Mercy Peek & Ponder by Mr. McGrath
Volume III Issue 20 Sunday, January 29, 2017
Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School
Email: jmcgrath@olmcatholicschool.com
Website: www.olmcatholicschool.com
Location: 29 Conwell Drive, Maple Glen, PA, United States
Phone: 215-646-0150
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-of-Mercy-Regional-Catholic-School-1427959374084742/?ref=bookmarks
From the Principal's Desk: Catholic Schools Week 2017
Over 50 years ago, the Second Vatican Council described the purpose of the Catholic school as creating “for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit … (Vatican II, “Declaration on Christian Education, 8″).”
A half-century later, the National Catholic Educational Association has as its recurring theme for Catholic Schools Week 2017, “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.”
Those three aspects of Catholic education always find their source in Jesus Christ. “Everything that happens in Catholic schools … should lead to an encounter with the living Christ (Congregation for Catholic Education, “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion, III,” 2014).” Such an encounter gives rise to faith, permeates knowledge and inspires service within the Catholic school community.
At Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School, we use our mission as a means to evangelize the young people entrusted to our care in close collaboration with parents. The family is the first Catholic school, and parents, the first and most important teachers of the Catholic faith. Our dedicated teachers and staff hand on and deepen the seeds of faith planted within the family home. Those seeds are watered and nurtured in our Catholic schools producing “fruit that will last (John 15: 16):” a community of faith, knowledge and service that reaches far beyond classroom doors.
I cannot thank parents enough for their sacrifice and trust in making Catholic education possible for their children at OLM. I cannot thank teachers and staff enough for their work and witness to all that Catholic education can and does offer. I cannot thank enough the benefactors and their generosity.
It is all of you, along with our students, who create and sustain the Catholic school communities mentioned earlier, communities animated by the Gospel and leading to Christ. I cannot imagine the Catholic Church without its schools. I hope we never have to!
With thoughts and prayers,
Mr. John C. McGrath, M.Ed.
Catholic School Week Re-Registration Incentive
In celebration of Catholic School Week, we are reducing the re-registration fee to $200 for this week only!!!
Complete the attached form and return to school.
If you are not re-registering for next year, we ask that you email or contact Julie Bebey at 215-646-0150 x113 or jbebey@olmcatholicschool.com
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2017 KICK-OFF OPEN HOUSE AND BREAKFAST
Join us for our Open House from 11AM to 1PM with a special kindergarten information session at 12PM in the library. There will be a Kick-Off Breakfast served and plenty of time to tour the school. Our celebration begins with mass at our parishes: St. Catherine of Siena – 9AM, St. Anthony of Padua – 9:15AM, and St. Alphonsus – 10:15AM.
Sunday, Jan 29, 2017, 11:00 AM
Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School, Conwell Drive, Maple Glen, PA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Upcoming Events
January 29
Catholic Schools Week Kick-Off Open House, 11AM to 1PM
January 30
Parents/Grandparents are invited to join their children for lunch:
K-3 - 11:45AM to 12:30PM; 4-8 - 12:35PM to 1:05PM.
Light refreshments will be available to our guests.
January 31
DEADLINE FOR ORDERING YEARBOOKS (see below)
Tech Tutoring for Adults, 9AM-10AM (please see brouchure)
Installation of new members into the National Junior Honor Society, 1:30PM
February 1
Faculty/Staff Appreciation Luncheon hosted by OLM Home & School, 12:05PM
School-wide Bingo, 1:30PM
February 2
Students will enjoy a fun assembly - sponsored by OLM Home & School, 9AM and 10AM
February 3
THON, 9AM-10:30AM
Faculty vs. 8th Grade Volleyball game, 10:45AM
Family Fun Bingo, 6PM to 8PM
FAMILY FUN BINGO
Date: Friday, February 3rd
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Place: OLM Cafeteria
Price: $7 per person or $25 per family
Pizza and drinks will be provided. Bring a dessert to share.
Please complete the form that was sent home today, along with your payment, by Monday, January 30th to Bea Lemanowicz c/o Bebe - 6, Mrs. Opdyke.
THON INFORMATION
When: Friday, February 3rd; 9:00am - 10:30am (Eighth grade versus teachers volleyball game - 10:45am)
Where: Gym
Who: All kindergarten through 8th grade students; Parents and families are most welcome!
If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, please donate to the weekly Wednesday mission collections or bring your donation to school during the week of January 30th. We greatly thank you for your support!
All checks can be made payable to the Four Diamonds Fund.
If you would like to make an online donation, follow the link below to access the OLM donor page: http://fourdiamonds.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1701
All students should wear their gym uniform and/or optional Mini-Thon tshirt on Friday, February 3 rd .
Reading Olympics 2017
Reading Olympians both Middle School and Elementary teams should check in with either Mrs. Marano or Mr. Smith this week for schedules.
MERCY 5K - SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017
The 5th Annual Run is scheduled for Saturday March 25, 2017. Registration is now open. Register before February 6th for early bird pricing! The homeroom class with the highest percentage of participation will receive a prize. Post race food courtesy of Fireside Bar & Grill. Happy running!
Click here for all the information:
http://www.olmcatholicschool.com/runformercy.html
From the HOME & SCHOOL
In honor of OLM's wonderful faculty and staff, please consider helping out with our appreciation luncheon scheduled for Wednesday, February 1st during Catholic Schools Week. See the link below. There are many ways to help! Thank you for all that you always do!
Class of 2017 Scholarship Awards
Gwynedd Mercy Academy:
· Megan Emmerling: Misericordia Academic
· Devon Sweeney: Trustee Academic
Mount St. Joseph Academy:
· Julia Norton: Alumnae Academic
St. Basil Academy:
· Grace Toriello: Music and Academic
· Melanie McGill: Mother Josephat Award
· Megan Emmerling: Academic
LaSalle College High School:
· Robert (Ted) Nagle : Presidential Academic
· Lucas Braccia: Principal Academic
Archbishop Wood:
· Margaret (Meg) Waltrich: Academic
· Lucas Braccia : Academic
Lansdale Catholic:
· Gavin Mook: Academic
Bishop McDevitt
· Emily Mirabelli: Lancer Academic
Neumann Academic Scholarship:
· Margaret(Meg) Waltrich: Full four-years
Total Scholarships as of 01/16/17: $253,000
Virtue of the Month: Prayer
Our virtue of the month of January is Prayer
Pope Francis says, "Prayer is very important. Never forget to pray! Nobody can tell when we are praying on the bus on in the car. We pray in silence, with the heart, so let's take advantage of these opportunities to pray."
The most important thing is to acquire the habit of prayer. It has to become a habit. Without that, we don't have an interior life; we just have an exterior life. And when all we have is an exterior life, we become anxious, restless, and that leads to greed, the inordinate love of possessing. For we end up trying to secure our own happiness and to reduce our own anxiety, and when things do not go our way in life, we become angry, impatient, irritated, we lose the peace that we long for. And when we are at that point, it means we've taken our life into our own hands. But life is not meant to be lived out of our own hands. We are meant to be carried along by God, like a baby is carried in a car seat. We are meant to be carried along by divine providence. God is in control, not us, and we have to surrender to his control. When we do so, life becomes so much more exhilarating.
St. Andre Bessette will be our model.
Prayer to St. Andre Bessette
Lord our God, friend of the lowly, you gave your servant, St. André Bessette, a great devotion to St. Joseph and a special commitment to the poor and afflicted. Through his intercession help us to follow his example of prayer and MERCY and so come to share with him in your glory. (mention your intention) We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
St. André Bessette, pray for us.
Students will be recognized at the School Liturgy on Friday, February 10, 2017.
SMART AID FOR 2017-2017 IS NOW OPEN! Click the link above to apply.
Smart Aid Information
The new ONLINE application is available. Click the Smart Aid Button above to access the application. ALL applications are due on or before 03/31/2017.
OLM SCHOOL CODE 91026
OLM families are encouraged to complete and submit and application. This application will handle all financial aid for OLM (and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia) - including BLOCS, Heritage of Faith Funds, and other scholarship opportunities - both system-wide and at OLM.
Those families who applied in 16-17 will only need to:
1. Login in ( using the username and password from 16-17) www.smartaidforparents.com
2. Update their information
3. Submit and pay the $25 application fee
4. Return to the site and upload their 2016 taxes when completed but no later than 3/31/2017.
Yearbook Orders
Believe it or not, it is already time to place your order for the 2016-2017 OLM yearbook! To order, follow the steps below:
1. Go to http://www.schoolannual.com/
2. Click on "Buy your Student's Yearbook" which is above the School Annual / Joston's logo.
3. Enter in school name, city, state, and then click "Go"
4. Enter in number of yearbooks to purchase, as well as child's homeroom / teacher and pay via credit card.
Please note that all 8th grade students DO NOT need to purchase a yearbook since it is included in graduation fees.
- All orders are due by January 31st!
BOX TOP NEWS
Don't forget that we have two Box Tops contests running. The next contest ends on February 15th, and the class with the highest total will win a doughnut or cupcake party! The end of year contest is for a class Pizza Party! The class that turns in the most Box Tops over the entire school year will win this prize in June.
Keep sending in your Box Tops every month. All Box Tops submitted count toward both contests. The holidays are a great time to look for Box Tops on products such as: Land O' Lakes butter and cheese, Hefty disposable products, Green Giant veggies, Reynolds foil baking pans, Food Should Taste Good chips, and many more! Here is a complete list http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/participating-products
Finally, don't forget about the new Box Tops app. It's as easy as checking the app after you do your grocery shopping, looking for any items that you purchased, and snapping a picture of your receipt. This page explains it well: http://www.boxtops4education.com/bonusapp. Thanks to all who have already been using it. The earnings are added to our account every time you submit your receipts!
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION...
The HSA is organizing another Teacher's Wish List. Last year, the OLM community provided so many important items to help our teachers provide the best education to our students. Please take a moment to look at this year's requests. If you are able to provide new or gently used items, please sign up!
Consider joining together with other families and don't forget about our specials teachers!
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0F48A5AC2CA0F85-teaching
When you have something ready, please contact the teacher it is for to set up the best way to get it to them!
Please contact Alison Bell, alisonL24@yahoo.com, with any questions!
We Can’t Do It Without You!
The Home and School Association sponsors a full calendar of social events, fundraisers, meetings and programs each year. Lots of volunteers are needed to help make this happen. Contact Mirella Palme at mirellapalme@verizon.net our volunteer coordinator to lend a hand!
To view a list of current volunteers and chairs/co-chairs, or to sign up as a volunteer, please https://sites.google.com/site/olmhsaweb/volunteers
Volunteer for Lunch Duty at OLM!
Two parent volunteers must be on-duty in the school yard - before the playground is open. This ensures the safety of ALL. Our active volunteer program not only provides valuable hands-on assistance through the school, but also benefits the children by reinforcing ties between the children’s individual homes as well as the community at large, and the school. The Lunch/Recess Duty Volunteer program is a great way to volunteer and become involved at the school.
Sign up for Lunch Duty at: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4daaa622a6f49-february1
Birthday Blessings this Week!
Sunday, 01/29
Matthew Warren
Monday, 01/30
Brynn Miller
Tuesday, 01/31
Haley Lewinski
Wednesday, 02/01
Thursday, 02/02
Friday, 02/03
Meredith Bauer
Saturday, 02/04
Michelle Mirabelli
ALTAR SERVICE THIS WEEK 9AM
Tuesday: Eddie Donovan
Wednesday: Timmy Barrett
Thursday: Mary McGrory
Friday: Erin Doyle