December 3, 2014
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! Like the “public” new year which begins on January 1st, Advent presents us with the opportunity to make some changes in our daily life—our spiritual life. It is a time to review our relationship with God and to assess what needs to be worked on so that our friendship with God can grow and flourish. It is a time to look at our lives through the eyes of a child, especially the Child in the manger, and to focus on how greatly we are loved by our God. It is a time to reflect on how we can return our love to God by the way we live. To enable you and your family to do some of this, you will find enclosed a small Advent Packet. May it be a source of useful ideas as this Advent Season moves along.
Many thanks to our Turkey Trot Chairpersons, Lori Stees and Kim Wolfe, and all their helpers. While we have no official statistics on the outcome, the event went well and all had a good, if a bit chilly, time!
Thanks, too, to our Market Day Chairpersons, Suzanna Riley and Linda Kuhns. Our Market Day Program has passed the half way mark already this year, and you will find the flyer for the month of January in the Brown Envelope this week. Pickup is on January 5th, the day we return to school and while we realize many may not need much due to the error and double orders in November, do take a look at the order blank as there are some new items you may like to try. This month we will also have a $25.00 Gift Certificate that will be raffled off to sweeten the pot. Anyone who places an order will be eligible to win this little item!
A SCRIP Flyer is enclosed to show some of the various companies that you might be interested in as you consider your Christmas Shopping. These cards can be ordered at school and they will be here in time for your gift giving. And, remember our local businesses, too. We have many cards on hand and you can purchase them to do local shopping as you search for those unique gifts! Check out shop with scrip.com to see if there are any special offers, too.
Other enclosures in the Envelope include the following:
Flyer on the play “Meet Me in St. Louis”
Home and School Connection flyer
Box Tops Flyer
Grade 3 Permission Form for Nursing Home Masses
Request for Bakers Flyer For Bake Sale on December 13-14
REMINDERS, REQUESTS, AND REMARKS:
One of our students, Maxwell DeForest, will be participating in a Winter Concert on Sunday, December14 at 3:00 PM at the Hononegah Performing Arts Center in Rockford. Maxwell plays first trumpet in the Symphony Youth Orchestra and all are welcome to attend this event. Tickets may be purchased online at rockfordsymphony.com or at the door. He will also be playing in a Brass Choir on December 21 at 2 PM.
Northwestern University has some enrichment courses for students on weekends and Saturdays. If anyone is interested in these programs, please contact me and I can give you extra information.
St. Anne School will be hosting cookies and cocoa in the MiniMall where Santa will be visiting with children on Friday Night at the Christmas Walk. Anyone who can help with serving and working on craft items we have ordered for the children to make will be most welcome. We need to be at the MiniMall by 5:00 PM. The cookies and cocoa are being taken care of by our Project Discovery Cooking Class. If you are attending the Walk, stop by and say hello! And, if you can give an hour or so, we would be most grateful for your assistance.
The Student Council is sponsoring another Bake Sale on December 11th. Their last Bake Sale Profit will be going to the Home of Hope.
For the last few years, St. Anne School has had a Facebook Page, and maybe one or two of them. We are consolidating these to one page which will be administered by Mrs. J. Storey. She has a great deal of knowledge about these areas of social media and will keep us current and updated on various aspects of our school. Once it is newly set up, we will share information with you as to how to get in touch with Mrs. Storey to get items, pictures, and other information posted. We are very grateful to Mrs. Storey for sharing her talent with us.
Our Christmas Program is set for December 18 at 6:30 PM. Please note the change in time. Further details will come home in the next weeks, but you may want to start working on some cookies for sharing after the program.
This Friday, DECEMBER 5TH, is our annual Toy Mass. The children have been encouraged to go through their toys and find those they no longer play with, but which are still in good conditions. These can be brought to school on or before Friday and we will carry them up to give them to Jesus in a symbolic gesture. These will then be given to the Goodfellows Organization for distribution to those in need. Please encourage your child to be generous. Toys need not be new and should not be wrapped, but they should be in good condition.
You may want to check out the facts on St. Nicholas, one of the most important of children’s saints. His feast day is December 6th and it is a good one to celebrate to remind children of how they can share their love with others. Just google St. Nicholas and I am sure you will learn more than you ever wanted to know!
As the Advent Season moves us closer to Christmas, it is important to use the time well. Let us not ignore the spiritual side of our life in the busyness of the commercialism that surrounds us. May you find that participating in the spiritual side brings many blessings to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Sister Marcianne, S.S.N.D.
