MOSS Newsletter March 2018
A Note From Mrs. Szmed
Dear MOSS Families,
Well, Spring is finally here. Let’s all pray that the warm weather will come quickly!
As I have been announcing in our weekly newsflash, we have had a dramatic increase in enrollment, especially in Kindergarten and grades 1-5. This increase is partly due to another Catholic school in the area merging, but it is also a result of our present MOSS families positively communicating their wonderful educational experience with the community. Thank you so much for your support and trust in MOSS’s mission to educate the Heart, Mind, and Soul of every child.
This Friday is our last fish fry of the year. It looks like we will be reaching our needed profit goal for our operating budget. The new buffet line seemed to have worked wonderfully and has helped to increase the overall sales. Thank you to all of our school families and parishioners who volunteered to work, it sometimes was a little hectic, but always a lot of fun. A big thanks to the Fish Fry Committee – Lisa and Sam DiNinno, Cathy Lovino, Jodi Beall, Brian and Heather Bungard, Ruth Ann Wargofchik, Mr. and Mrs. Buchin, Barb Hantz, Anna Zubrow, Amy Danko, John and Ed Szmed. Many of these committee members would like to take a break next year and I am looking for new families to step in to fill their duties or I would welcome ideas for a new fundraiser to replace the Fish Fry. Please reach out to me and let me know your thoughts.
As we conclude the season of Lent next week, I would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy Easter to you and your family! May your hearts be filled with joy, love and peace.
Faithfully yours, Theresa A. Szmed Principal
Important Dates: March 23rd:
Fish Fry (11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.)
Volunteers: All MOSS
March 28th: Snow Make Up
11:30 a.m. Early Dismissal
March 29th to April 2nd: Easter Break
No School
April 11th: Save Day Program
April 13th: Donuts with Dad
(7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.)
4th Grade Play 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
April 16th to April 20th: ACT Testing
Grades 3rd through 8th (No Family Vacations Please)
April 20th: Pepperoni Roll Order Due
April 22nd: Designer Purse Bingo
1:30 p.m. Social Hall
Mother of Sorrows School 3264 Evergreen Drive Murrysville, PA 15668
Phone: 724-733-8840
Website: www.mosschool.org We're on Facebook!
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Student Spotlight
American History Award
Honors 4 Junior Students The Daughters of the American Revolution American History Essay Contest was
inspired by the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War, WWI. Students were
asked to write an essay all about what it would be like to live in the year 1918.
Judging was based on historical accuracy, adherence to topic, organization of
material, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation and neatness. Queen
Alliquippa Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution has selected 4 winners
from Mother of Sorrows School. Each winner will receive an American history essay
pin, certificate and will move on to the Pennsylvania State Level Competition.
We would like to congratulate the following students on a job well done:
Marielle Wilson ~ 5th Grade
Michael Christlieb ~ 6th Grade
Liam John O'Connor ~ 7th Grade
Adrianna Battaglia ~ 8th Grade
Check out the following link to read an article featuring our winners on e-news.
http://almanac.tubecityonline.com/almanac/?e=930
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
WCMEA County Chorus Festival Box Top Contest
Olivia Thatcher, a six grader at MOSS, attended the
WCMEA Sixth Grade County Chorus Festival on Friday,
February 23rd at West Hempfield Middle School.
Students that attended the festival rehearsed all day
with Dr. Ryan Beeken, director of Choral Studies at
IUP. The chorus, made up of students from schools
all over the county, performed a concert that evening.
Olivia was one of 6 students from the Diocese of
Greensburg that attended. Way to go, Olivia!
Congratulations to Mrs. Coleman's class who earned the pizza party for turning in the most Box
Tops! They turned in 918 Box Tops and earned $91.80 for MOSS. Mrs. Matthew's class earned
ice cream sandwiches for having the highest participation in the contest. They turned in 753
Box Tops and earned $75.30 for MOSS. Mrs. Bayer was the winner of a Dunkin Donuts gift
card for turning in the most Box Tops out of all of the teaching staff. MOSS collectively earned
$576.50 during this contest. Our yearly total is now $1,367.70. Box Tops for Education sends
out checks twice a year in December and April. MOSS uses the money earned as part of our
fundraising goals. This year, our Box Tops goal is to earn $2,000. Since we are short of our
goal and in an effort to capture those Box Tops that may expire over the summer, we will be
doing one final collection during the first week of May. These earnings will be included in our
December check. We can easily meet our yearly goal if each homeroom is able to submit 350
Box Tops. Don't forget, you can earn Box Tops by using the Box Tops APP to scan your
grocery receipt. Thanks for your continued support and congratulations to our winners! Anyone
interested in learning more about Box Tops for Education or if you would like to volunteer to
help with this program, please contact Tammy Nuzzo at [email protected].
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Spotlight on Sports
Boys' Basketball
Girls' Volleyball The Mother of Sorrows Girls' Volleyball teams started their CYO
volleyball season on March 3, 2018. The season continues
through May 12th with the Diocesan Volleyball Tournament the
weekend of May 19th. Mother of Sorrows has five girls' teams
this year, one JJV team, two JV teams and two Varsity teams.
Come on out to see the girls play!
The Mother of Sorrows' Boys' Basketball teams completed their season by competing in the Diocesan
Boys' Basketball Tournament from February 20th to 25th, with the last two days of the tournament
being played at Greensburg Central Catholic High School. All four of the Mother of Sorrows teams
performed well, displaying both hard work and great sportsmanship throughout the tournament. We
would like to congratulate the Varsity and JJV boys' teams for winning the tournament championship in
their respective divisions and to the boys' JV Blue team for earning second place honors in the
tournament. The Varsity boys' team will participate in the State CYO Boys' Basketball Tournament in
Harrisburg (March 16-18). Good luck to the team and stay tuned for the results in the April Newsletter.
Track and Field Club The Track and Field Club kicked off its season on March 5th. There
are 28 participants signed up this year. The MOSS Track and Field
Club will be competing with 8 other teams in the area during weekly
meets and 42 teams during the championship meets. Meets will begin
on April 7th and run through April 28th. The championship meets will
be held at Robert Morris University Island Sports Center on May 12th
for the Novice Division (K - 4th grade) and May 19th for both the JV
Division (5th and 6th grade) and Varsity Division (7th and 8th grade).
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Save the Date
Are you planning a Spring trip? Do you need some
gifts to fill those Easter baskets? Well, look no further!
We have hundreds of gift cards you can choose from
to meet all of your needs. The best part is you can
receive tuition credit for purchasing gift cards through
the scrip program. Scrip gift cards are on sale in the
office Monday through Friday. Stop by so you can
earn credit towards your next tuition bill!
On January 26th, our 7th and 8th Grade MOSS students participated in the National
School Choice Rally in Pittsburgh. Here is a picture of our students with Bishop Malesic.
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Designer Bag Bingo
Thank You We would like to send a HUGE THANK YOU to all of
the families and businesses that have helped sponsor
a BINGO game. We are extremely grateful for your
generosity! We would also like to congratulate Mrs.
Malley's 1st grade class for earning the pizza party by
turning in all of their donation money in just 1 day! We
are still accepting donations so if you know an individual or
business that would like to sponsor a game or purse raffle,
please contact Darlene at [email protected].
Ways You Can Help 1. We could use YOUR HELP in buying and selling tickets for the event. For your convenience,
a Ticket Form will be sent home this week. Please fill out this form, and turn it in to the office,
to purchase your tickets. Your tickets will be sent home with your child. Please note, we are
taking table reservations but they will come on a first come, first serve basis.
2. Volunteer at the event. Listed below are some ways you can help out the day of the event.
• Sell "Spirits"
• Sell 50/50 Tickets
• Sell Raffle Tickets
• Sell BINGO Daubers
• Sell Jackpot BINGO Cards
• Help manage the Food and Drink Stations
• Help Set Up before the event or Clean Up after the event is over
3. We have already started shopping for some of the purses and they are absolutely beautiful!
Please check out the school's Facebook page, regularly, to see the purses and wallets you
have a chance of winning. Be sure to "Like" and "Share" the Facebook Post so we can
spread the word about this exciting fundraiser. As always, thank you for all of your support!
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Mother of Sorrows School invites
Your Foursome to
"The 1st Annual MOSS Golf Outing" When: Saturday, May 19, 2018 Where: Murrysville Golf Course Time: 8:00 a.m. Shotgun Start Cost: $125 per Player (price includes Golf Cart, 18 Holes of Golf, Lunch at the Turn, Skill Prizes & a Steak Dinner)
For more information, please contact Brian Bungard at 412-889-3992 or [email protected]
ACCEPTING UP TO 33 TEAMS SO MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS TODAY!
Are you hosting Easter dinner? Do you need
gifts or yummy treats to fill your Easter baskets?
Well, look no further! We have hundreds of gift
cards you can choose from to meet all of your
holiday needs. The best part is you can receive
tuition credit for purchasing gift cards through
the scrip program. Scrip gift cards are on sale in
the office Monday through Friday. Stop by so
you can earn credit towards your next tuition bill!
Our 8th grade class participated in an English project in which
they created a biological portfolio on "The Life of a Loved One."
Most students selected a grandparent or parent to interview.
Their life story will be memorialized in a scrapbook including
photographs, documents and cherished memories. Stop by the
library, in April, to see all of these wonderful portfolios on display.
In Social Studies, the 8th grade students depicted caricatures
of the characters in "To Kill a Mockingbird." These beautiful
pictures are currently on display in the Middle School hallway.
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Fish Fry
MOSS Scrip
Classroom News
Believe it or not, this Friday is our last Fish Fry of
the season! We would like to thank all of our
volunteers who took time out of their busy
schedules to volunteer for this major fundraiser! If
anyone is able to volunteer, this Friday, please
contact Mrs. Beall at [email protected].
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
First Grade celebrates Dr. Seuss
with their very own Literary Hats!
Our Boys Varsity
Basketball Team
received a special
blessing from
Fr. Sikon before
they traveled to
Harrisburg, PA for
the Pennsylvania
Championship
Tournament!
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
On March 14th, each
class took part in a prayer
service. They prayed for
their family, friends and
peace around the world!
It was a wonderful
opportunity for our school
family to come together to
pray for those in need and
those close to our hearts.
Kindergarten students read a story
about Jesus and how much he loves us.
7th Grade prays for peace!
3rd Grade learns how to
turn to GOD in times of fear!
March 2018 MOSS Newsletter
Mother of Sorrows Church Palm Sunday (March 24th and March 25th):
• Saturday Mass ~ 5:00 p.m. • Sunday Mass ~ 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. (Mass with Procession), 11:30 a.m.
Holy Thursday (March 29th):
• 7:00 p.m. (Mass of the Lord's Supper & Transfer of the Holy Eucharist) • 11:00 p.m. (Night Prayer)
Good Friday (March 30th):
• 1:30 p.m. (Celebration of the Passion of the Lord) • 7:00 p.m. (Stations of the Cross)
Holy Saturday (March 31st):
• 12:00 p.m. (Blessing of Easter Foods ~ Church) • 8:30 p.m. (The Easter Vigil)
Easter Sunday (April 1st):
• 7:30 a.m. (Church) • 9:30 a.m. (Church and Social Hall) • 11:30 a.m. (Church)