The Trojan Times
Saint Maria Goretti Catholic School February 2, 2020
Mission Statement
St. Maria Goretti is a living testament to our Lord's work in His youngest disciples, exemplified by academic excellence, spiritual formation, and compassionate service to others.
Principal's Message
Dear St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Families,
What a great Catholic Schools Week 2020 we had at SMG! Beginning last Sunday with the annual Spaghetti Dinner and Open House, then celebrating our volunteers, parents, teachers, community, and students throughout the week, it is clear that SMG is a Catholic school that is rich in tradition with a lot to celebrate. Many thanks to our parents, students, faculty, staff, priests, parishioners, and volunteers who made all of the week's events possible!
Today begins the final week to take advantage of the Early Bird Tuition rate for the 2020-2021 school year. Details, including the 2020-2021 tuition rates, were communicated via an email to parents, and a paper copy of the registration information was sent home in the Friday Folders as well. All registration and enrollment information can also be found on our website. Be sure to take advantage of the Early Bird Tuition rate by registering before February 10, 2020! As a reminder, tuition assistance is available and Father Jim and I are committed to making a Catholic education available to any family who wishes one for their child(ren). I encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Our Dinner, Dance and Auction committee is busy organizing a fantastic event! Please get your Boots and Bling together and plan to join us for the Dinner, Dance and Auction which will take place on Saturday, February 15, 2020 beginning at 6PM in the Holy Family Life Center. The Dinner Dance is not only one of the school's largest fundraisers of the year, it is a lot of fun!! Tickets can be purchased online at https://smgschool.org/dinner-dance (also see info below or school website). We look forward to seeing all of you there!
Finally, this Friday, February 7th is an Early Dismissal Day as faculty/staff will be attending an inservice in the afternoon. Dismissal will be at 12PM (instead of 12:15PM). SMEED will be available until 6PM but there will be NO lunch service, so please be sure that if your child is staying for SMEED that he/she has a lunch.
Enjoy the rest of this Super Bowl Sunday!
St. Maria Goretti, Pray for Us!
Blessings,
Laura Behee, M.Ed.
Principal
FEBRUARY VIRTUE: CHEERFULNESS – Looking on the bright side
Cheerfulness is the virtue that helps us to be joyful, even when times are hard. God loves us and wants us to be truly happy. We can think and act in a way this is gloomy, forgetting God, and dragging ourselves and others down or we can count our blessings, praise God for His goodness, and lift everyone up toward Him. So make the choice to be joyful in the Lord and spread hope through joy!
There are many saints who exemplified the virtue of cheerfulness. Three who we are going to be learning about this month are:
Saint John Bosco: Feast Day – January 31 – As a child, Saint John Bosco gathered other boys his age on Sundays after Mass to tell them Bible stories and do magic tricks, or walk on a tightrope, or juggle for them. When he grew older, John Bosco founded the Salesian Order of priests to help homeless boys have a safe home and learn a trade. He asked the boys to say three Hail Marys every night so that the Blessed Mother would keep them away from sin. The boys loved to listen to Saint John Bosco. They knew he loved them. He would organize games for them and make sure they had time to play. He encouraged the boys to be like Jesus in everything they did, whether they were working, praying, studying, or playing.
Saint Philip Neri: Feast Day – May 26– Philip Neri was known as “Pippo buono”, or “good little Phil,” because he was a cheerful, thoughtful boy and well-liked. Philip’s cheerfulness helped others remain hopeful and faithful. When he was a young man and was about to move away from home, it was his cheerfulness and his faith that gave his sisters hope that everything would be right, even with him leaving.
As an adult, he used his sense of humor and his friendliness to gain the attention of passersby and helped them give up their careless ways of life to follow Christ. Philip inspired his friends to serve the sick in the hospitals and to pray. His heart burned and expanded with love for God and others. He often asked, “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?”
In 1551 he was ordained a priest. He often heard Confessions, and helped many people with his wisdom, warmth, and compassion. Saint Philip kept a Bible and a joke book by his bed. He hung a little sing on his door that said “The House of Christian Mirth.” He said, “Christian joy is a gift from God flowing from a good conscience.” Many came to know Christ through the cheerfulness of Saint Philip Neri.
Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro: Feast Day – November 23 – Miguel Pro was the oldest son of a large Mexican family. He was a lively youth, gifted at mimicking voices of his family, friends, and neighbors, and at putting on dramas. He loved to tease his brothers and sisters and to play practical jokes on his family. Yet he was kind and sensitive to others’ feelings too. He never used his humor to hurt others, but only to make them laugh.
At the age of 20, he felt God calling him to become a Jesuit priest. When he had been at the seminary for only a few months, the government began to persecute the Church in Mexico, closing schools and taking church properties. Miguel and the other seminarians were worried about their families and were very homesick. The novice master asked Miguel to cheer everyone up by organizing hikes, dramas, picnics, feast day parties, and other activities. Eventually the government closed the seminary and the Jesuit novices had to flee in disguise and complete their training abroad.
After being ordained in Belgium, Father Miguel Pro returned to Mexico in the midst of a changing government. The constitution made practicing the Catholic faith illegal, but Father Pro was fearless and went all over Mexico City helping the poor, saying Mass, and hearing Confessions. With bravery as well as humor, he put all of his talents of mimicry and costume to use, evading the police who were searching for him, and often daring to make fools of them in ways they did not even realize.
Over time, Catholics in Mexico were tired of seeing their priests shot and their churches closed, and they began to fight for their religious freedom. In October 1927, two Catholic men tried to assassinate a high government official. They were captured, and because the car they were driving had formerly belonged to Miguel Pro’s brother, Miguel and two of his brothers were arrested. The men who had planned the attack confessed and swore the Pro brothers had not been involved. The government would not believe them, though, and in addition, found out that Miguel Pro was a priest. Without a trial, all five men were condemned to death. Blessed Miguel was led before the firing squad. The government had invited reporters, thinking the Church would be embarrassed by a coward’s death. Instead, Blessed Miguel walked by the soldiers, who were going to shoot him, and said, “I forgive you and I will pray for your families.” He asked to kneel and pray, and calmly did so. He refused blindfold, stretched out his arms as if on a cross, with a rosary in one hand and a little cross in the other. As they shot him, he yelled out, “Viva Cristo Rey!” Viva Cristo Rey!”
UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
SMG Spiritwear Store Closes at 11:59PM Tonight
Our SMG Spiritwear Store is open until 11:59 p.m. today, Sunday, February 2nd. Items will be delivered to school and sent home on Wednesday, February 12th.
Link for ordering:
Get Your 2020 Dinner, Dance & Auction Tickets Today!
The Annual SMG Dinner, Dance and Auction is Saturday, February 15, 2020! Purchase your tickets today by visiting https://smgschool.org/dinner-dance!
If you have questions about volunteering or just want to learn more about Dinner Dance, please contact Kathy Knowles at this corrected email address:
817-240-2119
Community Day: Collecting Items for Cook Children's Hospital
As members of the Body of Christ, we are called to help those in need. We are hosting a drive to help support Cook Children’s Hospital.
The drive will run from Thursday, January 23, 2020 until February 6, 2020.
Our overall school goal is for each student to donate an item to the drive. We would like to encourage the students to make the donation from their own pocket if possible, to acknowledge the gift of health and blessings that God has blessed them. The following are items that are needed at Cook at this time.
Lego sets
Fisher Price Medical Kits
Fisher Price “Little People” toys and dolls
Action figures (Super Heroes, Transformers, etc…)
Playing cards
Infant board books
Infant rattles
Travel size deodorants, toothpastes, shampoo, conditioner and body wash
Fiskar scissors
Ultra Fine Sharpies
School Glue
Stretched Canvas and boards
Playdoh
Adult Coloring Books and Journals
“It’s not how much we give-but how much love we put into giving.”-
Mother Teresa
World Read Aloud Day and the SMG 28-Day Read Aloud Challenge
On Friday, January 31st, we celebrated World Read-Aloud Day 2020 which actually takes place this year on February 5th. What is World Read-Aloud Day? Every year on World Read-Aloud Day, children, teens, and adults across the U.S. and in more than 100 countries worldwide celebrate the power of words by reading aloud and sharing stories to promote literacy. At SMG, students celebrated by "dropping everything and reading" and listening to stories being read aloud.
We also used this day to kick-off our second annual St. Maria Goretti Catholic School 28-Day Read-Aloud Challenge! We are challenging students to read aloud for at least 10 minutes each day during the month of February. Students can read to anyone: a sibling, a parent, a grandma, a stuffed animal…..the point is to READ!! All students who complete the challenge will be eligible to win prizes during our Morning Assembly on March 5th.
More information about World Read Aloud Day and how to participate in the 28-Day Read-Aloud Challenge, including the 28-Day Read Aloud Calendar, was sent home in the Friday Folders and can also be found at the following links.
https://smgschool.org/documents/2019/1/28%20Day%20Read%20Aloud%20Challange%20Calendar.pdf
https://smgschool.org/documents/2020/1/28%20Day%20Read%20Aloud%20Challenge%20Directions%202020.pdf
Read Aloud Resources:
Valentine Grams on Sale Now!
The Student Council is running a fundraiser for Valentine’s Day. We are selling Valentine grams for $1 each. The grams are tags that will be delivered on Friday, February 14. Along with each gram, there will be a rainbow twist lollipop. If you would like to purchase a gram for your student, please return the form (that was sent home in the Friday Folders) along with the necessary information (Student’s name, grade, and a personal message of your choice). The deadline for sending in orders is Wednesday, February 12th.
Additional order forms are available at the Front Office or at the following link:
https://smgschool.org/documents/2020/1/Valentine%20Gram%20Tags.pdf
Chess Club Starting Soon!
The SMG Chess Club will begin on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 3:30-4:00PM in the 5th-8th Science Room. Space is limited to 20 participants and is open to all 5th-8th Grade students. Sign up at:
Rubik's Cube Club
Sign up at the following link https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D45A8AC2FABFD0-rubik
There is Still Time to Join the SMG Running Club
It is not too late to join the SMG Running Club.
These are the official Thursday dates that Running Club will meet:
- Feb. 6, 13, 20
- Mar. 5, 19, 26
- April 2, 23, 30
- May 7, 14
Running Club Information Flyer: https://ec-prod-sites.s3.amazonaws.com/12396/documents/2020/1/Running%20Club%20Flyer%202019%202-1.pdf
Running Club Sign-Up Form: https://ec-prod-sites.s3.amazonaws.com/12396/documents/2020/1/Running%20Club%20sign-up%20form%202019%202-1.pdf
Girls of Grace
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REMINDERS
The 2019-2020 Annual Fund
The St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Annual Fund is essential to help fill the gap between tuition and operating expenses. The school’s 2019-2020 Annual Fund helps provide funding for many of the school’s most pressing needs such as academic enhancements, security improvements and updates, professional development for our teachers, and general operating expenses.
Please, prayerfully consider supporting our school through the 2019-2020 Annual Fund. Donations can be made by check (payable to SMG Catholic School), or online by visiting https://smgschool.org/give-now. Every gift counts!
Remember to Keep Collecting Those BoxTops!
Rainy Day Morning Drop Off Procedure--Addendum to the Family Handbook
You talked, we listened! Inclement weather, especially the torrential downpours we experienced last week, make morning drop-off in the back of the school especially difficult and confusing. In an effort to not only clarify, but more importantly for the safety of our students, we have made a change to the morning drop-off procedure during severe, rainy weather. Please follow the link below for specifics and a map outlining the procedure change. This information can also be found on the school website and will be included in next year's Family Handbook.
SMG Alumni and Former Student News
Calling all St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Alumni and Former Students!!
Mark Tompkins, SMG class of '73 along with Tom Moore, class of '67; Janey Morrow Wright, class of '64, Pru Vader Brett, class of '57, Pam Fields Webb, class of '69, Dave Tompkins, class of '82 and Laura Perez, class of ‘81 are on a mission to get all 2,500+ SMG Alumni and former students together to celebrate!
St. Maria Goretti School's 65th Anniversaryfor our HOMECOMING
Saturday, March 28, 2020.
6:30PM- 9:00PM
Holy Family Life Center
Laura Perez is SMG Catholic School’s new Development Coordinator and our Alumni Liaison for the SMG School.
Over the years, school records have been lost and we are without contact information for many of our alumni and former students. For you to have received this newsletter, we have your current email address and we are asking your help in contacting as many of our alumni and former students as possible, so we can update our records.
First and most important, please provide your full contact info to: www.smgschool.org/alumni.
Then please forward this newsletter to your classmates, siblings, and SMG friends and ask them to also provide their contact info to: www.smgschool.org/alumni.
We look so forward to hearing from you! Your help in our mission to contact all the former students and getting together for our 65th Homecoming on March 28, 2020 is valuable to carry on our SMG tradition.
Should you have any questions and/or want to join our committee, please contact Mark Tompkins metntex@yahoo.comand/or Janey Morrow Wright jawright44@aol.com.
Nolan Catholic High School Happenings
Online Application is Open
New Student Tuition Assistance Application is NOW OPEN
The application for returning students opened December , 2019. Learn More.
Spring Preview
Nolan Catholic High School would like to invite all prospective families, transfer students, and 6th-8th-grade families to our Spring Preview on Friday, March 20, 2020. Families interested in learning more about the admissions process and tuition assistance are encouraged to join us. This two hour event will run from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. beginning in the NCHS Auditorium. Hear from Nolan Catholic Administration, current NCHS families and students, enjoy a campus tour, and leave with a better understanding of why Nolan Catholic is the right educational choice.
Please contact admissions@nchstx.org to schedule a family tour, or for more information.
LAST WEEK AT SMG.....
Celebrating 100 Days of School: PreK 4 and Kindergarten
Catholic Schools Week: Volunteer Appreciation Day
First Rubik's Cube Meeting
The first Rubik's Cube Club meeting was held during lunch Monday. Students practiced learning the center pieces, edge pieces, faces, and moves. They were given a 3x3 cube and a solution guide to take home to help them practice. The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik, a Hungarian architect, who wanted a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry.
Catholic Schools Week: Parent Appreciation Day
Household Mass
Catholic Schools Week: Teacher Appreciation Day
Catholic Schools Week: Community Appreciation Day - Cooks Children's Hospital Donations
4th Grade Invention Convention
SMG students were invited to attend the Invention Convention hosted by Mrs. Shump's fourth grade science classes. Exhibits included ideas such as a heated backpack, electric circle, dent protector, and back sponge. We were all so impressed with the creativity displayed by these 4th grade entrepreneurs.
Today in Faith Families We.......
Introduced the virtue of Cheerfulness
Discussed the Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy
Discussed Cook Children’s service project
Colored a Works of Mercy Place mat
Worked with our Faith Family to make a fleece blanket/throw that will be donated to Mission Arlington
World Read-Aloud Day - DEAR (Drop Everything And Read)
SMG celebrated World Read-Aloud Day 2020 by "dropping everything and reading". Two drawings were held during reading time and lucky winners received gift cards to Half-Priced Books, plus a goodie bag filled with books! Congratulations to our winners:
- Liam C.; PreK-4
- Isaac N.; 1st Grade
- Steven G.; 3rd Grade
- Ellen S.; 4th Grade
- Illia L.; 6th Grade
- Donald F.; 7th Grade
1st Grade DEAR
Catholic Schools Week: Student Appreciation Day
Around the World Yoyo Entertainment presented the “School is Cool” show during our Student Appreciation Day assembly!
The entertainer was not only great with the yoyo; he is also a successful and experienced communicator. He took the students on a learning journey using the yoyo and other fun activities to communicate the importance of school.
For five days following the assembly, yoyos will be available for students to purchase. There are three types of high quality yoyos in a variety of colors, with prices ranging from $8-$16. Order forms to purchase yoyos were sent home in Friday folders and are also available at the front desk and by visiting the following link.
https://smgschool.org/documents/2020/1/Yoyo%20Letter%20%20Order%20Form.pdf
8th Grade vs. Faculty Volleyball Game: 8th Grade Victors!
HALLWAY HAPPENINGS
6th Grade Create Student Names Using Hieroglyphics
Egyptian hieroglyphic script was one of the writing systems used by ancient Egyptians to represent their language. Because of their pictorial elegance, Herodotus and other important Greeks believed that Egyptian hieroglyphs were something sacred, so they referred to them as ‘holy writing’. Thus, the word hieroglyph comes from the Greek hiero ‘holy’ and glypho ‘writing’. In the ancient Egyptian language, hieroglyphs were called medu netjer, ‘the gods’ words’ as it was believed that writing was an invention of the gods.
The script was composed of three basic types of signs: logograms, representing words; phonograms, representing sounds; and determinatives, placed at the end of the word to help clarify its meaning. As a result, the number of signs used by the Egyptians was much higher compared to alphabetical systems, with over a thousand different hieroglyphs in use initially and later reduced to about 750 during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE). https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Hieroglyphs/
Pre K 3
2nd Grade Prepares for First Reconciliation
Spanish Class - Me Gusta Comer... (I Like to Eat...)
Line of Symmetry
Middle Ages - Illuminated Letters
After studying about the middle ages, SMG 7th grade students tried their hands at illuminated letters.
For over a thousand years, and throughout the Christian world, scribes and artists embellished and illustrated biblical manuscripts in order to adorn and elaborate the sacred text. The most sumptuous works that they produced are now described as ‘illuminated’, meaning that they are enhanced by the application of gold or silver and painted or drawn decoration. In the early medieval period, most scribes and illuminators were monks or clerics. In the later Middle Ages, these activities were taken over, generally, by commercial lay scribes and artists.https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/biblical-illumination
1st Grade Dioramas
School Website Under Construction
Pardon our reconstruction.....we are in the process of cleaning up and updating the school website. This is a work in progress, and we ask for your patience as we work to improve the site. In the meantime, if you are unable to find information you are looking for on the website, please feel free to call the office.
Calendar Notes
- Monday, 2/3: Rubik Cube Club Meeting Lunch/Recess; Ceceilian Singers 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA2nd-8th Spelling 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA 4th-8th On-Site Drawing
- Tuesday, 2/4: PSIA 6th/7th Reading Writing 3:30-4:15PM
- Wednesday, 2/5: Geography Bee 1:30PM; PSIA 2nd/3rd Math 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA 4th/5th Math 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA 1st/2nd Creative Writing 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA 4th-6th Maps, Graphs & Charts 3:30-4:15PM
- Thursday, 2/6: Running Club (weather permitting) 3:30-4:15PM PSIA 6th-8th Math 3:30-4:15PM; PSIA 3rd-5th Ready Writing
- Friday, 2/7: Early Dismissal at 12:00PM today! SMEED will be available until 6PM, but NO LUNCH SERVICE, so be sure your child has a lunch.
- Saturday, 2/8: 1st Reconciliation - 2nd Grade
- Wednesday, 2/12: Deadline for ordering Valentine Grams
- Friday, 2/14: Jr. High Valentine Dance: 6th-8th Grades, Semi-formal attire; 6:30-8:30PM, cafetorium
- Saturday, 2/15: Dinner Dance and Auction: Boots and Bling 6:00PM in the HFLC
Need Prayers?
We all do!! The St. Maria Goretti Catholic School Community would love to pray for you and your intentions. Please send all prayer requests to: smgprays4u@smgschool.org.
Meet Our Priests!
St. Maria Goretti Parish Website: https://www.smgparish.org/
Fr. Jim Angert, T.O.R.
Fr. Mike Ciski, T.O.R.
Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth
Serving the North Texas Catholic community by providing the faithful opportunities to grow in Christian discipleship and strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
St. Maria Goretti Catholic School
Email: development@smgschool.org
Website: https://smgschool.org
Location: 1200 South Davis Drive, Arlington, TX, USA
Phone: (817)275-5081
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMariaGorettiArlington/