The Good News
Saint John XXIII October 12, 2018
Leadership Message
Our School Saint: Saint John XXIII Feast Day: October 11
Pope St. John XXIII (1881–1963) was the third of thirteen children born to a poor sharecropping family living in Lombardy, Italy. Desiring to serve God with his life, he entered seminary at the age of 12, and, after serving a short stint in the Italian Army, was ordained a priest in 1904. He taught apologetics and church history before being called to service as a military chaplain during the first World War. He later served in Rome on various diplomatic assignments, rising in ecclesiastical rank as bishop and then cardinal-patriarch of Venice. An obscure pick for the Supreme Pontiff, he was unexpectedly elected the 261st Pope at the age of 76. He took the name John which had not been used in over 500 years. The papacy of this presumed "caretaker pope" was expected to be an uneventful one, however, to the surprise of all, shortly into his reign he called the Second Vatican Council. He presided over its first session but did not live to see its completion. He reigned as pope for less than five years before dying of stomach cancer. As Holy Father he had a special concern for the equal dignity of humanity, the unity of all Christians, and world peace. He broke with many of the formalities of the papacy and was affectionately called the "Good Pope", in Italian, "il Papa buono." He was canonized by Pope Francis together with Pope John Paul II in 2014.
(https://www.catholiccompany.com/morning-offering/2018-10-11/)
We celebrated Saint John's Feast day this week and continue to learn about his Daily Decalogue. Students loved reading the story version of this at assembly.
Blessings,
Mrs. Boehm
Faith Corner
Our Thanksgiving Mass was amazing! Thank-you to all of our parents and staff for preparing our young hearts and minds to share in thanksgiving with Jesus. We are so grateful to the many hands that helped with organizing, planning, serving, and leading, especially our Chaplain, Mrs. Y. Morin and our music teacher, Mrs. Schaub. Father Kris led a beautiful celebration and began the mass with "Catholic Gymnastics" where he helped our students understand and practice the parts of the liturgy. Thank-you to the parents, grandparents, and parishioners who were able to join us.
Father Kris and Father Anthony continue their weekly school visits and the students are enjoying the connections to our parish.
Many thanks to Mrs. Donamarie Lukie who led our students on a Rosary Walk yesterday to celebrate the month of the Rosary.
Our Grade fours will receive their bibles on Wednesday, October 17 @9:30 am at OLA Parish. They will be reuniting with their grade four friends from OLA during this special presentation. Please join us if you are able.
We invite you to join us every Monday at 9 am (Tuesdays when Monday is a holiday) for our Weekly Assembly where we pray, celebrate, and move as a faith community!
Thanksgiving Mass
October Read-In Month: Bringing Stories to Life
We are planning a VERY special finale-please read below!
Guest Readers & Buddy Reading
Father Kris-OLA Pastor
Mme DeChamplain-Good Assistant Superintendent of Educational Excellence
Mr. Haggarty-EICS Superintendent
A Story for Every Child
To celebrate our Read-in-Month finale, we have a BIG goal this year! We want to have “A Story for Every Child” at Saint John XXIII on October 26, 2018 from 2:15-2:45 pm. Our hope is that we can have one reader for every student during that time. If you are available and can come to Saint John XXIII from 2:15-2:45 pm on October 26th, please email our librarian Mrs. Wagner susanw@eics.ab.ca or call our school and let us know 780-998-7777. At that time, also share the name of the student or class that you are connected to and we will try our very best to pair you up. Please bring along your favourite children’s book or two to share that day. Please carpool, walk, or park along the street when you come. We hope you can help us share a story for every child in our school!
High School Peer Mentors
New Staff at Saint John XXIII
We are very excited to share that we have two student teachers at our school. Welcome to Miss Clarkson and Miss Wilson from the University of Alberta. Miss Wilson joins mentor teacher, Mrs. Starko, in 1S and Miss Clarkson is leading and learning alongside Mrs. Comartin in grade 4.
Let's Talk about Lice
Saint John XXIII School is a great place to be! Our staff, students, and families aren’t the only ones who think so…some little critters often tag long to school too; head lice!
The more you and your child know about head lice, the more likely this concern will be managed within our school. Although they most commonly affect children, lice are very common and anyone can get them. Lice do not spread disease, and having head lice is not a sign of uncleanliness or poor hygiene. If someone has head lice, their scalp will be very itchy. The most important aspect of head lice is reassuring our children that this is common, it can be treated, and just like common colds-anyone can get head lice. The calmer the adults are in their approach, the less anxious our children will be.
Facts:
They are an annoying but harmless part of life.
Head lice are most common among school-aged children.
Head lice are spread by direct head to head contact- They CANNOT jump or fly but do crawl.
Treatment:
If you or your child has lice, he or she may spread it to someone else in the family, neighbourhood or school unless they are properly treated.
To control and prevent reinfestation, you must contact the school if you find a louse or nits in your child’s hair.
Treatment is needed to keep from spreading to other people and the most important aspect is the removal of the nits.
Make sure you check everyone in your family for nits or head lice. This should be done daily for 14 days. Only treat those family members where lice and/or nits are found and treat all persons at the same time.
You can buy treatment supplies from the drug store.
No treatment will kill all the nits when used for the first time. Pull off each nit by grasping it with your fingernails and sliding it off the hair strand. Throw nits into a garbage bag and seal it.
Wet combing and metal nit combs may help to remove the eggs and lice.
Check for and remove nits daily for 2 weeks.
Prevention:
We cannot get rid of head lice completely within our school but we can control it by doing regular head checks and effective treatment. Make a plan to check your child’s hair on a regular basis. Some parents have shared that they make this an, “Early Dismissal” check. GREAT IDEA!
Tie long hair back in a braid or pony tail. This makes it harder for lice to crawl from one person to another.
Keep children in separate beds on sleepovers. Change the sheets when a different person will be using them.
Talk to your child about not sharing hats, brushes, helmets, pillows, coats, etc. especially at school.
Teach your child to place their toques inside the arm of their coat.
At Saint John, we follow the guidelines given to us by Alberta Health Services. As soon as we are notified by a parent or a teacher that there is a case of lice in a particular classroom, parents in that class are sent an informative pamphlet from Alberta Services.
A great child-friendly book about lice:
Halloween
Halloween is approaching and is a very fun time of year for children. Our commitment is to ensure the safety and well-being of all of our students and we appreciate your cooperation. A couple of reminders as you begin preparing for Halloween at school:
Students will be invited to change into their costumes on the afternoon of October 31st.
Students who are dressing up are asked to keep costumes school appropriate (not too scary or gory) and leave any weapons at home. We have very little people at Saint John XXIII and we want Halloween to be a positive school experience for all.
Past due: Please Complete Forms
1. Field Trip Annual Consent Form
2. Annual Student Responsible Use Agreement for Technology
3. EICS Demographic Confirmation Form
5. Medical Status Update / Request for Medical Treatment
Picture Orders are due
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS:
Mark your calendars School Council Meetings: 7 pm in the Library
Wednesday, October 17
Tuesday, November 20
Wednesday, January 16
Thursday, March 14
Tuesday, April 16
Thursday, May 23
Wednesday, June 5
Please return the volunteer forms as soon as possible. We truly appreciate all of our volunteers and encourage you to take the opportunity to share your time and gifts for our SJ village.
Growing Brains, Sharing Smiles at Saint John XXIII!
OLA Parish News
This is a reminder to all children who are eligible (Grade 2 & up) to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for this Sacrament season that classes being TONIGHT-Friday, October 12th from 6-7:30pm at OLA Parish.
If you have not already done so, please submit the completed registration and fees directly to the school or church office as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Sacramental Coordination Team
Don't forget to send in a picture of your child for our Sacrament Board
LOOKING AHEAD...
Oct. 15: Assembly 9 am
Oct. 19: Kindergarten Telus World of Science Field Trip
Alberta Opera Grades 1-4 9:30 am
Oct. 22: Assembly 9 am
Oct. 26: A Story for Every Child 2:15-2:45 pm
Oct. 26: Saint John XXIII Family Halloween Dance
Oct. 29: Picture Retake Day
Saint John XXIII ECS Pumpkin Carving Event
Oct. 30: Assembly 9 am (Rich Horning from Valeda House coming)
Nov. 4: Catholic Education Sunday at 9 am mass OLA Church (Saint John XXIII & OLA)
Saint John XXIII Catholic School
Email: stj@eics.ab.ca
Website: https://stj.eics.ab.ca/
Location: 9526 89 Street, Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-998-7777
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stjohnXXIII/
Twitter: @St_JohnXXIII