Eagle's Edge
St. Therese Family Newsletter - May 5, 2021
Meditation for the Month of Mary
Each morning this month, students will pray the Hail Mary as a school, in honor of our Holy Mother.
I want to share with you a link to Meditations on Mary from a website called Home of the Mother. You can find that website by clicking here.
I know that I've shared many times about my connection to Mary, and that it started when I was a child. My own mother and my grandmother nurtured that love, and my relationship with Her blossomed. She is my refuge and my guide, especially as an adult, and especially after becoming a mother myself. I encourage you all to nurture that same relationship to Mary in your own children - the way we love our children is the way our Holy Mother loves us. In times of grief and sorrow, in times of joy and celebration, and even in the mundane moments of our lives we look to our parents. It is the greatest gift you can give your children by giving them their heavenly parents to turn to!
Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us!
God bless you all,
Rosemarie El Youssef
Principal, St. Therese School
503-253-9400 ext. 122
Poem by student, Celine Do, 7th Grade
Mrs. Ballou shared this beautiful poem with me that was written in response to reading the novel, Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai. It is a historical fiction novel that is set in Vietnam War era Saigon, Vietnam. Celine's poem is inspired by her parents' memories of Vietnam.
Early Mornings
I wake up in early this morning
To the loud sound of the city storming
Kids laughing, mopeds humming
After a while, the noise is numbing
I get up and out of bed, the heat is scorching
Mẹ is in the kitchen, bags under her eyes
She probably stayed up late
The noise of Saigon is no paradise
Mẹ is cooking fried rice
Just like Brother Chung’s favorite:
Homemade styled
I step outside, barefoot on the hot wood
I looked at where a teak tree stood
its leaves wavering in the wind,
not blowing too hard like hurricanes would
I appreciate the nature around me
If I could live somewhere with more of it, I would
I walk back inside, from the call of my name
A bowl of fried rice sits in front of me
I watch as almost transparent steam wafts in the air
I take a bite, while watching Mẹ takes a sip of her tea
Knowing how much sleep we share
I walk outside again, this time with sandals
How can you beat Vietnam heat
While standing outside with no sandals?
I watch as some light wind blows at a patch of wheat
I wish to grow apple trees here someday
But I know they’re rare in a region like here
The crops would really help my family
Because Mẹ loves apples, it’s pretty clear
Lots of people find ways for entertainment
But mine is looking at nature move
It feels almost like a happy dream
Because it always gets interrupted at the end
with dreadful noises to wake you up
8th Grade Graduation
Commissioning mass: Friday, June 11th at 10 a.m.
Graduation Ceremony: Tuesday, June 15th at 6 p.m. in the church
At this time we are unable to do any special breakfasts for the students, nor are we able to gather following graduation for cake and refreshments. We hope you will understand!
We will keep you posted as we nail down final details, but as of now, it looks as if we can host students and immediate family in the church. We will be live-streaming so that any family members unable to attend can still watch!
Please send photos of your graduate to elyoussefr@stthereseschool.org and we will put together a slide show of photos celebrating them. Please send a baby photo, as well as photos of your child from kinder-8th grade. If you have photos of other students in the class we would love for you to share them! The slide show will be played at the graduation ceremony.
PLANT SALE PICKUP - SUCCESS!
Thank you so much for coming out to pick up your plants on Saturday! Special thanks to Melanie Reyna, Anne Herold, and Bridget Martinez for their hard work in organizing the sale and the pickup.Thank you to Penny Montani, Luis and Zadi Reyna, Tiffany Jeanmarie, Kaila Yancey and Lucas Moultrie, Quinn and Gina Morris, Theresa Maxie and Bridget Martinez's family for coming out and helping us during plant sale pickup.
SchoolStore Fundraising
Check out all the cool prizes Mehki Morris (first grade) got for earning points in SchoolStore Fundraising! Once your student reaches a certain prize level, the company ships the prizes to the school and we turn those awesome prizes over to our students. He received a Chromebook, a drone, and some other big ticket prizes - way to go Mehki!
This safe and easy fundraiser is 100% online so there is no face-to-face selling, collecting money, or delivering products.
If family members are unhappy with the emails and reminders to participate, please let them know that they can scroll to the bottom of the email and unsubscribe from future emails.
Go to https://www.schoolstore.net/sid.t?119532 to learn more about how this program can support our school!
Yearbook Photos!
Some of our can/bottle money will be used to purchase a yearbook for each student this year - thanks for all of the donations that make this possible!
Thank you.
Staff Appreciation Week - POSTPONED
More information to come in a separate email. Thank you!
Virtual Scholastic Book Fair - COMING SOON!
You can take a sneak peak at the books offered this spring by clicking here but the shopping won't be open until May 12th.
Thank you for your support, and a BIG thank you to Mrs. Chong for being such a gracious host!
Updated Case Rates 5/1/2021
Case rates in Multnomah County continue to rise, and we are at 258.4/100,000 cases, with test positivity up to 6% from 4.8% just last week.
If ANYONE in your household has symptoms of COVID-19, you MUST keep all students at home. This limits exposure to the cohort/class at school and without that exposure, we can keep our classrooms in session here on campus.
The impacts of COVID-19 are hitting a little closer to home now, and we just want everyone to be safe. Please support our efforts by reminding your students to wear their masks properly, wash/sanitize hands, and keep a safe distance from their peers. We encourage you all to continue to practice safety when you are out and about with your family and friends.
Thank you for all that you do to help keep our students and families safe!
Travel and Quarantine
We require that anyone who travels outside of Oregon for any reason plan for being away from school for 14 days following their return.
If you or anyone in your household travels, you won't meet our health requirements and will need to learn from home for 14 days following your return. St. Therese staff follows these same safety rules and will likewise quarantine at home following any travel outside of Oregon if they are unvaccinated.
Schools in Multnomah County are advised to consider travel for K-12 sports to be non-essential, regardless of the update from the Oregon Health Authority. This has to do with the case rates tied to sports teams, and the variance of restrictions between states and counties - we can't guarantee that other states will follow the same rules we do in Oregon, and we have a responsibility to keep our community safe.
Please call the office as soon as possible to notify us about any plans for travel that will include your student accessing distance learning for a period of time so that we can inform teachers and make arrangements to get you the necessary learning materials.
We appreciate all that you do to keep our community safe, and our students learning at school with us.
Washington D.C. - Spring 2022
Hi Parents,
The Early Registration Deadline to sign up for the Washington DC trip has been extended to…. THURSDAY 5/6/2021 and SAVE $100!
- The Registration Letter is attached above.
- It’s only a small initial $49 deposit to sign up. The remaining amount is spread out over the months leading up to the trip. If you have any questions regarding payment plans, please contact me. All late and handling fees have been waived for this group!
- Use Trip ID 194483 to sign up through one of three easy ways: online at worldstrides.com/signup, by phone at 800-468-5899, or by mail by completing the registration form included in your student invitation
- Trip Dates – March 19-March 23, 2022
WorldStrides provides many helpful options to help you pay for your trip. Check these out:
- FLAG financial assistance where over $2.5 million in assistance is given out each year to qualifying families. Call WorldStrides Customer Service to learn more at (800) 468-5899
- Gift of Education Fundraising program which includes E-Cards and shareable Facebook Links
- Payment plans may also be available. Call WorldStrides Customer Service to learn more at (800) 468-5899
You can click on this link to see important trip information:
Click on this link: https://worldstrides.com/custom/st-therese-school-dc-194483/
For those of you who couldn’t attend the meeting but are interested in going, make sure you take a look at the PARENT PRESENTATION VIDEO BELOW - it shows just how much fun and how impactful these trips are for students
Washington D.C.: View on Vimeo | View on YouTube | Download from Dropbox
Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to leading a fun and educational program for your child! Or please feel free to contact me with any questions at stephaniem@worldstrides.org or 1-866-664-0031.
All the best, Stephanie
Stephanie Miller
Group Travel & Experiences
WorldStrides
Seattle, WA
Cell- (253) 670-3354
WorldStrides is the only approved domestic educational travel provider of the Smithsonian!
Now enrolling preschool and pre-kindergarten!
If you have any questions, please give us a call! You can find information about tuition for our programs on our website, https://www.stthereseschool.org/little-flower-preschool - we look forward to a full group this fall!
Enrollment Opportunities
We have so much to offer children and their families - please help us get the word out!
St. Vincent de Paul - UPDATES
QUILT RAFFLE. St Therese St Vincent de Paul is raffling a quilt. It is queen size and multi-colored. You can purchase tickets after the weekend masses or call Shasta Hatter at 503-253-7566. The drawing is June 9th. Thank you for your support.
Volunteer opportunity: St Vincent de Paul is in need of delivery drivers. We need substitute drivers for Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Drivers on a rotating basis are needed for Saturday morning. Usual start time is around 9 am and shifts are 1 1//2 to 2 hours. Training provided. Must be able to carry 25 pound boxes up stairs. Please call Shasta Hatter at 503-253-7566 for more information or to volunteer.
If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please contact Shasta Hatter at the SVdP office 503-253-7566.
BottleDrop Thursdays
We are so grateful for your generosity! With your donations we purchased a Distance Learning T-shirt for each student and staff member to wear on Fridays, prizes for spirit week, and the pumpkins for our St. Therese Pumpkin Patch. We recently purchased an eagle mascot costume and our new mascot will soon be visiting classrooms to learn what it means to be a St. Therese Eagle!
The school budget is tight this year, but there are some things that we believe students shouldn't go without - your can and bottle donations make this happen!
Join S.A.C. - School Advisory Council
If you would like to join the School Advisory Council (S.A.C.) please send Rosemarie an email at elyoussefr@stthereseschool.org and she will send you information regarding how to apply, along with an invitation to attend a meeting to observe.
Thank you!
Parents' Club Corner
Here is the Parents' Club schedule of meetings for the rest of the school year.
Minutes from the last meeting on 4/21/21 are attached below.
Final Meeting:
5/19
Please contact Melanie Reyna at 503-467-1805 or via email at melanie.reyna@usbank.com with any questions, or if you are interested in joining Parents' Club next year as a core member of the team. We will be voting at the May 19th meeting!
School Office Hours 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
St. Therese Catholic School
Email: elyoussefr@stthereseschool.org
Website: stthereseschool.org
Location: 1260 Northeast 132nd Avenue, Portland, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 253-9400
Facebook: Facebook.com/StThereseSchoolPortlandOrFamilyPage
Twitter: @sttherese_pdx