MARCH 2, 2016
Letter from the Principal Hello Parents, Thank you for the commitment you have made, your children will forever benefit from the decision you have made to send them to St. Joseph’s Catholic School. We are all benefiting from each other’s commitment to Catholic education. We could all come up with a variety of reasons on why we send our children to a Catholic School. I want to share with you a recent list I came across of reasons why one mother is pleased with her family’s decision to send their child to a Catholic School. I’ve been a Catholic school mom for all of six months. My son started kindergarten last September, at our parish school. I’m a convert, so Catholic school played no role whatsoever in my childhood. My feeling so far, is Catholic schools are awesome! Here are the things I love most about sending my kid to a school that starts with “Saint.” 1) Christian imagery Like most parents, we investigated multiple options before definitely making up our minds. But the tour of our parish school made a powerful impression. Every room has a crucifix and a statue of Our Lady. Every hallway seemed filled with images of saints and prophets and Jesus. 2) Mass behavior There’s nothing quite like having your child’s teachers reinforcing the things you’re trying to teach about the importance of being respectful at Mass. It makes a noticeable difference. 3) Healthy questions about being set apart My kids have noticed that there are public schools in our neighborhood that they’re not attending. My son and I have discussed the fact that my schools when I was young are different than his, because he goes to Catholic school. I don’t want him to presume he’s better than anyone else, but I do think he’s old enough to start thinking about the reasons why we might do things differently from other people in the world. 4) I learn things I didn’t know I thought I was reasonably well-informed as a Catholic, but I learn new things from my kindergartner all the time about our faith. There are feasts I never celebrated and prayers that I never learned. 5) Our liturgical calendars are aligned Our school breaks coincide perfectly with the twelve days of Christmas and Easter tide. That’s by design, of course. It really helps us make celebratory seasons special! Cont’d on page 2
Cont’d from page 1 6) We trust our school’s culture Of course, Catholic schools are havens for sinners, like every other institution on Earth. Still, we know that our school is trying to help our kids learn how to be “in but not of” the world, while our local public schools seem poised to embrace every social fad that appears on the horizon. I know what I prefer for my kids. 7) It feels good to support an institution that’s actually working for good Sending my kids to Catholic school means working extra hard, so we can meet our tuition bill. It’s not a minor commitment. Still, it makes me feel good to think that we’re helping to maintain an institution that can be a wonderful resource, not just for our family, but also for many others. In a period when Christians are increasingly embattled, we’re certainly grateful for a trustworthy Catholic school. May God continue to bless you, Jeff Van Rixel Principal
Congratulations Congratulations to our Knights of Columbus Math and Spelling contests winners.
Math
5th Grade
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
1st Place 2nd Place
Tyler Miller Leah Moldenhauer
Lucas Schanen Megan Hohl
Hunter Wohler Charlie Iding
Morgan Moldenhauer Elizabeth Sutherland
Spelling
5th Grade
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
1st Place 2nd Place
Tess Herdeman Leah Moldenhauer
Jamie Sessody Megan Hohl
Molly Myers Hunter Wohler
Morgan Moldenhauer Ava Maren
Our first place finishers will go on to compete at the next level this Sunday, March 6th. Good Luck!
Parent Breakfast Mass Schedule
Dates to Remember Saturday, March 12th - Brew ‘n Chew starting at 6:30 p.m.
March 8
Grade 8
March 15
Grade 1
Catholic Memorial T-Shirt Day
April 26
Grade 5
May 10
Grade 7
May 31
Grade K4
TBD
Grade K5
Next week Wednesday, March 9th has been designated as wear your Catholic Memorial t-shirt with dress down pants. If you don’t wear this t-shirt, uniform attire is required. This is the t-shirt you received when we attended mass at Catholic Memorial on January 29th to kickoff Catholic Schools Week.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our deodorant and toothpaste drive held at school. Our 5th and 6th graders are looking forward to delivering these items to those in need at the Open Door Café.
Sign up Genius is now live for the Brew ’n Chew Please go to Sign Up Genius to volunteer to help out at Brew ’n Chew - http://www.signupgenius.com/ go/70a0f45ada62ca20-brew. See more info about Brew ’n Chew on the Home and School page.
Annual Box Tops Contest Now’s the time to bring in your box tops that you have been saving. Our box top contest will start tomorrow, March 3rd and run through Thursday, March 24th (our last day of school before Easter break). Prizes will be awarded to the top three classrooms with the most box tops (averaged by class size).
Drama Camp In July the Mukwonago Optimist Club and Prairie Fire Children’s Theater are sponsoring a drama camp for one week. Auditions for “Alladin and His Magic Carpet” will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, July 25th at Mukwonago High School. Practices will be all of that week and the final production will be held on Friday night and Saturday afternoon,, July 29th and 30th. If you are between the ages of 7 and 18 and are interested in taking part in this activity, just print out a flyer from our website—www.mukwonagooptimist.com
Anchored in Christ . . . for 60 years
Character Ed Corner: What does it mean to be prayerful? We know we should pray, we know it’s important for our own relationship with God as well as teaching our children that God is always there for us. But do we give much thought to being prayerful in our daily lives? Is there a difference between being prayerful and just praying? There are literally hundreds of references in the Bible to Jesus praying. In fact, it’s so important that he taught us how to pray to Our Father in the book of Matthew (chapter 6, verses 5-15). Lent is a great time to be reflective about our prayer relationship with Jesus. It is a time for repentance and seeking God’s forgiveness for our sins. It is a time to grow closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, just as he grows closer to the cross. Our children are also talking and reflecting in school about becoming prayerful, the Character trait for the beginning of March. Ask them what it means to them to be prayerful. You might be surprised at their answers
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Year of Mercy Update:
The February work of Mercy was to Feed the Hungry. As part of our Lenten sacrifice, we will be hosting a one week food drive for the Muskego Food Pantry. Look for details about that coming home soon.
The 5th and 6th graders are visiting the Open Door Café at the Cathedral on Tuesday March 22. They will be touring the Cathedral, serving at the Open Door Café, and delivering all the great hygiene products collected during Catholic Schools Week – thanks for all your donations!
The March work of Mercy is to Visit the Imprisoned. We will be working in classrooms to write short letters and color pictures for the prisoners in our community. Mr. Van Rixel will be handling the delivery of all items and children will not include names on their notes or pictures. We want to share the love of Jesus with “the least” of God’s children as instructed in the scriptures (Matthew 25:31-46).
Have a great week and know that we are praying for you! Your Character Ed Team
Home & School Community News Get your Brew and Chew tickets now! Only about 100 tickets remaining, so reserve your tickets ASAP! There are 3 ways to buy tickets:
Online at stjoesbb.com – click on the Brew and Chew Purchase tickets link (credit card) After Masses this weekend (cash or check) Return the ticket order form or send a note and check to school with your family name, number of tickets needed and names of each person redeeming a ticket.
Tickets are $30 each and include local beer, wine and food from Wisconsin, music from The Orphans and an amazing live and silent auction. Our Auction Team has been working at a feverish pace to collect and assemble all the great items into baskets for the auction – a big THANK YOU to Katie Kopp, Kari Simcakowski, Angela O’Boyle, and Carrie and Dominic Schanen for all their hard work behind the scenes. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we couldn’t do this without an army of volunteers. Please join us for this wonderful night of fellowship and good, old fashioned grown up fun! Speaking of an army of volunteers – the Sign up Genius is now live for the Brew and Chew. Whether you can help with auction setup on Friday, table set up after Bingo, food prep and decorating on Saturday, or want to pour beer/wine, there is something for everyone. Please check out the sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0f45ada62ca20-brew Feel free to contact Stacy at
[email protected] if you have any questions. Again, thanks to the awesome efforts of our team, most of the food has been donated. However, we are in need of a few items – 2 Cases of diet soda, 2 cases of Coke/Pepsi, 1 Case of Sprite Table Sponsors still needed – please contact Angela at
[email protected] if you’d like your family or business name on a beer/wine/food table. Sliced cheese – any variety from Wisconsin More to come if needed
Marcus Tickets are on sale now through March 11 – order forms went home on Monday – please contact Stacy with any questions
[email protected]
Join us for the March Home and School Meeting tonight at 6:30 in the Mark Room. We will be discussing final preparations for the Brew and Chew along with other agenda items.
