SMM PARENT NEWSLETTER
November 23, 2018
Please Join Us in Prayer
Please keep the following people in your prayers:
The Pope and Church leaders; our government leaders
All service men & women; all police, fire fighters, and first responders
Vada Powell, Elizabeth Dillon, Robert Miller, Peter Ganucheau, Bob Johnson, Tina Galatas, Simone Boell, Alex Kordahi, Bev Stover, Brad Binder, Dave McCuller, Frazier Bridges, Charlie Matt, Joy Koch, and Sister Donna Baker.
For the repose soul of Melissa Schaff, Erin Addalla's mom, and Camryn and Aiden's grandma; for her family and friends ; for all those who mourn her loss.
For all those impacted by the wildfires in California.
#GivingTuesday is just around the corner and I cannot think of a better gift to give your children and grandchildren than the gift of a quality Catholic education.
My sons, Zack and Andy, and my daughter-in-law, Jane, all graduated from St. Margaret Mary School and were extremely well-prepared academically for high school and beyond; but more importantly they received a strong foundation in their Catholic faith. Their teachers helped nurture them and encouraged them to grow in all areas of their lives. And now they are living successful, faith-filled lives with their families. SMM had a strong impact on their lives for which I am forever grateful and I will make a donation to our great school on Giving Tuesday.
All gifts you make to St. Margaret Mary School on November 27 will have a positive impact on our STEAM and MakerSpace initiatives by helping us purchase state of the art equipment and providing our students with 21st century skills needed to be successful in their futures. With your help, we WILL reach our $20,000 fundraising goal on the #iGiveCathoic Giving Day!
YOU MAY DONATE BY USING THE LINK BELOW
Please join me in participating in #iGiveCatholic and please share this information and our Facebook post with your friends and families. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Yours in Christ,
GAY M. KNOCK
St. Margaret Mary School #iGiveCatholic Coordinator
CHRISTMAS GIFT OF PRAYER
ADVENT & CONFESSION ... A TIME TO PREPARE
Catechists can prepare and explain more about how and why to go to confession, but the parents are the ‘first and best teachers in the ways of faith … by their modeling of Sunday Mass and regular confession.
We will begin putting more information in the bulletin and other posts about how to go to confession and the additional times we will provide for individual and family confessions.
The celebrations of the sacraments should normally be done ‘in church’ to emphasize that we celebrate sacraments at the Church –in church. ONLY the Anointing of the Sick may often be done in hospitals and nursing homes, and for the home bound, but all other sacraments are normally celebrated in church.
After a good discussion with the Pastoral Council Father Alex and I propose the following Advent confession times in order to prepare for Christmas:
REGULAR CONFESSION TIMES are every Wednesday from 8:00-9:00 PM; Saturday from 3:00-4:00 PM. We will now add 5:30-6:00 PM.
THREE SPECIAL CONFESSION NIGHTS: St. Margaret Mary Family Confession Nights: DECEMBER 4-5-6 (T-W-Th) 7:30-9:00 PM
More information about Christmas Eve confession schedules to come.
God Bless,
Father Ed
P.S. SMM Advent Mission Nights are December 9,10 & 11 in English; December 12,13 & 14 in Spanish 7:30-8:30 PM
DISABILITIES AWARENESS WEEK AT SMM
The week after Thanksgiving, November 26-30, we will celebrate Disabilities Awareness Week (International Disabilities Awareness Day is Monday, December 3rd). The theme this year is “Athletes who are ABLE”.
As such, we will have two guest speakers present to students in grades 2-7, on Thursday, November 29th, beginning at 1:30. One is Brock Banos, a representative from Special Olympics, who will discuss the organization (its history and purpose). The other is Kirby Oertling, an athlete who recently earned a silver medal at the Special Olympics and will represent our country in the international competition in Dubai.
To help Kirby in his efforts to attend the International Special Olympics, we are holding a fundraiser on Tuesday, November 27. For a donation of any amount, students can wear any patriotic T-shirt and/or accessory (ribbon, hat, socks, wristband, etc.) (think red, white, and/or blue, American flags, etc.), along with appropriate free dress bottoms. All monies will be collected by your child’s homeroom teacher.
Thank you, in advance, for your participation in this effort to help Kirby!
God bless, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
SMM Admin
PROJECT CHRISTMAS
SMM will participate in Project Christmas again this year. Project Christmas provides toys and Christmas meals to families in need in St. Tammany Parish. The children make their wish lists and once all the donations are received the Project Christmas, teams sort them based on what is on the wish lists. The parents pick up the toys and food and are able to put the toys out on Christmas morning, as well as have food for a family Christmas meal.
Our SMM drive will run from November 26th until December 11th. If you'd like to donate a new, unwrapped toy, please send it to school with your child during the toy drive dates.
SMM PTO COOKBOOKS FOR SALE
We still have a few SMM PTO Cookbooks available for sale at $15.00 each. Please check with Miss Susan in the school office.
What a great Christmas gift for a friend!
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM SCHOOL FOOD & NUTRITION SERVICES
School Food and Nutrition Services’ banking partner, Capital One, has informed us that
charges will increase significantly for cash deposits. Since federal regulations require School Food and Nutrition Services (SFNS) to make daily deposits, this would be a substantial cost increase that SFNS would have to incur. Unfortunately, these increases would be passed on to the students.
After serious deliberation with Dr. RaeNell Houston, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, and Jeff Entwisle, Chief Financial Officer, we have determined that effective January 1, 2019, SFNS will no longer accept any forms of cash. Parents/guardians will be required to make payments with a check or with an online payment.
SFNS hopes this will not cause any significant problems for our parents/guardians, but we felt that they would prefer this than the alternative.
SFNS would like to thank you in advance for your anticipated support. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Janet Sanderson at (504)596-3450.
(504) 596-3434
Fax: (504) 596-3459 www.schoolcafe.org
1000 Howard Ave., Ste. 300 New Orleans, LA 70113
CALLING ALL ARTISTS
ARCHDIOCESAN DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS
St. Margaret Mary School's inaugural recipient was Ronnie Osmer, SMM class of 2014 and PJP Class of 2018. Ronnie was by far the youngest recipient to receive the award, but he was selected because of his charitable work that he accomplished through his young race car career. He gave back through fund raisers for various charitable organizations and promoted literacy by collaborating with Jessie Keen (SMM '17) and Michael Keen (SMM '19) to author two "Ronnie the Racer" books. The young men are working on the third installment of the series. Also, Jessie's friend, Bruce Trascher (SMM '17), assisted Jessie and Michael with the illustrations. The young men visited many of our local Catholic elementary schools to promote literacy and the importance of doing your best in school.
Due to its great success, the Archdiocese is continuing the program. We would like YOUR help in selecting another distinguished SMM Alumnus. Did you graduate from SMM and/or do you know someone who is deserving of this award - maybe a classmate, teacher, priest, coach? I know we have beaucoups candidates because we have a blessed community.
Please read the letter from Dr. RaeNell Houston, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, the guidelines for selecting a candidate, and the application form for submitting candidates in the pdf form below.
Applications are due to Gay Knock in the SMM school office by Wednesday, December 11. Our SMM Distinguished Alumnus will be announced in late December. Thank you kindly for your help.
HELP STOCK OUR MAKER SPACES
toothpicks ----- duct tape
toilet paper/pare towel rolls ----- tape
straws ----- google eyes
glue ----- rubber bands
empty water bottles ----- balloons
pipe cleaners ----- tin foil
packing tape
anything else that you think kids could use to make awesome creations
Thank you for your help.
Would You Like to be Featured in the Directory of St. Margaret Mary Family Owned or Managed Businesses ?
Monday, November 26
- Disabilities Awareness Week Begins
- Girls Basketball Practice 3:00 - 4:30 pm
- Talent Show Practice 6:00 pm Gym
Tuesday, November 27
- #Giving Tuesday
- Students of the Month Grades K - 3 on WSMM 8:10 am
- November 20 - 27 Birthdays Recognized on WSMM 8:10 am
- Patriotic T-shirts and/or accessories with approved free dress bottoms and hoes with a voluntary donation for Kirby (see Disabilities Awareness Info above)
- NJHS Tutoring K-3rd Grades 3:00 - 3:30 pm Room 5
- JR Robotics Mtg 3:00 - 4:00 pm Science Lab
- Boys Basketball Practice 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Wednesday, November 28
- Choir Practice 3:15 - 4:15 pm Church
- Concert Band Practice 3:00 - 4:00 pm Band Room
- Talent Show Practice 6:00 pm Gym
Thursday, November 29
- Students of the Month Grades 4 - 7 on WSMM 8:10 am
- SR Robotics Mtg 3:00 - 4:00 pm Science Lab
- Boys Basketball Practice 3:00 - 4:30 pm
- Dance Team Clinic 3:00 - 5:00 pm E-Bldg
Friday, November 30
- School Mass 8:20 am Church Parents Are Invited
- Grandparents & Grand Friends Adoration Hour 1:00 - 2:00 pm Chapel
Monday, December 3
- Gift of Prayer Week Begins
- Girls Basketball Practice 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Tuesday, December 4
- NJHS Tutoring K - 3rd Grades 3:00 - 3:30 pm Room 5
- JR Robotics Mtg 3:00 - 4:00 pm Science Lab
- SV Boys Basketball vs Calvary Baptist 4:00 pm @ SMM
- Girls Basketball vs Calvary Baptist 5:00 pm @ SMM
- Talent Show Practice 6:00 pm Gym
Wednesday, December 5
- Choir Practice 3:15 - 4:15 pm Church
- Concert Band Practice 3:00 - 4:00 pm Band Room
- Mandatory Talent Show Dress Rehearsal 6:00 pm Gym
Thursday, December 6
- Kindergarten & 7th Grade Buddies Frame Exchange 8:30 am
- Fire Drill 1:25 - 1:40 pm
- SR Robotics Mtg 3:00 - 4:00 pm Room 7
- Science Club Mtg 3:00 - 3:45 pm Science Lab
- JV Boys Basketball vs Lake Castle 4:00 pm @ SMM
- Varsity Boys Basketball vs Lake Castle 5:00 pm @ SMM
- Girls Basketball vs Lake Castle 6:00 pm @ SMM
Friday, December 7
- School Mass 8:20 am Church Parents Are Invited
- Grandparents & Grand Friends Adoration Hour 1:00 - 2:00 pm Chapel
- SMM Talent Show 7:00 pm Gym
Saturday, December 8
- Santa's Workshop Fundraiser for SMM Youth Group - Child Care & Gift Wrapping 5:00 - 9:00 pm Youth Group Room
Sunday, December 9
- SMM Talent Show 2:00 pm Gym
- FOR MORE EVENTS, PLEASE CLICK ON THE SMM SCHOOL CALENDAR LINK BELOW
Thanksgiving Humor
MR.WARD: Kids, why do you think I let the turkey join the band?
PRISCILLA: We don't know, why?
MR WARD: Because he has drumsticks.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THESE IMPORTANT LINKS
Contact SMM
Email: smmschool@saintmm.org
Website: www.saintmm.org
Location: 1050 Robert Boulevard, Slidell, LA, United States
Phone: 985-643-4612
Facebook: http://facebook.com/SMMSlidell/