St. Agnes School
Family Newsletter
March 9, 2011

Mission Statement of Saint Agnes School
Saint Agnes Elementary School strives for excellence in providing a Catholic education that inspires and empowers our students to embrace the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ as compassionate and faithful Christians, who continue to pursue their spiritual journey, their highest academic potential, and stewardship to others.

Lent: The better your Lent, the better your Easter!
     Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. We attended mass today and all received ashes. At school during Lent, students in grades two through eight will have the opportunity to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The eighth graders will have the Passion Play on April 8th at 1:30 in church. The sixth graders will present the living way of the cross on April 20th at 1:30 in church. Classrooms and religion classes will be centered on the Lenten themes and activites.
     The entire school will be participating in a project called, "Unless You Have Walked in My Shoes..." The students will be asked to bring in a new or gently used pair of shoes, boots or slippers that may be too small for them now and can be donated to a homeless shelter. The students will display their pair of shoes next to a written response to the prompt, "Unless You Have Walked in My Shoes..." Students will write about themselves, their accomplishments, where those shoes have been, etc. and display their writing and shoes outside of each classroom. On Monday, April 11th, classes will take a "gallery walk" around school to read the displays of other children. Some shoes may need to be cleaned up or washed before coming to school. If students need their shoes back, they can collect their shoes at the end of the day on April 11th. After April 11th, we will donate the shoes to a homeless shelter. We hope this is a learning activity, and the students will enjoy it, knowing that they are helping others.

Fourth Quarter Grading Period: This Friday, March 11 is the end of the third quarter grading period. The fourth quarter begins March 14. Third quarter report cards will be sent home on Wednesday, March 23.

Do Your Best on the Tests: We will be administering the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to students in kindergarten and grades three through seven between March 14 and 25. Please see that your children get proper rest and a healthy breakfast so they can be ready to do their best on the tests.
We will not do any testing on March 22, bowling day.

Diocesan Academic Competition: Several seventh and eighth grade students participated in the Diocesan Academic Competition last evening at St. Therese School. All students did very well. In the end our awards were:

1st place Math: Hannah Ziegelmeyer
1st place Persuasive Speech: Micaela Stephenson
2nd place Science: Frank Auberger
2nd place Painting: Rachel Peavler
3rd place Mixed Media (art): Annabel Biernat
3rd place Storytelling: Kirsten Richards
4th place Religion: Meleia Michels
Great job to all our participants!!!

Kids on the Block: The program was cancelled because the instructors were sick. It has been rescheduled for March 17th.

All 4th, 5th & 6th graders, families and friends! Our performance of Lights! Camera! Action! will be March 24th at 6:30 ~ All 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students will be expected to be at this performance. WHAT SHOULD MY PERFORMER WEAR?

1. TOP: a SOLID color shirt of any style and of any color in the rainbow (black and white included)...the brighter, the better.
2. NOTE: There should be no graphics on the front. PLEASE do not purchase a "new" shirt for this show. Turning a graphic shirt inside out is acceptable.
3. BOTTOM: They should wear DARK pants of any style except jeans. Pants with pockets are preferred- (see below)
4. FEET: They should have shoes of any style in which they are comfortable standing.
5. Accessories: EVERY STUDENT NEEDS 1 PAIR OF SUNGLASSES OF ANY STYLE. These sunglasses will be worn for a short time during the show and will need to be stored in either their pocket OR, in the absence of a pocket, hung around their neck with a string.
6. If your student is a "celebrity" and has been assigned a different costume- please disregard numbers 1-5. THANK YOU! Mrs. Miller

Healthy Challenge Week - Next Week: Grades K-5 will participate in the challenge this year. It is March 14-20, 2011. Attached is a parent letter and also information on the needed servings for the completion of the challenge. We are excited about this fun challenge and hope your family will participate with the students! Be sure to stock up on those fruits and vegetables for the challenge. Lunches at school will include fruits and vegetables as always and we will have some extras!! Thank you. Mrs. Garwood

Yearbooks for 2010-2011: Now is the time to purchase your St. Agnes School yearbooks! Look for the flyer in your child’s folder today. Cost is $21.00. Please make checks payable to St. Agnes School. Thank you. The Yearbook Committee.

Lunch Menu Changes: Since bowling has been rescheduled for March 22, we have a few menu changes for March:

• Friday, March 18: Nacho cheese, individual chips, pineapple, corn
• Tuesday, March 22: Pizza, side salad, chips (No Salad Bar will be available)
• Friday, March 25: Grilled cheese, tomato soup, chips, pineapple

PTO News:

You are invited… join us this Thursday, March 10 at 7pm, for the last PTO meeting of the 2010-2011 school year. This year has flown by and there is still so much more going on before the end of the year!! As always, babysitting will be provided. See you there! Questions…email Heather Teller hteller@fuse.net 

Big Blue Bash is a Big SUCCESS! We would like to express our sincere appreciation for all of your support not only last weekend, but in the many months of planning! Thank you to all who helped in any way with the wonderful evening celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Big Blue Bash. The event was wildly successful due to so many volunteers! We are finalizing the financials and the open party list and will get that out next week to everyone. Thank you again for all of your support! Steering Commitee BBB 2011

Out of Uniform Pass: If you weren't able to make it to the Big Blue Bash on Saturday, we sold Out of Uniform Passes for your child to choose a day they'd like to come out of uniform. Only one pass may be bought per child. If you'd like to get one of these, we will be selling them for $5 through the school office from now until March 18. Please send in your money (cash or check payable to St. Agnes PTO) to the office and they will send home your pass! Thanks!

365 Lotto Winners: Click here for the March 365 Lotto winners. Congratulations to our winners!

JUMP ZONE PARTY FOR 3RD GRADE STUDENTS: Attention 3rd grade parents! There is still room for you to sign your child up for the 3rd grade St. Patrick's Party at JumpZone next Thursday, March 17th. The party is from 5:30 - 7:30. Pizza and drinks will be served at 6:30. Cost is $15 and all proceeds benefit St. Agnes School. If your child would like to attend, please contact Michelle Schulte at mschulte@insightbb.com  or Deborah Cody at deborahcody@fuse.net.  

Junior High Play: St. Agnes Junior High presents the Musical Comedy "Mirror Image" April 1st and 2nd at the Notre Dame Academy Theatre at 7pm each evening. If you would like to purchase a business ad, please click here for information. We also offer the opportunity for friends and family to buy “Footlights,” which are messages to the actors, actresses and crew members and published in the play program. Ticket information is attached or you can contact Annie Talkers at artalkers@yahoo.com.

St. Patrick’s Day Party: "May your troubles be less and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door." With this Irish blessing comes an invitation to the St. Agnes parish family for an evening of fun and fellowship. Join us in Murphy Hall and wear your green for our annual St. Patrick's Day party on Friday, March 18th from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Enjoy Irish music, dancing, and good food. Please bring your favorite appetizer or dessert to share. There will be children's activities, door prizes, and split the pot. Admission is $4.00 for adults, children and teenagers are free. Make your reservations by contacting Mary Jo McFadden at, 344-2718, mjmcfadden599@yahoo.com  or Janna Collins at 341-7766, janna.collins@insightbb.com.  Volunteers are also needed for the party. This is a great way to get those last few family service hours done for the year.

Camp Claymation: Behringer-Crawford Museum will be having "Camp Claymation" April 12 and 13. Please see the attached flier for information about the camp. This camp falls during our spring break. Thank you!

Cov Cath Colonels Middle School Football Signups: Signups for Cov Cath 7th/8th grade football will be Sunday, April 3 at 5 pm in the Cov Cath school cafeteria. Boys who attend any grade school of the Diocese of Covington and who will be in the 7th and 8th grade in the fall are eligible to play. A Q&A session will be held, along with sign ups. We run the varsity plays and play our games on the high school turf field. We are the only school with two teams. The 8th graders play in the Large School division and were the Division Champions for the second straight year. The 7th graders play in the Small School division. Come join Colonels football! Any questions, contact Head Coach Ted Edgington at coachedgington@yahoo.com.  (P.S. 5th/6th grade signups will be at a later date.)

YMCA Camp Ernst: We have the $20 savings coupon for the overnight summer camp for students. Email us or call the office if you would like a coupon.

Circus Mojo Center – Community Open House: Saturday, March 12, join Circus Mojo for their open house. There will be free performances and workshops for people of all ages and abilities. Circus Mojo is at 322 Elm Street in Ludlow. Call 1-800-381-TADA for more information.

Around Our School

Good luck to the 7th and 8th grade Governor’s Cup team! They compete this weekend in the state competition.

Did you know… the eighth graders are doing an energy audit of their homes? They are also learning about all types of power plants, including nuclear and fossil fuel.

Did you know…the eighth graders have designed their own restaurant menus in grammar class? They had requirements for using adjectives and adverbs in this project. There were lots of great ideas for our future entrepreneurs!

Did you know…the eighth graders have read the abridged play versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and King Lear? They had a writing assignment for each. Hamlet was on trial for murder; was he guilty or innocent due to insanity? Students chose a position as Hamlet’s defense lawyer or a lawyer on the prosecution team. Opinions were almost evenly divided; the verdict of guilty was decreed by only one vote at St. Agnes! Of course, in the real play, Hamlet committed suicide after committing several murders. The second essay involved a discussion regarding King Lear’s division of his property among his three daughters. The inheritance surely didn’t turn out the way he planned.

Did you know… the eighth graders really ‘jazzed’ up social studies class with their portrayals of some important headliners of the Roaring Twenties? We met Bill Tilden, Red Grange, Babe Ruth, Louis Armstrong, Rudolph Valentino, ‘Lucky’ Lindbergh, and Gertrude Ederle, just to name a few celebrities.