Eagle's Edge
January 5th, 2024
All events including CYO games are canceled this weekend. Campus is closed.
We will see students back next Tuesday, January 16th. Stay safe and warm!
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
I would be remiss if I did not mention the man we honor over this long weekend, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. I am very hesitant to even put my own name in the same sentence as Dr. King's, other than to say that he has always been a hero to me, as well as millions of others. Recently I have been thinking about how young, how very young Dr. King was. At the time of his assassination, he was only 39-years-old. Such a colossal figure in our history did so much in his 39 years. I am 40, and as a new school leader, I feel like I'm only just beginning my career. What Dr. King accomplished was astounding.
I also can't help but think about Dr. King's work, Ruby Bridges, and the eventual ruling in Brown versus Board of Education, how the civil rights movement put in motion so much change in American schools. The Brown v. Board ruling was only a generation ago, maybe two depending on who you ask. For kids, that seems ancient like history but Ruby Bridges is only 68 today. We can ask our parents and grandparents about their memories and how that decision changed America. My parents remember watching the news as young people and seeing this play out in real time. Incredible.
It can be hard not to get caught up in the negativity, hatred and bigotry that we see on the news. Things are certainly a long way from perfect. Then I think about St. Therese, and who we are. What we look like. What this community feels like. How we treat one another. My friends and family will tell you that I can't keep quiet about how amazing it is, to be in a pocket of Northeast Portland, in a small catholic school, to be surrounded by such diversity. I can tell you that parochial schools in Portland did not look like this 30 years ago. Thank goodness for progress.
I love the way our students are not preoccupied with their differences, from socioeconomic status to skin color. They see those things, but if anything, they celebrate them. Individually we may be quite different from one another, but that spectrum of lived experience, family background, and heritage makes St. Therese what it is and who we are. It creates open minded students, who will go forth in their lives with a strong foundation of solid morals founded in the virtues of the Catholic Church, to embrace the differences of the human race. Rather than being jealous that I didn't have this experience in grade school, I try to remind myself to be grateful in the present, happy to be a part of this now.
I can't help but think that our community and our student body, rich in diversity of backgrounds and heritage, would not be the same today without the legacy of Dr. King. I believe our students carry that spirit within them. There is lots of work to do, but it's amazing to think of our world in a generation or two. Look at all that has changed in the short time since Dr. King left us.
Things to do and ways to get involved in Portland, over the MLK Day weekend.
(I borrowed the above reflection from last year's newsletter, which I wrote, so I'm guilty of plagiarism, but I get off on a technicality, since I'm the original author, and the plagiarizer. No AI involved. This I guarantee. 😃.)
St. Therese School Open House
This year has seen a lot of growth and positive change here at St. T. We have big plans to keep that trajectory and we can only do that by welcoming new families to our student body. We are advertising but there is no better form of that, than word of mouth. We thank you in advance for whatever you can do to help us achieve those goals!
Open House & School Tours
Sunday, January 28th, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
We invite all interested parents and guardians and their children to come visit the school and learn more about St. Therese's commitment to accessible Catholic education for all families in our community. We are a faith-filled educational institution anchored in the teachings of the Catholic Church. St. Therese is the most diverse school offering rigorous academics to students from Pre-K through 8th grade. Come see what makes us different than other schools. It's quite a bit!!
Spread the word to your friends and neighbors!
- All teachers will be in their classrooms to meet prospective new parents and students
- Student Council and middle school students will be leading tours along with parents.
***We are happy to offer an incentive to our current families to bring in other family and friends to the St. Therese Open House. If you refer a new family to St. Therese School and they enroll in school, remain in school, and are in good standing, the school will reward that referral with a $500 discount on your tuition.
Athlete's Foot
Notes from the Athletic Board
VOLLEYBALL PHOTOS:
If you ordered volleyball photos for drop-off they are in!! We will be in touch to get these to your child's classroom teacher for distribution.
GYM VOLUNTEERS:
We are still interested in getting help on the weekends to run the gym. We will show you what needs to be done, and make sure you have what you need! You can get fair share hours by helping out, and just watch some great hoops with our very own St Therese athletes!! You can sign up to volunteer here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FyyW3qBD-22bEuRYazhgKKx1Bu1PRf1mt2gbb-0BFLo/edit?usp=sharing
TRACK AND FIELD:
If you can believe it, we are going to be opening up registration for Track and Field soon! We will have details about the St Therese team in the next week or so. We are looking to partner will close schools like FMES and Portland Christian to build a full team. If you are not familiar with the sport, it is a GREAT opportunity for your child to get an introduction! We will have an informational night on Zoom soon! More information to come!
GOLF CLUB AT GLENDOVEER:
We are investigating a St Therese only golf opportunity for grades 3-8 who would be interested in hitting the course in Spring. We are working to identify coaches and provide a very unique experience for our Eagles to get introduced to the sport or to grow their skills. We will have more information on this soon!
Notes from Gym Class
Parents-
We are doing aerobics and fitness in PE. This involves a lot of running and movement. If your child uses an inhaler please send it to school on days they have PE.
Thank you,
Coach Neri
Lunar New Year - The Year of the Dragon will be here before we know it!
Friday February 9th 2024
If you are new to St. Therese or if you happened to miss the party last year, this is really and truly something to look forward to! The celebration will begin with Mass, followed by song and dance performances, amazing lion dancers, food and drinks, and too much more to cover in this blurb. While Lunar New Year is most typically celebrated in east Asian cultures, this is a celebration for all of our students, and the community at large. Seeing students from almost every cultural background that you can imagine was one of the highlights of last year's show, and we're going to do it again!
The Parents Club is looking for more students to participate in the fashion show. They are still in need of a few more volunteers too, so come join the party! See details below.
Many more details to come. Stay tuned!
Upcoming Parents Club Meeting Monday - Join us!
January 22nd @ 6 p.m. in the Parish Social Center (PSC)
- Lunar New Year
- Fundraising Events
- School News
- Accreditation
- Lots more!
Come join us for drinks and snacks. Meet other parents, and learn how to get involved. Attendance at these meetings count towards your Fair Share Hours! Contact
STEM Fair at Central Catholic - We are Invited!
We are super excited to host the STEM Fair on February 3, 2024 (from 8:30 A.M. to Noon)! STEM Fair is an opportunity for students of all ages to gather for a day filled with scientific marvels, exciting experiments, and a celebration of knowledge. We would love to have students from your community participate! If your students are already interested, encourage them to register for the Fair!
Middle school students are encouraged to submit a project, either individually or as a pair. Central Catholic students will act as judges providing feedback, to help students refine their projects and garner critical experience with a STEM Fair format. Central Catholic students will also submit projects that will be on display. If your students do not want to submit a project, they can still participate in the day. We will have STEM demonstrations and hands-on activities for all students to participate in!
We are super excited for this event. STEM Fair is free and everyone is welcome to attend. Attached please find a flyer on the event. More information here too:
https://www.centralcatholichigh.org/academics/stem-fair-2024.html
We are also seeking out industry experts to judge the high school portion. If you know someone who would be perfect for this role, please email me at the email above. If you are interested in judging this year, please join us! This will be a great opportunity to view the projects and see what your middle school students can look forward to in high school!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at cwarner@centralcatholichigh.org. If there is a science teacher at your school who would like to get in contact me about further specifics, please feel free to forward my email information.
Jesuit's Online Winter Session Math Community courses for middle school students are open for registration.
Each of the following courses meets on 10 Saturday mornings for 90-minute discussions over Zoom:
- Course #142, Problem-Solving with Algebra 2: Polynomials, Exponents, Logarithms, & Special Functions
Families can click here to register.
These courses allow students to discuss interesting math problems to strengthen performance and understanding in their current math course and offer an opportunity to look ahead at material that extends beyond their current math studies.
Upcoming Dates and Events
- January 12th - 1/2 day, noon dismissal, teacher inservice.
- January 15th - Martin Luther King Day - no school.
- January 28th - School wide mass at 10 a.m. at St. Therese Church
- January 28th - St. Therese School Open House 11:30 - 1:30
- January 28th - February 1st - Catholic Schools Week
- February 9th - Lunar New Year Celebration
- February 13th - Class parties for Valentine's Day
- February 14th - Ash Wednesday
- February 19th - Presidents' Day - No school.
- February 20th - Archdiocese Inservice - No school
Recurring Events to Remember
****Holidays, inservice days, early release days, and other special events will affect these days.
- Choir Practice : Mondays 3:30 - 4:30
- Student lead school Masses: Wednesdays 8:30 a.m. (Holy Days of Obligation will affect these mass times)
- Student Store: Thursdays at dismissal
- Pizza Fridays: for all students, at lunchtime on the last day of the week (Friday)
- Vietnamese Enrichment Classes: Fridays after school
Staying Healthy and Caring for our Neighbors
Unfortunately Covid numbers are ticking upwards again following the Christmas break. A number of our staff, and quite a few of our families have reported testing positive for Covid over the break. This is what scientists and experts predicted, and winters might just be this way for some time. Policy and guidance from the CDC and the Oregon Health Division has not changed, and neither are we at St. Therese changing anything yet.
This is just a friendly reminder to do what we can to limit risks to others in our community. Common sense, hand washing, and wearing a mask when one feels ill, can really go a long way.
Our staff are essential to our school's operation. Goes without saying maybe, but in real terms, if multiple teachers were to get sick at the same time and have to be out for a week or more, we could be in dire straits for coverage. We don't have the resources of big public districts, and finding a sub in Portland is next to impossible it seems.
We appreciate you bearing that in mind! Let's just do what we can to think of the folks around us, even if we are young and healthy and we feel invincible! Thanks!
What's new in 2nd Grade?
The 2nd Graders have been learning about the earth and the weather that happens on the earth. We learned about snowflakes. We made snowflakes and then we turned our snowflakes into snowmen.
Mrs. Chong is hosting the Scholastic Book Fair
I want to give a huge shoutout to Mrs. Chong, for her tireless efforts towards the book fair. We couldn't do it without her!!
Tech with Mr. Rymer
Students using electrical engineering skills to make an LED light up.
It is amazing what these kids are doing in the computer science lab!
Missing anything?
I have to say that this year, the problem, and the pile of miscellaneous belongings seem to be much smaller. Still, we find all kinds of things at the end of the day. Lunchboxes, water bottles, coats, shorts, shirts, school sweatshirts. If you can continue to help us at home by reminding your kiddos to come home with all of those things that you spend hard earned money on, that would be fantastic.
We have no choice but to donate items like these to charity, after we try to find their owners, with no luck. Help us!
We have to give a huge St. Therese shout out to our friends at Mr. Plywood, a local, independently owned business here in Portland. Mr. Rymer has a friendship with the folks there, as he has been sourcing his wood for his tech projects there for years. We were very happily surprised to learn from Mr. Plywood that they believe in supporting schools, teachers, and kids who enjoy learning outside of textbooks, in the kinds of projects that Mr. Rymer is doing with our middle school students. Despite the rising costs in wood for various reasons controlled by global markets, Mr. Plywood delivered a huge load of wood to Mr. Rymer's classroom this week, at no profit to them. They gave us the material at cost, and waived the delivery fee.
For your next home improvement project, if you need materials, please give these folks at Mr. Plywood a look, to return the favor and goodwill that they are showing St. Therese! It's always better for our local economy to support local businesses, and it's better for our school!
Thank you Mr. Plywood, and thank you Mr. Rymer for taking the extra time to give our students the best materials available!
Need help?
If you or anyone you know need help in this cold freeze, please reach out. Contact me personally. schoningc@stthereseschool.org We are a community and we look out for each other. One does not have to be below a poverty line to be stuck at home in the cold, unprepared, and perhaps immobile. Trust me, I've been there as a new parent. Do not suffer in silence if you need help. I insist. Reach out. Please. If anyone needs food, water, or a warm place to stay in case of a failed furnace, etc, we will circle the wagons and take care of each other. We practice what we preach, so give me a call and we'll rally the community.