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Academics, Religion

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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Issue 1 2013 - 2014 School Year December 2013

The 2013-14 school year at St. Theresa School has gotten off to a great start.

Very appropriately, this year’s theme is S.T.A.R. where Students, Teachers,

Academics & Religion are the four key elements that make STS so successful

and the World’s Best Catholic School (WBCS)! This year our enrollment in-

creased by twenty students, and we have some new staff members at STS who

have been doing an excellent job:

· Middle School Math Teacher: Angela Tarkington

· Middle School 7th Gr. Geography and Advanced L.A. Teacher:

Erin Szymczak

· Instructional Support Aide, Kg-5th: Judy Karas

· Preschool Aide: Sasha D’Ambrosio

A new position added this year was the Marketing & Development Officer and

Michelle Zemba has filled the role very well. Thanks to her work, we have

been represented well in the local TV news and newspaper, our Facebook page

has really developed, thereby generating a lot of attention and the participation

by local business in our EITC (Educational Improvement Tax Credit) Program

continues to grow. STS’s overall exposure for the outstanding place that it is as

a faith-based educational institution and our Christ-Centered Academic Excel-

lence has been wonderful.

With this being my fourth year at STS, I am pleased and very humbled to say

that I have signed another three-year contract. We continue to be grateful and

thankful for our STS/Parish community as everyone continues to help make

good things happen. This success is made possible because of the dedication of

St. Theresa Parish, its parishioners, Father McFadden, the students and parents

of STS, the School Board, PTO, teachers, and staff.

We continue to embrace modern technology as we prepare our students for the

21st Century. As we enter the school year, we have purchased 20 iPads with

mobile docking station and wireless router. Additionally, for the benefit of the

staff, teachers, students and parents, we are operating under a new student infor-

mation system called OptionC! Parents and students now have access to on-

line grades throughout each Trimester. For teachers, it is a great on-line tool for

attendance, lunch count, lesson plans, grading and grade books.

Looking forward to a great rest of the school year,

Matthew E. Shore, M.Ed.

Principal

2

Pre-School By Mrs. Zimmerman & Mrs. D’Ambrosio

Preschool began the

school year by learning

how to make friends and

act kindly toward each

other. They read “Have

You Filled a Bucket

Today?” The book shares ways people can fill

others’ buckets by being kind and saying nice

things! But it also explained how a person could feel

sad if their bucket was emptied by not so friendly

actions on the part of others. The preschool students

are working on filling their friends’ buckets!

Fire safety brought the

New Cumberland Fire

Company to the school.

Students asked the fire

fighters questions and

got to explore fire trucks

and ambulances.

Halloween was wonderful! Students made

Halloween creations with pumpkin spiced

playdough. They created popcorn monster hands and

got to dance! They even got to explore the inside of

a real pumpkin! They played all sorts of Halloween

games and looked awesome in their cool costumes.

Did someone say turkey? The

Pilgrims and Native Americans in

preschool celebrated being thankful

by having 4 delicious Thanksgiving

feasts. The turkey and all the

trimmings were delicious. As Preschool put away

their turkeys, they quickly got out their Christmas

music. Boy can they sing! All 4 classes are

preparing for a spectacular Christmas concert on

December 16th. The children will be singing their

rendition of not Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,

but Roo-Roo the Red Nosed Kanga! The children

have never giggled so much! Preschool would like

to wish everyone a peaceful and blessed Merry

Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

Little Saints Academy By Mrs. Carole Cuthbertson

The Little Saints have learned a lot and have had

fun doing so since the beginning of school. They

have covered a variety of themes, learning through

literature, singing, dancing, creative art and

imaginative play just to name a few.

Literature: The Diggenest Dog, The Elephant and

the Bad Baby, George and Martha stories

Singing: Our morning devotion: Twinkle Twinkle

Little Star, Shine on me everyday, Guide my light

to do what I should do, To be to others kind and

good.

Dancing: Color Dance, Monster Mash, Looby Loo,

12 Days of Christmas, Months of the Year

Creative Arts: Ironing fall leaves, 10 Black Dots,

Dream Catchers, Feather painting

Imaginative Play: Pilgrims meeting Squanto, Three

Billy Goats Gruff and Six Foolish Fisherman

During this season of Advent, the children have

created very special advent wreaths, lighting the

first 2 candles of hope and faith. They are starting

to build their own nativity stories, singing about

the angel Gabriel bringing good news to Mary.

In adding the donkey to their scene, they have

listened to 2 heartwarming

stories: “The Donkey’s

Christmas Song” and “The

Small One”. They also

sing about the Donkey in

“The Friendly

Beasts” (carrying His

mother up hill and down,

to Bethlehem town). The

children will continue

adding to their nativity,

finishing with the three Wise men right before our

Christmas vacation.

We, at Little Saints, take this opportunity to

wish all a Blessed Christmas and a Happy 2014!

3

In October the three kindergarten classes learned all about pumpkins and celebrated Pumpkin Day. All of the children were busy with many fun pumpkin activities. They labeled pumpkin parts, decorated pumpkins, wrote about pumpkins, painted pumpkins, heard pumpkin stories, played pumpkin math games as well as other fun activities. That afternoon for snack they enjoyed delicious treats made from pumpkin!

The three kindergarten classes celebrated Day 50 on November 8th. They dressed in 50’s clothes, danced to 50’s music and enjoyed root beer floats for snack.

They are all having fun as they count to Day 100!

As the Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving so long ago, the kindergarten students and their Buddies also enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast as a culminating activity to their Thanksgiving Unit. All three classes made Thankful Turkeys as they count their many blessings.

As December approaches, the kindergarten students are as busy as little elves preparing for Christmas. Again, another fun time with their 5th Grade Buddies was had as they met and made gingerbread houses. The houses were all unique and beautiful! The three kindergarten classes are learning about the Advent season and also preparing their hearts for the coming of Jesus. Merry Christmas!

Kindergarten By: Mrs. Telatovich, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Brown, Mrs.

Petrillo and Mrs. Long

There was exciting news in Kindergarten this year! Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Telatovich moved into new rooms near Mrs. Ford’s room. The three classes are now located near each other in Kindergarten Corner! Mrs. Brown’s room from last year has been changed into a Resource Room. The three classes use it as extra space for Buddy time and for working on projects. It is also used during Learning Centers. The children from all three classes participate in Learning Centers on a regular basis. Planned Language Arts and Math activities and games are set up in all three rooms and in the Resource Room. The children from all three classes are in small groups and rotate through each center. This provides 30 minutes of extra fun and exploration and the opportunity to make new friends from the other classes.

In the beginning of the year they were all busy learning the routine and getting to know all of their new friends. Johnny Appleseed Day was fun as they learned about this folk hero and had many yummy apple treats to enjoy.

4

First Grade

By Mrs. Pinamonti & Mrs. Lenig

Grandparen t s o f

Kindergarten, first and

second graders came

to our school on

Friday, October 4. We

c e l e b r a t e d a n d

honored them with a music program,

refreshments and activities.

Students in 1B celebrated National Young

Readers’ Week in November by sharing book

reports of a favorite book and a puppet of a

character from that book.

Parents joined first grade

students for a Pot Luck Party

in the Little Flower Social

Hall on Thursday November

21. Each child brought food

that had the same beginning

letter as their first or last

name. It was a delicious meal enjoyed by all.

The ate almost everything from A-Z!

Students in Grades K-6 are participating in

the BOOK IT! Reading program from

October to March. Students receive a free

one-topping personal pan pizza each month

when they reach their reading goal.

First grade students (and

Mrs. Lenig!) dressed up as

their favorite Saints for All

Saints Day. Pictured is Saint

Elizabeth Rose (Danika),

Saint Bernadette (Mrs.

Lenig) and Saint Rose

(Jordan).

Second Grade By: Mrs. Moser & Ms. Roos

Our STAR theme, has been shining all over

the school. Second grade has been doing a

lot of activities centered around this theme.

2A has started a new bulletin board challenge

called “Fall into a Good Book.” Each time a

student finishes a book, he/she will write the

title of the book on a leaf and add it to the

board. 2A’s goal is to make it really hard for

Ms. Roos to rake up all their leaves by the

end!

The second graders are

practicing hard for their

Christmas program and 2A is

writing funny stories about

reindeer!! They are also

doing lots of fun crafts and

learning about Advent.

Students in grades K through 6

are eligible to participate in the

Six Flags Read to Succeed

Reading Club! This reading program encourages

students to engage in recreational reading.

Students who complete six hours of recreational,

non-school related reading are eligible to earn a

free admission ticket to Six Flags Great

Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. The Six

Flags Read to Succeed Reading information

letter and reading log form can be found on Mrs.

Pinamonti's web site. The form needs to be

completed and returned to Mrs. Pinamonti

by Friday, February 21, 2014. Tickets will be

distributed in the Spring.

5

Third Grade By: Ms. O’Connor and Mrs. Garnett

Third grade is learning about God’s creations.

They created maps and put a prayer on the

back of each, thanking God. Students also

read “Flat Stanley” and

created a Flat Stanley to

send out to all four

corners of the world!

They are excited to find

out where their Flat Stanleys will venture to.

During Thanksgiving Third

Grade was busy camouflaging

their turkeys! No turkey wants to

be the Guest of Honor at

Thanksgiving dinner.

We are completing a project on Native

Americans. The students researched a Native

American Tribe in the library and wrote an

informational text on their tribe. Students

then went to the computer lab to type and

insert text features such as pictures,

highlighted words and captions.

The third grade students are

also doing a service project.

They are writing Christmas

notes and cards to the parish

homebound. Mrs. Frantz will be bringing

them to the parish office to be given out to

those in the parish who are unable to drive or

are alone during the holidays.

Fourth Grade By: Mrs. Richard & Mrs. Spaulding

Tales with Tails started! The first class was a

meet and greet then the

second class, students got

to read to the dogs! Tales

with Tails is a Red Cross

Therapy program and

stands for Therapy

Animals Increase Literacy

Skills.

4A learned the Ten Commandments in Religion.

They created tablets and made them look old by

rubbing them with tea bags.

4B did a lab experience going through the

Scientific Process Skills and the students are

now extending those skills to a project. During

their study on magnetism, they hung a magnet

from the ceiling with yarn. It could move freely

but no matter how they moved it, it always

ended up pointing to the magnetic North Pole!

4A Is learning about electricity in science. We

learned about electrical safety. The 4th grade

students shared what they learned with their

reading buddies. Both students created a safety

worksheet.

6

Fifth Grade By: Mrs. Costello and Mrs. DeBastiani

Fifth grade is studying Ancient Cultures this

year. We started the year studying Early

Humankind learning about

the world’s early people

and early farmers and city

dwellers. We are now

l e a r n i n g a b o u t

Mesopotamia, Egypt and

Kush. While learning

about Sumer, students

made cuneiforms out of

clay. Cuneiforms are wedged shaped forms

that stood for different syllables and were

based on spoken sound.

We are in the middle of learning about

ancient Egypt. Each student made their own

pharaoh. Check them out in our hallway or

on Facebook! We are also

learning about the pyramids,

mummies, hieroglyphs, gods,

and soon many other interesting

facts.

In Science, students finished up

their unit on Cells by creating overlays

representing different parts of a plant cell

then “rapping” in their own video rap!

Sixth Grade

Sixth grade finished studying the universe.

They learned how scientists identify

exoplanets using the transit

method by a NASA interactive

simulation of a Kepler planet

finding mission.

In Language Arts they have been working on

article writing. Students recently published

an article for the “Sixth Grade Times”. It had

to be newsworthy, current and informative.

Students used the 5 W’s of reporting in their

articles first then added quotes or

narrative last in case their editor

had to cut their story down.

Students just started a mystery

called “The Westing Game”. This

is a popular Whodunit mystery

that will have them clue chasing

as detectives as they try to uncover the

mystery.

In Social Studies, students are learning about

Ancient Egypt. This is one of the largest

studies of the year. It will be exciting when

they conduct a CSI Egyptian Study of the

death of King Tut! Recently a new study has

been released on his death so students will

learn about its

findings at that

time.

7

Seventh Grade

Seventh grade students have been busy

examining their neighborhoods for evidence of

erosion as they studied erosional forces in

Science.

The 7th grade students are learning about

watersheds and will use a Geographic

Information System (GIS) program to learn how

to delineate their watershed. The GIS program

w i l l h e l p

students see

c o n n e c t i o n s

between land

features and the

flow path of

water. Students

w i l l b e

observing how surface type affects the

stormwater and investigate the impact of

stormwater runoff.

Students in Mrs. Szymczak's Advanced

Language Arts class used finger paints to

illustrate a

poem they

were given.

Each cluster

of desks had

a different

poem to

work with

i n c l u d i n g

poems by Shel Silverstein.

Eighth Grade Eighth grade went to Messiah

College to conduct their yearly

stream study for Science. The

students collected stream

samples by getting in the water

and examining what they

collected.

The Eighth grade has been working hard on

their many fundraisers. The car washes were

very successful and they had a wonderful

time at the Apple Festival and at the Barnes

and Noble event pictured below.

Students are blogging for current events with

Mrs. McCarthy. Students have already

discussed the truck terminal issue in

Fairview Township as well as the upcoming

canonization of both Blessed John XXIII and

John Paul II. Mrs. McCarthy will follow the

Pope on Twitter and share his tweets with her

students.

In Social Studies, students are studying the

New Urban Culture of the early 1900’s. Part

of their study included entertainment of the

era. They studied types of music including

ragtime and military music, especially that of

John Philip Sousa.

Mrs.

Szymczak had

her entire class

check out the

new STS

Apple iPads!

8

STS Learning Support By: Carol Barno, Rhonda Houseman and

Terry Mandia

Sixth and seventh grade are busy

interviewing fictional Christmas

characters, even the Grinch! They began

by brainstorming what they already knew

and how they had learned about the character and

listing the media types they used (books, movies,

songs). The next step was to find information on the

character through the internet. The students then

began writing the information that they found and

forming it into questions that they would ask the

character. Finally the students took all of their

information and wrote an article about the character.

In Kindergarten, students are working on

letter formation and movement skills to

help better participation in the general

curriculum. Second grade students are

building their reading vocabulary and story

comprehension by using strategies to re-tell sections.

Third, fourth and sixth grade students are learning

new vocabulary, a new decoding sound and a new

comprehension skill each week. Math students have

been acquiring grade level math skill using a variety

of multisensory activities.

Mrs. Mandia’s students are working on a variety of

exciting reading strategies to assist them in growing

as readers. Elementary students are using Beanie

Babies to remind them to use multiple “tricks” to

assist them when they come to an unknown word.

Students are using the REWARDS, a multisyllabic

word reading program. The classes also experience

the use of the iPad in the classroom while using the

apps Speech4U to build fluency, Tools for Eduators

to access graphic organizers, and Educreations to

make slide shows on strategies.

Learning support is always busy being safe, being

kind and doing their job! Way to go students!!

Spirit Week 2013

STS had another wonderful celebration of Spirit Week.

Throughout the week, students participated in a Prayer

Service (focused on friendship, community and faith), we

all enjoyed Trinity High

School’s marching band

and we dressed in pj’s,

silly socks, jersey’s and

even 50’s outfits! Thank

you Mr. Joe Berrigan for

emceeing the pep rally! A

fun week was had by all!

Thank you Student

Council for all your hard work organizing Spirit Week!

Cornucopia Food Drive—over 2,400 items were

collected! The food was sent to The Bridge for

Thanksgiving and Christmas distribution.

Additional items were sent to the Silence of Mary

that distributed items for Thanksgiving in

Harrisburg. Winning classes were Mrs. Brown (K3)

and Mrs. DeBastiani (5B). The classes received a

DOUD and K3 had a pizza party and 5B had an ice

cream treat!

Thank you for all the wonderful stocking

stuffers we collected for the Sister

Parish! They appreciate our gifts so much. We

collected small toys, games, arts and crafts, school

supplies, hats, gloves, socks, candy and books.

Spelling Bee 30 Students from 6-7-8 grade competed in

our school spelling bee sponsored by

WITF at our local level. The students were cho-

sen by their language arts teachers for their excel-

lence in spelling. Mrs. Kaufold was the pro-

nouncer for the bee and Mrs. Szymczak and Mrs.

McCarthy served as judges. The competition

lasted for 8 rounds with all of the contestants per-

forming strongly. The championship round was

played by 8th graders Catie Noble and Kanyon

Reichard. Catie became STS Spelling Champion

and Kanyon the 1st Runner-Up. Catie will ad-

vance to the regional level, and take a written test

this winter. Good Luck, Catie!

9

Math Night Our first annual Math Night on

November 21st was a huge

success! So many families came

out to play math games and find

out if they are truly smarter than

a ?? grader! We were so glad to count everyone in

on the fun.

Marian Club The Marian Club began

meeting in October. The purpose of the

club is to help lead students closer to

Jesus through deeper devotion to Mary.

Meetings are held after school on the

second Wednesday of each month

from November to May. More than 45

students from grades K-7 have joined

the club this year!

Library By Mrs. Beauduy

STS was off to a great start this school

year! 80 students participated in the

Summer Reading Program and received

awards for their efforts!

For the 15th year in a row STS will be

participating in the Harrisburg Senators

“Hit the Books” Reading

Program during the month of March.

Also, we will be partnering with the

Hershey Bears in their “Roaring to

Read” reading program. Stay tuned

for more details on this!!

The annual Book Fair will be running during

Catholic Schools Week. Please stop in during our

Monday night event or during any of the school's

open houses.

Senora Haver has been working on

geetins y expresiones de cortesia

( g r e e t i n g s a n d c o u r t e s y

expressions) in Spanish. They are

also working on parts of the body.

Music By: Mrs. Meagher

The STS music program has been very busy!! Fifth

through eighth grade students sang the National

Anthem and Thank You Soldiers at Indiantown

Gap’s Veterans Day Memorial Service. The choir

sang at the “Bridge Street is Back” celebration in

New Cumberland and the Barnes and Noble Book

Fair for the 8th grade fundraiser. The students

preformed at Strawberry Square December 9th

showcasing their talents!

Gym class “opened with the open” with

students learning about tennis! Using traffic

cones and jump ropes as courts, the kids

learned that “Love means nothing to a Tennis

Player” (pun intended)!

The Art Room started the year out with using

a vocabulary page and classes took turns

adding “art words” to the daily page, located

on a board in Mrs. Andreoli’s room.

Ms. Allen has been reviewing social

networking best practices with middle

school in computer class.

10

ALUMNI in ACTION!!

Nathan Repetz, a freshman at Penn

State Altoona and an Agricultural

Education major has been honored

with the position of president of the

Pennsylvania 4-H State Council!

W. Isaac Zimmerman, IV was

recently accepted to Kutztown

University for Fall 2014. Isaac will

dual major in communication studies

and criminal justice.

Pictured far left is Catherine

Gregoire. Trinity’s Girls Soccer

finished its 2013 season with plenty

of highlights. Trinity was 22-3 and

came within inches of tying the

championship game twice in the

final 30 seconds!!

2009 STS Alumni: Emily

Spishock, Jordan Bour, Molly

Brennan and Gabrielle Oakes

pictured with their Physics teacher

Mrs. Lindholm at Trinity High

School’s 2013 Graduation.

STS Graduate (2010) and Cedar

Cliff High School Senior, Elizabeth

Mueller auditioned for and was

selected to sing as a Soprano I voice

part in the District 7 Choral Festival

in January. The PMEA District 7

Choral Concert is slated

for Saturday, January 11, 5PM at

Central Dauphin High School. Congratulations,

Elizabeth and best of luck with Regionals!

ALUMNI in ACTION!! Here’s what our STS Alumni are up to

these days...

Veronica Repetz, as a member

of Cedar Cliff’s cross-country

team, finished in 14th place

with a time of 21:28 at the

Great American Cross Country

Festival in Cary, North

Carolina!

Cedar Cliff High School quarterback Andrew

Ford (Alumni of STS) has been named

Pennsylvania's Gatorade Player of the Year, the

company announced today. He's one of two Mid-

Penn players to win the award in the last three

seasons and is the second honoree in Colts history,

following Kyle Brady in 1989-90.

Ford threw for 2,776 yards and 35 touchdowns this

season, leading Cedar Cliff to a 9-2 record,

including a thrilling upset over Bishop McDevitt,

and a berth in the District 3-AAAA playoffs. He

completed 161 of 238 passes in being named the

Mid-Penn Keystone Division's offensive player of

the year.

Cedar Cliff coach Jim Cantafio said: "I know

without a doubt he's the best quarterback in

Pennsylvania. And he's very deserving of this

award. He's a fantastic leader, a great student. And

anyone who has met Andrew Ford knows he one of

the nicest kids you'll every meet."

11

Have You Seen Us in the

News Lately?

The local newspapers and

magazines have been very generous to Saint Theresa

School so far this school year. We have been in the

Patriot News several times as well as articles in the

Central Penn Parent Magazine, New Cumberland

and Lemoyne Life, Carlisle Sentinel and the

Catholic Witness!

The entire school enjoyed a

fun morning when CBS 21

and Steve Knight came to

visit us. If you have not

checked out our video—you

have to go and see it on our

Facebook page. It

was a wonderful

time! The students

were thrilled to be

on tv!

Be sure to keep checking our Facebook page—it is

always being updated with new pictures of what we

are up to at the school. Tell friends and family to

“like” us. You do not have to have a Facebook

account to view our page. Simply click on the

Facebook icon at the bottom of our home web page.

Remember to VOTE every day for

the Central Penn Parent Family

Favorite Awards! We are in the

running for several categories:

BEST Preschool

BEST Private School

BEST Music Lesson

BEST Place to Worship (St. Theresa Parish)

Saint Theresa School participates in the

Educational Improvement Tax Credit program

or EITC. The state program awards tax credits

to businesses who make donations to the

Diocese of Harrisburg Neumann Scholarship

Foundation to help parents with tuition costs. It

is a very simple way for businesses to divert

their tax dollars to our school to help our

students receive a Catholic education. It is a

win-win for everyone. We would like to thank

the following businesses who have already

signed up to help Saint Theresa School families

for this school year:

Joyner Sportsmedicine Institute, Inc.

Reilly Insurance

Nutrition Inc.

If you would like more information on the EITC

program, please visit our website at

www.sainttheresaschool.org and click on

“School Board” then “Development”. Thank

you for your support.

A huge Thank you goes out to all our

volunteers! We could not be the

awesome school we are without your

help! Special kudos to our PTO!!

What a successful fundraising year you

have had so far. Thank you for all your

hard work—we appreciate you!!

Educational Improvement Tax

Credit Program (EITC)

12

Looking ahead to January 2014 there are lots of exciting events!

The Seventh Annual Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg Night at

THE HERSHEY BEARS! Our VERY OWN Saint Theresa

School Choir will be singing the National Anthem! Please

come out and support our choir and have some fun at the Giant

Center in Hershey.

Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.

Catholic Schools Week is the week of January 26, 2014

NEW event THIS YEAR:

Taste of STS is Thursday, January 30, 2014 6:30-8 p.m. at saint Theresa school

Stay tuned for more details!!!

Saint Theresa School

1200 Bridge Street

New Cumberland, PA 17070

(717) 774-7464

Email: stsoffice@sainttheresaschool.org

www.sainttheresaschool.org

Check us out on Facebook!