GREETINGS! Birthday Party for Jesus ~ On Thursday, Dec.21

st, please join us at 2:00 in the

Church and at 2:20 in the Cafeteria, as we celebrate the birthday of Jesus with

praying, singing, and eating birthday cake. This will be a Be Christ shirt color day

with uniform bottoms. Happy Birthday, Jesus! Our Advent Program performance of “Creation to Christmas: A Musical Jesse Tree” starring our students from 4 Pre through 6

th Grade will be Tuesday,

December 19th at 2pm and 7pm. We would like to give a huge, heartfelt THANK

YOU to Mr. David Inbody, Mr. Joe Houdek, Mrs. Klassen, our student musicians, our Live Nativity Characters, to all of our classroom teachers and especially the students for reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas.

Gr. 3-5 Girls On The Run ~ Thanks to Jill Steffens for once again being our liaison so we can have a Girls On The Run team this year. Please email Jill at joeandjillsteffens@yahoo.com for more information. Breakfast with Santa ~ Thank you to all who volunteered for the breakfast this year. Your hard work showed on the smiling faces of all who attended. If you couldn’t make it this year, please put down Saturday, Dec.,1

st on your calendar

for next year to kick off your Christmas season with wonderful community, great food, a Live Nativity, and of course, Santa! Scrip News ~ NO scrip the weeks of Dec. 18

th, Dec. 25

th, Jan.1. Scrip will

resume Mon. Jan. 8th. If you already have reloadable cards, you may continue to

reload during this time. Scholastic Book Fair ~ Thank you to Co-Chairs Carrie Miedema and Beth Bott, for your time and talent providing this exciting PTA event for our students and their families. With the support of HS parents, the fair was a big success, earning over $1,945 in Scholastic Dollars to be used to purchase new books for the school. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make this event a success.

Student Council Beach Day ~ Fri., Jan.12th, is a Student Council Beach Day to

support Family Promise, a Christian based organization in Grand Rapids that helps families who are dealing with homelessness. Students are asked to bring in at least $1 per family and may wear sunglasses, bright beach colors, athletic shorts, and sandals, etc., and may bring in beach towels. Please remember to bring proper outdoor attire for recess. Thank you.

Financial Aid through Smart Aid ~ Families wishing to apply for scholarships for the 18-19 school year will need to complete the SMART AID application. You will find the instructions on our website and by clicking on this link. Please use CODE:HSpiritGR for Holy Spirit students. The first deadline was December 1

st;

however, funds will continue to be disbursed as they become available.

Middle School Semester EXAMS ~ Exams are fast approaching. The schedule below is for your general information. Child care is open on the half-days, so if you need to arrange child care, please contact the office in advance. Tues., January 16– 1

st Hr. Exam ; Full day for ALL Middle School Students

Weds., January 17– 2nd

& 3rd

Hr. Exams; 12:30 Dismissal ALL MS Students Thurs., January 18– 4

th & 5

th Hr. Exams; 11:45 Dismissal ALL MS Students

Friday, January 19– 6th

& 7th

Hr. Exams; 11:45 Dismissal ALL MS Students

Dec 15, 2017

School Newsletter

Wed., Jan. 3rd ~ Classes Resume

~Mass 8:45

Thurs., Jan 4th

~Willy Wonka, Jr. Info@2:50pm

~MS Band Concert @ WC 7pm

Sat., Jan. 6th

~ Eve of Worship 7:30pm

Sun., Jan. 7th ~ Feast of the Epiphany

Wed., Jan 10th

~Mass 8:45

~Gr. 2 Reconciliation 6:30pm

Fri., Jan. 12th

~Student Council Crazy Hair

Day - $1 per family

Sun., Jan. 14th

~Roller Skating 5:30-7:30

Mon., Jan. 15th ~ No School, MLK, Jr. Holiday

Tues., Jan., 16th

~ Gr 6-8 1st Hr Exams, Full Day

Wed., Jan. 17th

~ Mass 8:45

~ Gr 6-8 2nd & 3rd Hr Exams

~ Gr 6-8 12:30 dismissal

Thurs., Jan. 18th

~ Gr 6-8 4th & 5th Hr Exams

~ Gr 6-8 11:45 dismissal

Fri., Jan. 19th – End of 2nd Quarter

~ Gr 6-8 6th & 7th Hr. Exams

~ Gr 6-8 11:45 dismissal

Tues., Jan. 23rd ~ PTA Meeting 7pm Library

Wed., Jan. 24th

~Mass 8:45

~1st Eucharist Parent Mtg 6:45

Mon., Jan 29th

~Musical Mission Concert@

St. Anthony’s 9:30am

Tues., Jan.30th

~ Report Cards Online

Awesome Authors Club!

Congratulations to the following HS published authors for November!

KK: June A, Nora L. 1H/S: Liam A, Jacob B, Brianna D, Alex G, Alex L, Lily P, Lily S, Drew S, Mia S. 2F: Declan A, Annika B, Bobby B, Dominic B, Nolan B, Leo C, Aiden D, Issac E, Alex G, Gabby G, Ashton J, Torey M. 3K: Colin A, Drew B, Max B, Megan B, Kaitlyn C, Mason C, Avery D, Judy H, Cailyn J, Luca M, Jack S, Kate S, Mattthew V, Natalie W. 4D: Greta A, Katelyn A, Drew B, Madison B, Kate S, Max W. 5K/C: Tanner C, Mike M, Aislynn S, Sophia S, Tim W. 6C: Ava B, Hallie M, Brenna O, Nick P, Will S.

Congratulations to Brenna O., our Featured Author of the Month! Be sure to read her story featured in this newsletter.

HS HAPPENINGS

8th Grade Graduation -The next meeting for 7th Grade parents, who are planning the 8th grade graduation, will be January 22, at 7:00pm in the library. Catholic Schools Week –January 28th through February 3rd - The week will begin with a Musical Mission Concert at St. Anthony’s at 9:30 am. Additional details will be forthcoming in upcoming January email reminders. Our 4th Annual Winter Carnival - The Winter Carnival will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2018 from 6:00-8:30pm. We are in need of cash or gift card donations for our raffle (don’t forget all the options for scrip). We are looking for gift cards from the following businesses: AMC Theater, B.C. Pizza, Celebration Cinema, Dick’s, iTunes, Mr. Burger, Panera Bread, Peppino’s, Schuler Books, Tanger Outlet, Target, TGI Friday’s, Ulta and Wendy’s. Please contact Melissa Radlinski at melissaradlinski@hotmail.com or 217-6333 if you have questions. Donations may be dropped off at the school office in an envelope marked Winter Carnival Donation. Thank you! Willy Wonka, Jr. Musical - Mr. Dave Inbody has offered to direct our third annual musical, Willy Wonka,Jr. See the attachment for information on the cast list, informational meeting on January 4th, auditions, practices, and shows on March 17th and 18th. Principal parts are open for Grades 5-8, and the "Oompa Loompas" will be students from Grades 3-4. We look forward to another amazing show with our very talented students! Juice Pouch Recycling - To date, we have recycled 110,145 juice pouches. In January, we will receive a small payment of $28.95 for the juice pouches we have collected this fall. The second payment comes in June and will obviously be larger. Please make sure juice pouches are completely empty before turning them in. Thanks for helping to keep our earth “juice pouch free!”

Advent Haiti Clean Water Filter Advent Project Next week is our last week to collect for our Haiti Water Filter Advent Project. Please be generous as we help our friends in Haiti to have clean water and healthier lives. The high school team headed there in April will have the pleasure of installing the filters and experience the gratitude and happiness of the people of Seguin. God Bless!

Holy Spirit Preschool

2018-2019 Registration News!

Parishioners who may be interested in

our preschool programs for next fall

should call the school office to be put

on the list if you have not yet done so.

Our Early Childhood Information

Night will be held on Monday,

February 12th

. For additional

information, please contact Paula

Ryan at 735-6031 or email

pryan@hsparish.org. We look

forward to welcoming new three

and four-year old preschool

students!

In Sympathy

Please remember in prayer, the following families who have lost

special loved ones this past month: The Alt Family, the Verburg Family, the Perez Family, and the

Constant Family.

January Birthdays Jake K. Emilia P. Trace T. Matthew V.

Bryce D. Paul S. Jack H. Caroline D.

Alex G. Brendan R. Ms. Vig Mr. Wisniewski

Mrs. Dennis

Advent Family Gathering/Potluck – We hope everyone had a great time at the Advent Gathering/Potluck. We hope

you met some new friends that you might see when you attend Mass on the weekend. We appreciate all the wonderful

food and help with clean-up. We observed where we could make some changes to speed up the dinner line. Thank you

again for attending. We want to support you in being the domestic church for your children. We are here to help you.

Matthew Kelly is Coming to GR! - Internationally known Catholic speaker, Matthew Kelly is coming to Grand Rapids

on May 19th at the Deltaplex. If you want to hear a sample of his talks, go to www.DynamicCatholic.com and sign up for

The Best Advent Ever where you will get free videos to help you take the time to celebrate Advent. Tickets for his May

appearance are on sale now for a limited time. After that, the tickets go up to $39. You will also get an event bag full of

his books and cd’s worth $70. We will have a sale here at Holy Spirit on Jan.20 for $20 if there are still tickets

available. See the Flyer in this newsletter. We are also looking for volunteers to help on the day of the event. Be sure to

get your free copy of his book, Perfectly Yourself in the narthex at church. If we run out, don’t worry, we have more

coming for Christmas.

Divorce Recovery – Do you know someone who is divorced or going through the process of divorce? We are offering a

12 week video program here at Holy Spirit. The cost is only $15 for the personal guidebook. Register with the Religious

Ed office and let us know if you will be needing childcare. We are hoping to have someone come from the Diocesan

Tribunal office to talk about the annulment process at the end of the video series. See the flyer in this newsletter.

First Reconciliation - The celebration of First Reconciliation will be on Wed., January10, 2018 in the church. Bring

your child directly to church that day. We will have a group celebration with individual reconciliation for the children.

This is your time to spend some quality time in prayer or spiritual reading. We ask that you do not set a poor example by

using electronic devices during this time for work or recreation. We will have paper and pencil “Reconciliation”

activities for the children to do while waiting for their turn with the priest. We will begin at 6:30 sharp. Please practice

with your child over Christmas break. We will be sending home another Act of Contrition and How-to sheet with your

child. Many children still do not make the Sign of the Cross correctly. Please work on that too.

First Eucharist – The First Eucharist booklets will be coming home with the second graders on Wed., Dec. 13. Seating

for First Communion is by the order in which the completed registrations are received. You must send in a copy of your

child’s baptismal certificate if your child was NOT baptized at Holy Spirit. There is a parent class on Wed., January 24

for those that did not attend one before. We are looking for ministers for reading, commentating, communion, ushers,

and cross bearer. I f you or a relative are trained in these ministries and are willing to help, please email me with their

names and email addresses.

Confirmation - If you have not turned in your child’s registration form yet, please do so. It was due before

Thanksgiving. A copy of your child’s baptismal certificate is also needed if your child was not baptized or received First

Communion at Holy Spirit. Service hours are due in January. For the projects that I arranged, just list them on the

service record sheet. No signatures for those are needed since I was at all of them and know who was there. The

candidates need a total of 5 hours. Ronald McDonald House and Covenant Village counted for 2 hours, and Gilda’s Club

for 4 hours. So depending on which your child attended, 1 to 3 more hours are needed. Choose organizations that help

others.

Religious Education News

NEW HOLY SPIRIT WINTER APPAREL With cold weather upon us, don't forget to check out our Holy Spirit uniform approved warmer items, such as the crew

sweatshirt, and Sport wick 1/4 Zip tops, available through Educational Outfitters. All items ordered before Dec 17th, will be ready for pick up at the store Dec 21st, or can be shipped to homes. Samples are available in the office and online. Be sure to check out the LINK BOX below for more information regarding these uniform options as well as the Matthew Kelly event, Aquinas Softball Camps, and Girls on the Run.

LINK BOX Aquinas Camp

Girls on the Run

Holy Spirit Uniform link to Educational Outfitters

Matthew Kelly

WINTERY WEATHER As our weather turns “wintery” ~ please help your child/ren remember to bring boots to school for outdoor recess. Students who wear boots may play on the blacktop area…otherwise students without boots will remain on the sidewalk so that the salt, slush, etc…is not tracked onto the carpet in the classrooms. Students who are fully dressed for winter (i.e. – snow pants, boots, hats, gloves, etc…) may choose to play on the playground equipment, the upper/lower fields, and/or go sledding when offered.

ILLNESS

If a child is ill, he/she should remain at home. The Health Department suggests that a child who is well enough to be in

school is well enough to participate in all school activities, including outdoor recess and physical education. If a child is

ill and remains at home during the school day, the student may not attend extra-curricular activities on that day (Education

Commission Policy #6146.2.)

If a child becomes ill during the school day, a parent, relative, or a person designated on the child’s enrollment

information card will be notified to come and get him/her.

What follows is a summary of the Health Department publication entitled, “When to Keep Your Child Home.” The

school also uses these guidelines to determine if a child should be sent home from school as well.

FEVER Do not allow child to return to school until “unassisted” fever-free for 24 hours.

COLD, COUGH “Heavy cough” and hacking cough…keep home in bed even though no fever.

SORE THROAT Sore throat, but no other symptoms…go to school…BUT check the throat for spots - and check for a fever. If

either is present, keep the child home and call the doctor.

RASH Do not send a child with a rash to school until your doctor has said that it is safe to do so.

HEADACHE Usually need not be kept home. (If you wish your child to take medication for headache, you will need to bring

the medication to the office in a labeled container, with a completed Medication Administration Release Form.

(see school web-site at www.holyspiritschoolgr.org under “Families and Students” – “Parent Forms”.)

EARACHE Consult your doctor without delay.

TOOTHACHE Consult your dentist.

VOMITING Please keep the child home. They may return 24 hrs after their stomach has calmed. Consult your

doctor if it persists.

Holy Spirit Mission Statement Holy Spirit School promotes the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Students, parents and faculty form a Catholic family of faith. Together, we challenge our students to achieve their fullest spiritual, academic, social, emotional, and physical potential.

December 15, 2017

BOOK FAIR: Another successful Scholastic Book fair has just wrapped up! Thank you, Carrie Miedema and Beth Bott for your hard work and dedication to this event! Thank you, parents, for your generous support of the PTA Book Fair. We earned about $2000 in Scholastic Dollars, which will be used to buy books for the school. We are also grateful for the books that were purchased for teacher classroom gifts. A special thank you to all the volunteers that worked throughout the week to make this event a success. See you next December for another book fair! PTA Christmas Collection: The Christmas collection has wrapped up and we would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to the families of Holy Spirit for your generous donations! Each teacher will be gifted with an even distribution of this collection. In addition, the PTA provides a $40 gift to the teachers, administrators and support staff. This year, each staff member was able to choose if they wanted new apparel from the HS Apparel website or scrip gift cards! Election Year: 2017 is an election year for the PTA secretary position! This position is a 2-year term role. Please give consideration to whether a PTA office role is a way that you can share your time and talent! Thank you for your continued support of the PTA! We wish you many blessings this Christmas season. THE NEXT PTA MEETING IS TUESDAY, JANUARY 23rd IN THE LIBRARY.

Featured Author of the Month

Congratulations to Brenna O., in Grade 6C, for being the Featured Author of the Month. Brenna

has won a lunch of her choice, and her story, written for children, is featured below.

BOB THE DUCK’S BIG ADVENTURE

Once upon a time, there was a duck named Bob. Bob had a friend who was also a duck. Her

name is Sally. Bob and Sally live in a pond called Happy Duck Pond. Happy Duck Pond has

lots of lily pads and duckweed. It is a great place for ducks like Bob and Sally to live. Most of

the time Bob and Sally stay in Happy Duck Pond.

One day Bob decided to go on an adventure. Sally didn’t want to go with Bob so Bob decided to

go alone. The next day, Bob packed up his stuff, waved goodbye to Sally, and left Happy Duck

Pond to go on an adventure.

Bob didn’t know where to go. He just walked and walked and walked. Then, in the distance, he

saw a goose and the goose saw him. They ran toward each other. They said hi to each other.

The goose’s name was Peter. Peter was also on an adventure. They decided to go on an

adventure together.

Peter and Bob walked together until they saw a lot of water. The water they saw was a lake

called Fun Lake. It had a lot of ducks and geese doing fun activities on the lake. Bob and Peter

went to Fun Lake. Fun Lake was much bigger than Happy Duck Pond. They met lots of other

geese and ducks. They swam together in Fun Lake.

They decided to head back to Happy Duck Pond. Then Bob realized that Peter had never been to

Happy Duck Pond. Bob asked Peter if he wanted to live in Happy Duck Pond with him and

Sally. Peter agreed even though he is a goose, not a duck.

When Bob arrived back at Happy Duck Pond, Sally wondered who the goose was that was with

him. Bob told Sally that his name was Peter and that he was going to live with them. Sally was

happy to let Peter join them. Then Peter met all the other ducks in Happy Duck Pond. He

realized that he was the only goose in Happy Duck Pond, but he was okay with that. He lived

happily with all of his new friends.

THE END

About the Author

Brenna is 12 years old. She does gymnastics, and plays volleyball and soccer.

Holy Spirit School Calendar, January, 2018 Lunch Supervision, Grades 4-5 / For updated information go to

www.holyspiritschoolgr.org

1

Feast of

Mary,

Mother

of God

Lk 2:16-21

Happy

New Year!

2

No School

Child Care

Open

3

Classes

Resume

Mass 8:45

4 Willy Wonka

Jr. Musical

Introduction

2:50-3:05

Band

Concert at

WC 7:00

5

6

Evening

of

Worship

7:30

7

Feast of the

Epiphany

Mt 2:1-12

8

7:00 Winter

Carnival

Meeting

Art Room

9 Willy Wonka

Jr. Musical

Auditions

Choir 3:20

10 Mass 8:45

Gr. 2 6:30

Reconciliation

Gr. 8 Parent

Meeting 7:00

11

Gr. 5

Field Trip Willy Wonka

Jr. Musical

Auditions

12

Student

Council

Beach Day

$1 per

family

13

14

Sunday

Gospel

Jn 1:35-42

Tarry Hall

Roller

Skating

5:30-7:30

15

Martin

Luther King

Holiday

No School

Child Care

Open

16 Gr. 6-8

Exams

Full Day

Choir 3:20

Board

Meeting 6:30

17

Mass 8:45

Gr. 6-8 only 12:30 Dismissal

Exams

18 Gr. 6-8 only

11:45

Dismissal

Exams

Gr. 1 3:20

Little

Flowers

19

End of 2nd

Quarter

Gr. 6-8 only

11:45

Dismissal

Exams

20

Knights

of

Columbus

Hoop

Shoot

2:30-4:30

21

Sunday

Gospel

Mt 1:14-20

22

7:00 Gr. 7

Graduation

Meeting

Library

23 Spelling Bee

12:30-1:30

Choir 3:20

PTA

Meeting

7:00 Library

24

Mass 8:45

Gr. 2 Parent

Eucharist

Meeting 6:45

25 Be Nice

Gr. 4-8

Presentation

Student

Council 3:30

Uccello’s

Give Back

Night

26

Newsletter/

Calendar

27

28

Catholic

Schools

Week

Gospel

Mk 1:21-28

Children’s

Choir

10:00 Mass

29 Music Mission

Concert at

St. Anthony’s

9:30-10:30

Gr. 1-8

30

Student

Council~

Mass at St. Andrew’s

Report

Cards

Online

31 Mass 8:45

JOIN US FOR MONTHLY PLAY & LEARN ACTIVITIES

You and your children (ages 5 & under) are invited to attend Holy Spirit School to explore learning in a faith-filled fun environment. Each play & learn activity is led by a Holy Spirit staff member on a Thursday from 10:15—10:40. Enter through the west doors facing

church and check in at the school office.

JANUARY 18: Exercising our faith with Mrs. Kalahar in the gym. FEBRUARY 15: Exploring God’s work in Science with Mrs. Null and Mrs. Carlstrom in the Preschool. MARCH 15: Preparing for Easter with Miss West and Mrs. Duffy in the Kindergarten Classroom. APRIL 26: Surprise Activities with Mr. Kalahar and Mrs. Ryan.

Questions? Contact the school office at 616-453-2772.