St. Mike's Matters - Thursday Notes
April 12, 2018 Issue #25
Dear St. Michael Families,
Happy Easter! I wish you a blessed and peace-filled Easter season. It was truly heart-warming to see the palpable Easter joy on the faces of our students this week as they returned to their St. Michael family after our break. Our students truly returned happy, rested, and ready to get back to the joyous work of learning and growing at our school.
I am pleased to share our accreditation visiting team’s Report of Findings with you. This is the official report to the WCEA regarding our accreditation status. After thoroughly studying and analyzing all aspects of our school, our visiting team concluded that we are a highly effective school “centered on the Gospel values and focused on the high achievement of all students.” I invite you to read through the Report of Findings (linked below) and share this good news with all!
The church renovation is underway and we are ready to host Sunday Masses at 10 AM and 5 PM in our school gym. This is such an exciting moment for our parish and I am thrilled that we will be able to celebrate Mass in the gym! It will be wonderful to invite our parishioners into our gym to worship over the next several months. Due to the church remodel we will not be celebrating Mass each Friday as a school. Please be sure to mark your calendars to join us for Friday Mass in the gym on May 4th for May Crowning and on June 8th for our graduation Mass. Click here for a video message from Fr. Jim with a renovation update and a reminder about the new Mass times.
Our S.M.A.R.T. Gala, “Cinco on the Sand”, is just around the corner! A special thanks to our fabulous chair, Vicky Byrd, and co-chair, Mrs. Quebedeaux, for their amazing vision and leadership of this event. It has been such a joy for me to see just how many parents are engaged in the preparations for this night of stewardship and community building. Please register for the gala and join us as we celebrate our family of families and build for the future of our school. I am very excited about our Fund-A-Need: creative seating solutions throughout the school! These innovative seating enhancements will allow us to build upon our efforts towards meeting the needs of all students by addressing the diversity of learning styles in our classrooms. Mrs. Quebedeaux and I are working with the teachers to finalize classroom by classroom plans and the full details will be shared prior to the gala.
Please join us this upcoming Tuesday, April 17th for our spring PTSA General Meeting.
The meeting will be held at 6 PM in the Multipurpose Room. Childcare will be available in the gym.
I have some very sad news to share, and a request for prayers. Fr. Michael Wagner, former parochial vicar at our parish, collapsed on Tuesday morning while celebrating Mass at Visitation in Tacoma. He is in the hospital and has suffered an irreversible brain hemorrhage. His family is with him now, including his brother who flew in from Poland. Please hold Fr. Michael and his family closely in your prayers.
Blessings,
Connor Geraghty
Principal
CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK
Monday - 4/16 - MMO 2nd Grade
Tuesday - 4/17 - Principal for the Day - Delaney Kapust
PTSA Meeting 6:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room
(childcare provided in the school gym)
Thursday - 4/19 - PTSA "Minute to Win It" 5:30 in the school gym
Friday - 4/20 - Passport Club check day
Congratulations to the Science Fair Winners!
Thank you everyone for a very successful Science Fair. We are particularly impressed that 100% of the students were ready to show off their work at the Wednesday Open House and Science Fair. We are very proud of all our students who put forth their best effort for our families, friends, fellow students, and guests. The endless hours that you spent working on your projects were really evident for all to see.
We received almost 300 People’s Choice Award votes. It was very impressive how many votes everyone received, demonstrating just how good everyone’s projects turned out. Everyone should be proud of your accomplishments and especially proud of the top picks in each grade. Congratulations to Carl Butterfield and Claudia Horton from 8th grade; Stefan Foley and Ava Herman from 7th grade; and Mason Shelton, Betty Roberts, and Connor Horton from 6th grade.
The Science medals will be given at the next MMO. Beaker is proud of you!
Snohomish Ride to Defeat ALS to support Fr. Jim, Team Saint Michael, and ALS research and patient support.
Please pull out your bike and join your friends and parishioners in the Snohomish Ride to Defeat ALS to support Fr. Jim, Team Saint Michael, and ALS research and patient support.
The ride is on July 28th and takes place on the Snohomish County Centennial Trail - safe, paved, and accessible! You can choose from three routes: 23, 48, and 65 miles - and you can cheer us on without riding if you want to simply support the team with a donation (any amount is appreciated).
We've put the team together as a concrete way to show our support for Fr. Jim and all those impacted by this devastating disease. By raising money and awareness we move closer towards a treatment and a cure. Please join Team Saint Michael or make a donation to our team as we all work together to defeat ALS. Follow the link to sign up to ride or support our Team Saint Michael on the ride. All the information and FAQs are on our team website, as well as a list of team members. See you on the ride!
http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Endurance/Evergreen?team_id=366959&pg=team&fr_id=13030
School Fees and Stewardship Hours Reminder
We have several Stewardship forms that have no names attached to them. Contact the school office if you think one of these belong to you.
Parish Stewardship Opportunity
We did it! We sold $25,000 in SCRIP in March!
Thank you to everyone that purchased SCRIP gift cards in the month of March! Since we reached our goal of $25,000 the faculty will play an exhibition basketball game with students from all grades. We will let you know when the game will be.
Go Spartans!
To buy gift cards through SCRIP:
-Stop by the office
-Send an order form (pink sheet) and check through the purple Thursday Notes envelope
-Set up on online account at ShopWithScrip.com
We are also teaming up with the S.M.A.R.T. Auction to make it easy for you to meet your $150 S.M.A.R.T. Auction procurement requirement.
We have posted brightly colored PRE-FILLED procurement forms on the window across the hall from the office. All you need to do is to take off the form of your choosing, bring it to the office, and pay the pre-determined dollar amount. It's that easy!
You are invited! Please RSVP by April 20th!
Your invitation to the 2018 S.M.A.R.T. Gala and Auction "Cinco on the Sand" was sent home last week in your purple envelope. You can RSVP by simply returning your RSVP in your purple envelope with your payment or you can RSVP and pay online at: https://stmikesolympia.ejoinme.org/cincoonthesand2018
Please RSVP no later than April 20th - thank you!
Reminders:
- Check out the window across the hall from the office where we have posted brightly colored ALREADY FILLED OUT procurement forms! All you need to do is to take off the form of your choosing, bring it to the office, and pay the pre-determined dollar amount. It's that easy!
- Amazon Wishlist - Shop off of our Amazon Wishlist for an easy and quick way to meet your $150 procurement requirement.
Please contact Vicky Byrd at smartauction@stmikesolympia.org if you have any questions.
Thanks so much for your support!
New event signups now open for the S.M.A.R.T. Gala and Auction - May 5th
Clean up crew gets double hours!
Thank you!
*** SPARTAN PTSA News ***
Spring Spartan PTSA Meeting - Tuesday, April 17th at 6 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room
Childcare will be provided in the school gym
Please come to hear about this year’s Spartan PTSA efforts, a presentation by Mr. Geraghty regarding the school’s recent accreditation, and for Vicky Byrd to energize us with S.M.A.R.T. Gala details!
Bring a bottle of wine, valued at $15 or higher, to the meeting you will be entered in a drawing for a $100 Safeway Gift Card!
Minute to Win It! Thursday April 19th - THIS IS AN EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Minute to Win It and Pizza Dinner—
Thursday, April 19th 5:30 in the school gym.
Please get your form and money turned in by the 13th and come ready to have some FUN!
Also, please write your name on the form (even through a spot wasn’t provided).
Bingo Night is back on! Wednesday May 9th
Play Ball! Saturday June 2nd
Box Tops-
Congrats to 1st Grade for winning the 2nd Trimester Box Top Contest! Keep feeding your Box Tops to Bob because another treat will be award at the end of the school year.
School Commission Corner
The St. Michael School Commission is consultative and advisory in nature. Members meet once a month to advise and support Mr. Geraghty and Fr. Jim as they (Mr. Geraghty and Fr. Jim) form school policies to support the ongoing growth of our parish school. The St. Michael School Commission collaborates with the Pastoral Council and the Parish Finance Council and has liaisons from these councils attending the meetings.
Last evening, the St. Michael School Commission held their seventh meeting of the year.
The meeting focused on the following topics:
· A principal’s report featuring highlights and updates from around the school (including school finance, tuition assistance, curriculum, enrollment, hiring, and the church renovation)
· A S.M.A.R.T. Gala update
· A review of the accreditation visiting team’s Report of Findings
Edge on Sunday night is a big night!
Edge on Sunday is a big night! We will be talking about original Sin and how its affects us.Please join us in the Multi-purpose room after 5pm Mass in the gym.
Please keep the 8th graders in your prayers as we have a day long retreat at Sacred Heart.
Also, YMP applications are due on Sunday the 15th! Please be sure to mail or drop them off at the Parish center.
Youth Migrant Project
Youth Migrant Applications are here!
YMP is the week of August 12-18th in Skagit Valley, Washington. Applications are due by April 15th with a $100 deposit. Any applications that are received after this date will automatically be put on a waiting list.
If you are interested in helping, please fill out this application. This year, I will choose 20 middle Schoolers and 3 High Schoolers to help. Parents are encouraged to volunteer their time, as this truly is a family-run mission.
You can return this application to me via email or by dropping it off/mailing it to the Church:
1208 11th Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501.
Blessings,
Anna Swanson
Saint Michael Parish
Steward of EDGE & Campus Ministry
(360) 292-7137
St. Michael Parish School - a Family of Families
Email: connect@stmikesolympia.org
Website: www.stmikesolympia.org
Location: 1204 11th Avenue Southeast, Olympia, WA, United States
Phone: 360-754-5131
Facebook: facebook.com/St.MichaelParishSchoolOlympia