What's the Buzz?!?
January 23, 2016
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others"- Mahatma Gandi
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your immense amount of support last week while I was away. I cannot describe to you how full my heart is. This trip is such a great reset button for life and truly encourages me to count my blessings. A very big thank you goes out to Julie Goshe! We are so lucky to have someone so knowledgeable, fun-loving, and well rounded to guide us through the school day! This edition of "What's the Buzz" will be a hefty one- enjoy ;)
OCSAA
As you know we are well into our Self-Study year of the Accreditation process. Our next two faculty meetings will be primarily directed at completing tasks for the Accreditation process. Here are some dates to mark:
- Tuesday, February 2: Review results of surveys as a faculty
- Tuesday, March 1: Talk about possible goals
- Friday, February 12: ALL DAY IN-SERVICE. Part I of the day will be devoted to CODA, the new curriculum site, and Part II of the day will be devoted to analyzing our Mission and Belief Statements.
Additionally, it is important to mention that Laura Meibers, Superintendent for the Cincinnati Diocese, will be in our school March 21-23 for our External Validation of last cycle's Accreditation. Please look for more details in the near future regarding her visit.
Service Project for Michigan
Mr. Eckman recently sent me a link with ways to help those in Michigan who are suffering from a water crisis. Currently, we are limited to sending money, and doing so with proceeds from a jeans day. However, I wanted to see if any of you had any different ideas of what our students could do to help that would really help them gauge the difference they are making rather then just having each student donate a dollar. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this!
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/13/us/iyw-flint-michigan-water-crisis-how-to-help/
5 Minutes for Faith
Prayer is SO powerful! It helps us to think clearly, guide our thoughts, calm our hearts, and feel the Lord's presence. I would like to invite anyone who would like to, to join me in St. George's Chapel on Monday, January 25 at 3:30 for a half hour of prayer.
In a special way, I ask that you remember Thomas Houghtaling in your prayers for a safe journey to the Holy Land beginning this Thursday, January 28. What an incredible experience for him and such a blessing to have his testimony for our students.
A peek at our week:
- I am excited to see a good chunk of you at the Silent Auction on Saturday, January 30! Please remember that cocktail hour starts at 5:30 with dinner service to follow at 7:00.
- This year, we would like to honor each guest that attends our Annual Auction Dinner. We are asking that in your religion classes this week you have students create an index card sized "Thank You" note. This can be something that students (especially younger ones) cut out and color from a printout and paste to an index card, or a note that a student writes. Please have students sign either the front or the back of the card with their name and grade. These cards will be placed at each place setting. I ask that these are completed by Thursday. Art students, and Mrs. Ahbe, will be creating an additional set of "Thank You's" for each person that purchases and item or donates.
- Sunday, January 31 we will be holding an Open House after the 9:00 and 11:00 Mass. Student Council students, as well as theater students, will be in attendance in the school for our guests. I would like one teacher from each floor to be there as well to answer questions and talk up the wonderful things you all are doing in your classes! Please let me know which Open House time slot you can attend (either 10:00-11:00 or 12:00-1:00).
- In order to prepare for our Open House each one of you will be participating in a door decorating contest on the opposite side of the building with the overarching theme: "SHINE". Remember the students will vote on the best one! We will have the students walk around the building in shifts on Monday morning and vote electronically on the best one. The winner will get lunch for you and a teacher friend on a day of your choosing from Honeymoon Grille. In order to give teachers the time to do this our students will be watching a movie on Friday afternoon beginning at 1:00 pm. K-4 will be in the Upper Room and 5-8 will be in the gym. K-4 will watch Peter Pan and 5-8 will watch Pan in hopes to get everyone excited to see our Musical in the Spring!
- I ask that you spend some time this week tidying up your classrooms. Each door in the building will be open for people to peruse during Open House and I want to ensure we are putting our best foot forward. I guess that means I will even have to clean up my desk area :)
- Thursday, February 4 will be our Preview Breakfast day. We will ask students to wear Mass Attire that day and I am asking that faculty and staff also wear Mass Attire as we will be giving tours of the building to prospective families. This would be a great day to get some use out of the tablets as well!
- For 8th grade teachers: On Wednesday, February 3 we ask that all 8th graders wear their class hoodie so we can get a picture of them together! Please add this to your weekly blurb on the website.
- Black History Month is upon us! Here is a link with some activities that relate to different subject levels for you to use in class. https://www.teachervision.com/black-history-month/teacher-resources/6602.html
- You may have noticed that our "Caught You SHINE-ing" board has been emptied of 1st semester's recipients. Many students in grades 4-8 were recognized last semester for their efforts each day! We are ready for a fresh start and some new nominees. If you need additional awards, please let me know.
- An Update on our custodial staff: Going forward on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Brennan Ott will be with us from 8-11 in the mornings. Vern Ivey will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-11. Tis the season, however, for kids to "get sick" in the hallway. Each teacher should have the soaking sand in their classroom. Should one of your students gets sick please apply the soaking sand and alert Kara so she can alert one of the guys. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SAND IN YOUR ROOM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY.
- I applaud your efforts to diligently use the Student Data Forms. I have noticed some of them are filling up! Please remember to discuss these during your Collaborative Time. If you have not shared yours yet, please do so this week.