upcoming activities & events st. catherine of siena school ... · rising to the challenge st....
TRANSCRIPT
St. Catherine of Siena School
October 2014
Dear St. Catherine of Siena School Families:
It is hard to believe that we have just completed the first
quarter of our school year. We began our fifty-third
year of education with many positive changes. These
included the upgrading of all computers throughout
the computer lab, and individual classrooms, the
acquisition of new textbooks with online resources,
and the continuation of the gifted and talented
certification program for our teachers. In addition,
representatives from our school attended the Latino
Enrollment Institute at Notre Dame University this
summer. This program pairs schools with mentor
principals, in an effort to increase Latino enrollment
through the adoption of new marketing strategies
and techniques. Our doors opened with the highest
enrollment of students our school has seen in a number
of years. Also, our home parish, St. Catherine of Siena
Church, was recently recognized with the Bishop
Curtis J. Guillory Parish award among all churches
in the diocese. This award is given to the parish that
shows the most significant strides in Stewardship during
the 2013 year. One of the factors contributing to this
award were the many positive initiatives implemented
by our school. We have many activities planned during
the second quarter and ask you to refer to the calendar
on the right for more information.
Peace and Blessings,
Mrs. Haidee Todora,
Principal, St. Catherine of Siena School
Upcoming
Activities & Events
Friday, October 24, 2014 Fallscream Dance – 6:00 pm Grades 6-8 $5.00 – pizza & ice cream Sponsored by Student Council Friday, October 24, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Football Home – vs. St. Thomas – 7:00 pm (This is the last regular game of the season) Saturday, October 25, 2014 St. Catherine Fall/Halloween Fest 5:00 – 8:00 pm – cafeteria & gym Monday, October 27 – Friday, October 31, 2014 Red Ribbon Week Friday, October 31, 2014 Noon dismissal – staff development November 4th – 7th, 2014 5th grade trip to Camp Kappe November 11, 2014 Veterans Day Program November 13, 2014 Msgr. Kelly High School Parent Awareness Meeting – 7:00 pm November 18 – 25th, 2014 Scholastic Book Fair November 24, 2014 Thanksgiving Program & Lunch Reading Fair – grades 2nd – 5th (Following lunch) November 25, 2014 (Noon dismissal) - November 30, 2014 Thanksgiving Holiday
Upcoming
Activities & Events
Thursday , Dec. 19, 2012
Christmas Holidays Begin - Noon
Dismissal
Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 - 2nd semester
classes begin
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013
Boys Basketball season begins
Game - @ All Saints – 4:15 pm
Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013
St. Catherine School Mass - 8:30 am
Celebrated by Bishop Guillory - 4th grade
hosts
Monday, Jan. 21, 2013
Martin Luther King Day Holiday – No
school
Friday, Jan. 25 -Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013
1st Annual SCS Volleyball Smash
Tournament
Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013
Catholic Schools Week begins
St. Catherine School Spaghetti Dinner
Fundraiser
10:30 am – 1:00 pm
Monday, Jan. 28, 2013
Priest & Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Tuesday, Jan. 29, 201
Elementary Spelling Bee
Prospective Family Open House
Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013
Rainbow Mass – St. Anthony Basilica-
10:00 am
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013
Student Appreciation Day
School Science Fair
Friday, Feb. 1, 2013
Parent/Grandparent/Volunteer
Appreciation
Left:
Bishop Curtis J. Guillory
presents Fr. David Placette
(center, pastor of St.
Catherine Church) with
the Diocesan Parish
Stewardship Award. Also
shown is Fr. Andy Moore.
Rising to the Challenge St. Catherine of Siena School participated in the campaign to raise awareness for ALS.
During a recent pep rally, Mrs. Todora, principal, accepted the ice bucket challenge and
then asked students to participate by raising funds for the John Paul II Research Institute.
This organization conducts research and uses guidelines that are consistent with the
teachings of the Catholic Church. Our students gave generously for the cause. Over $1200
was raised through a loose change challenge. Winning grades were 5th and 8th grade.
Congratulations to our students, teachers, and parents on a great effort!
Below: Left: Mrs. Todora gets a soaking while right: 5th grade enjoys their victory
New Student Council Officers Elected
Student Council Officers for the
2014-2015 School Year include:
From front left:
Linh Hoang, President
Lilian Melgoza, Secretary
Collin Todora, Treasurer
and Adrian Medina,
Vice President
Faculty sponsor:
Mrs. Julie Gleinser
\
Celebrating Constitution Day With Special Friends
Students learned about our government and Constitution in a most unusual way recently. Justice Johnson and her puppet informed, and
entertained our students in a fun and educational presentation as part of a Constitution Day celebration. Judge John Stevens also contributed to the
success of this great program for our students.
HONORING OUR FIRST RESPONDERS St. Catherine of Siena School students had the opportunity to personally thank our local first responders with handmade cards as part of a celebration of National First Responders Day. Everyone enjoyed touring the fire trucks, police cars and SWAT tanks and visiting with our local heroes!
The PreK (3) class with Mrs. Crenshaw and Mrs. Espinosa learned about firetrucks during their special tour.
Left: Logan Owens and Emma Plessala present a card to local firemen.
LECTURE
Several eighth grade students recently had the opportunity to listen to
Astronaut Commander Mark Kelly speak at Lamar University, Port Arthur.
Allen DeLord, Joshua Lamb, James Cerf, and Marcus Gleinser learned
about the missions of Kelly and his experiences in the space program. He
was the last U.S. astronaut to walk in space.
Reading Success Recognized Over seventy students in grades second through eighth were recognized at a pep-rally marking the end of the first nine
weeks. Students achieveing 100% of their Accelerated Readers goal with a comprehension level of at least 85% were
invited to join in a friendly game of ships and sailors. Congratulations to the following students: 2nd grade: Hang Bui,
Haley Die, Aubree Elmore, Donald Fowler, Logan Owens, Alan Pham, Emma Plessala, and Nicholas Tran; 3rd graders:
Matthew Blanchard, L’Ashly DeLuna, Chelsea Fontenette, Jacob Hernandez, Madeline Nortman, Keyanni Overstreet,
Sean Pham, Garrett Plessala, Joliane Tran, and Jeannie Truong; 4th graders: Christopher Alvarez, Yizelle Alvarez, Rylee
Bacon, Olivia Bush, Kaden Lacour-Tanner, Mary Le, Joshua Mitchell, Vivanette Morciglio, Ethan Pham, Mack Schulze,
Tyson Sonnier, and Viet Tran; 5th grade: Sytu Bui, Ana Canales, Daniela Contreras, Quynn Dang Vo, Dayanna DeLuna,
Madison Goudeaux, Maggie Granger, Gabriel Hernandez, Tyler Lewis, Eddie Ly, Ryan McDaniel, Donovan Mennie,
Kenny Nguyen, Victoria Nguyen, Brady Owens, and Ivy Tran; 6th graders – Scot Die, Daniela Figueroa, Caleb Granger,
Andrew Holloman, Dominic Mennie, Alex Pham, Madison Plessala, Caasi Sleeman,Isaac Sleeman, Tuyet Tran, and
Rhionnon Weatherly; 7th grade – Brianna Bush, Maria Contreras, Caitlin Crenshaw, McKenna Cross, Jennifer DeLord,
Isaac Duerksen, Virginia Morciglio, Lily Newell, Alex Tran, Joanna Tran, and An Vu; 8th graders – John Barron, Linh
Hoang, Adrian Medina, Lilian Melgoza, and Collin Todora.
Great job students – keep reading!
FROM OUR CLASSROOMS:
PreK (3):
Mrs. Crenshaw’s Pre-K3 class had a special visitor, Father Sinclair. The children were very excited to meet him
and enjoyed the donuts, juice and coloring books that he brought for them.
PreK 4:
The PreK 4 class had the opportunity to enjoy watching the growth and development of
butterflies during a recent lesson. The students monitored the progress of their insects
daily and were excited when the time came for their release.
Kindergarten:
Left: Mrs. Heckaman
releases a butterfly as
the PreK 4 class cheers for them to fly.
Mrs. Campbell’s Kindergarten class received the most donations for the
Miracle Jeans fundraiser to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. The class was happy
to receive their reward, an ice cream party.
1st Grade:
We are having a wonderful time in 1st grade! We have started our shopping center here in
the class and we are using our tickets as our money. We will go shopping every Friday. We
earn tickets for great behavior and for showing caring and respect for others. We welcome
prize donations to our shopping center. These donations can be slightly used books, toys,
small trinkets, peppermints, or really anything you have to share! Thank you to Ms. Blanchard
and Ms. Thompson for your donations so far this year – we are so thankful!
In reading, we are enjoying learning about the Superkids and we are also completing
author studies. Thank you to Peyton’s grandfather, Mr. Juarez who has been coming in to
work with children on their reading. We studied Eric Carle and Marc Brown so please look
for our Arthur the Anteater portraits in the next couple weeks. Photos can be viewed at
http://stcats.org/first-grade.
We have also started going to the computer lab every Wednesday. Thank you families
for sending in our headphones as we are learning to type and in the upcoming weeks, we will
be using the Superkids online portal to expand our reading. Our class has also begun
checking out books from our school library with Mrs. Sigur. We are treating our books with
respect and returning them every Tuesday on our library day. Happy Fall!
2ndGrade:
Johnny Appleseed was a hit with students in 2nd grade. After reading the book and learning
more about this legendary character, students participated in activities and created apple
treats to celebrate his birthday.
3rd Grade:
Third grade students had the opportunity to make a diorama after the study of the book
“Sarah Plain and Tall”. The class learned about all the responsibilities of living on a farm in
the late 19th century, and were eager to share their projects with other students.
4th Grade:
Learning about the brain was brought to life
for fourth graders when they constructed their own
“thinking caps” complete with detailed descriptions
of the parts and functions of the brain as part of
a science investigation of the human body.
5th & Middle School:
St. Catherine of Siena 5th and middle school students joined in the annual October tradition of
bringing the rosary to life during the recitation of a Living Rosary. Each student lit a candle as
they were led in prayer for each rosary bead. It was a beautiful display of our faith.
Join us for
St. Catherine of Siena Halloween/Fall Fest
Saturday, October 25, 2014
5:00 – 8:00 pm
St. Catherine cafeteria & gym
Games, haunted attic, costume & pumpkin contests,
Cake walk, face painting,
Crafts, food, fun and more!
Come join us for food, fun & fright!
From the World of Sports: Volleyball:
Our volleyball year has come to an end. Our A-team ended up with a record of 5-7 and our
B team was 6-6. We are proud of our girls for pulling together as a team and are looking forward to
next year. Our “A” team members included: 8th graders: Sophia Evans, and Linh Hoang;
7th graders: McKenna Cross, and Jennifer DeLord; 6th graders: Madison Plessala, Cassi Sleeman,
and Jayla Fontenette. Our “B” team consisted of players: 7th graders: Brianna Bush, and Shani
Keal; 6th grade: Caasi Sleeman, and Jayla Fontenette; 5th graders: Maggie Granger, Tyler Lewis,
Victoria Nguyen, and Tais Nunez. Thanks to Mrs. Umphrey and the girls for
all their hard work and representing St. Catherine School so well.
Soccer:
After a rough last year, your Wildcats improved in all areas of play including their record which
ended 2-6-2. Our team was led by 8th graders: Adrian Medina, and Collin Todora. Adrian recorded
8 goals, and 4 assists. Collin had 13 saves as goalie. Estephanie Figueroa and Alexia
Guiterrez played great defense. 7th graders included: Amir Rodriguez, Dillon Alexander, and
Kevin Franco. 6th graders were: Jesse Barajas, Rhionnon Weatherly, Scot Die, and Courtland
Carmouche. 5th graders included: Donovan Mennie, Gabriel Hernandez (2 goals and 2 assists),
Emily Montijo, Ryan McDaniel, Brady Owens (2 assists), and Kenny Nguyen. The Wildcats
were led by Head Coach Mr. Efrain Medina, Sr., and Assistant Coach Mr. Ray Todora.
Great season Wildcats!