can help at Pilgrim, here are some ideas:
- …in the classroom
- …in the Parent-Teacher League
- …at the Board of Education Meetings: 1st Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.
- …as part of the Marketing Team
- …as part of the Development Group
- …as part of the Technology Team: 1st Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m
- …supporting Pilgrim Fundraisers and purchasing gift cards on a regular basis
- …sharing the good news about Pilgrim with a prospective family (postcards with Open House dates are available in the school office.
Our theme for parents this school year is 100% Participation! Our success as a school and as a living, growing community depends on the reality of every family donating some time, talent and treasure, as each family is able. Thanks for your help and participation.
You are always welcome in classrooms, and I welcome your feedback and questions. Feel free to contact me (ccomella@pilgrimchicago.org) whenever something arises. If you would like to become involved in events and activities hosted by the Parent Teacher League (PTL), please contact Shellie Riedle, Alison Hays,or Staff Rep to PTL, Kristen Stone. Parents are also welcome to attend weekly chapel services. The students are always happy to see you there!
Chris Comella, Pilgrim School Principal
Pilgrim Lutheran School
Email: office@pilgrimchicago.org
Website: pilgrimchicago.org
Location: 4300 N Winchester Ave, Chicago, IL, United States
Phone: 773-477-4824
Facebook: facebook.com/pilgrimlutheranchurchandschool