December 10
- Saints Basketball Challenge. See below for more details.
December 12 - Early Release. Dismissal is 11:30 am. Buses are available. There is NO Extended Day.
December 15 - Christmas Concert. See below for more details.
December 16 - Dress Down Day for a cause. More information to come.
December 16 - The 8th grade students will be hosting a bake sale during all lunches. See below for more details.
December 16 - The 7th grade students will be taking a field trip to the Maine Veteran's Home to sing Christmas carols and spread good cheer to the residents.
December 20 - Christmas Concert snow date.
December 22-January 2
- Christmas Vacation. No school.
January 3 - First day back from vacation.
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* St. Michael School follows the Augusta School Department for all school cancellations, delays and early dismissals due to INCLEMENT WEATHER. In addition to our School Messenger, these announcements are posted on local television and radio stations
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* Please be sure your child comes to school with BOOTS AND SNOW PANTS in order to play in the snow. Also, remember boots can not be warn all day and that students can leave a pair of shoes at school.
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We are in the middle of Advent, which is a special time for the Catholic Church. Bishop Deeley tells us that "Advent means coming. Remember what Jesus came to tell us, He came to tell us that God loves us and that we need to love one another and take care of one another. We don't just wait for Jesus' birthday to get a lot of presents. We remember what Jesus taught us: we should give to others and be sharing ourselves with others."
In that light, we have some great opportunities for giving coming up in the next two weeks. First, we will be partnering with our sister school, Holy Cross in South Portland, in a fundraiser for the children of Ngamo, Zimbabwe. The principal from Holy Cross, Chris Labbe, has been to Ngamo twice, and she will be sharing with our students a little about the lives of children in this village. Our goal is to raise at least $2,000.00 for the children and school in Ngamo. This will also help the village get running water to the school. Our first fundraiser will be at the Christmas Concert next Thursday night, and we will have students sitting in the foyer at a table with pictures and a donation box. The second fundraiser will be dress down day on Friday, December 16. The cost for this dress down day is $3.00 for staff and students, but everyone can donate more. We will have another dress down fundraiser in January.
Our second opportunity for giving involves our student ambassadors and junior high school students. After helping the Salvation Army during Thanksgiving, a conversation occurred between Lt. Lyle and myself on other ways we can help the Salvation Army, and we decided our gym would be a great place for their Christmas gift giving, especially with the help of our junior high school students. On December 20th, our students will begin unloading gifts from Salvation Army Trucks, and setting them up for the 180 families who will arrive between the hours of 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. During this time our students will retrieve the gift bags assigned to each family, and give them to the parents. My hope is that these acts will bring our students closer to the real meaning of Christmas.
The theme for our 8th grade STREAM projects this year is Water. Some of the specific topics include, Tidal Energy, Water Conversion in the Dead Sea, Filtration Plants in Rwanda, and many more. I will offer more detail in the next newsletter. This is a very exciting step forward for our school. It is an all-encompassing project, which never lets us forget the importance of God in everything we do. My hope is that this is the type of project that will help our students think about their actions, and the consequences of those same actions. I am confident that these will be projects they will never forget. These STREAM projects will replace the science fair projects for 8th
graders this year.
I'd also like to reminder everyone that the children will not be allowed to play outside if the real feel temperature is below 15 degrees. But if it is more than 15 degrees, they will play outside so please help them come to school prepared with boots and snow pants in order to play in the snow. Students are not to wear their boots all day so they need to come to school with a pair of shoes/sneakers or they can leave a pair here at the school.
I paraphrase this from
Desiderata,
'Although not all people are honest, the world is full of virtue' and then the quote "Many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism". This applies to our students, the 169 students of St. Michael School are my heroes, for so many reasons, not least of which is how kind they are to others. I continue to feel blessed that your children are here at St. Michael School, and that you entrust us with them. It cannot go without saying how lucky and thankful we are to have parents who are so supportive of what we are doing.
I ask for God's blessings for all of us.
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After Crafters Fall Session Wrap Up
After Crafters ended their Fall Session by creating an edible art snack. Students enjoyed six weeks of seasonal crafts. Winter session begins in January. Stay tuned for more information.
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First Grade Celebrated Thanksgiving
After reading many books about the Pilgrims and Native Americans, first grade celebrated a Thanksgiving feast of their own complete with cornbread, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and their own homemade butter. The highlight of their feast was some delicious deer meat prepared by Barrett Perkins' mom! Yummy! We all have had turkey before but the deer meat was a first for most of us...just like the first feast! Thank you Mrs. Perkins!
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DAR Essay Winners
All students in grades 6, 7, and 8 wrote essays for the Daughters of the American Revolution Essay Contest. This years topic was "Celebrating a Century: America's National Parks". The National Park Service was established by Congress in 1916 and manages approximately 84.4 million acres of national parks.
Students were asked to pretend they were writing a journal while visiting one of the 58 national parks. They had to identify its location, discuss why and when it was established as a national park, and what makes this park one of our national treasurers. Essays had to be 600-1000 words. There were so many wonderful essays this year. Eight essays were selected to compete in the Koussinoc Chapter (the local DAR Chapter)Essay Contest. Selected essays were from the following students:
Ava Nadeau,
grade 6
Kameron Douin,
grade 6
Austin Weiss,
grade 6
Jenna Gallant,
grade 7
Amita Nanda,
grade 7
Wyatt Green,
grade 8
Kyle Douin,
grade 8
Jack Rodrigue,
grade 8
Congratulations! They will go on to compete in the Koussinoc Chapter Contest later this winter!
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Basketball Season Is Here
The St. Michael School basketball season is well under way. Why not show your school spirit and attend a boys or girls basketball game this month, next month, or even in February. The St. Michael School Athletics Program will also be hosting their 5th Annual Basketball "Saints Challenge" this Saturday, December 10th.
This is a great opportunity for our boy and girl student-athletes to get more playing time and is a rather big fundraiser for our athletic program.
We will have a full concession in the kitchen, and will have a gate in the lobby. The cost to watch the game is $3.00 for adults, students are free. The schedule for that day will be as follows:
9:00 am - Chelsea vs. St. Michael GIRLS
10:00 am - Chelsea vs. St. Michael BOYS
11:00 am - Whitefield vs. Chelsea GIRLS
12:00 pm - Whitefield vs. Chelsea BOYS
1:00 pm - St. Michael vs. Whitefield GIRLS
2:00 pm - St. Michael vs. Whitefield BOYS
The first team listed is the home team and should wear their white uniforms. High school rules will be in affect for all games with the following exceptions: 15 point no press rule, 20 minute running halves, stopped time last minute of each half, two timeouts per game.
Good luck Saints!
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Christmas Concert
The St. Michael School Christmas concert will be held on Thursday, December 15th, with a snow date of Tuesday, December 20th. The concert will be held in the school gymnasium and will consist of two sessions. The first session will feature grades PK3 through 3 and will begin at 6:00 pm. The second session will feature grades 4 through 8 and will begin at 7:15 pm. Students are asked to dress in appropriate holiday attire (ie; Dresses, skirts or dress pants and sweaters for girls, sweaters or shirt with, or without, tie for boys...). Jeans are not allowed!
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Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser
The St. Michael School Parent Association will be hosting a Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser the night of the Christmas concert, on Thursday, December 15th, from 3:00 to 9:30 pm at the Augusta location located at the turnpike mall off upper Western Avenue. There will be raffles to enter and of course delicious food. Texas Roadhouse will donate 10% of your food bill to the school if you show them the coupon below when placing the order. You can also show your support through the one-night-only Texas Roadhouse Gift Card Fundraiser on that same day, Thursday, December 15th, at St. Michael School. To participate, gift cards must be purchased directly from the Texas Roadhouse representative that will be at the school on December 15th during the Christmas concert. Gift cards purchased at the restaurant or other locations are NOT eligible. Texas Roadhouse will donate 10% of the qualifying sales back to the school. What a great way to way to start (or finish) your Christmas shopping AND support our school!!!
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8th Grade To Host A Bake Sale
The 8th grade students will be hosting a bake sale during all lunches on Friday, December 16th. All proceeds will go toward the 8th grade class trip. Don't forget to bring some spare change to purchase your dessert that day, or to purchase a nice host or hostess gift this Christmas season...all while helping the 8th grade class! Thank you!
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Christmas Card Stocking Stuffers
Christmas Card Stocking Stuffers will be going home to students before Thanksgiving. These cards are like raffle tickets. Recipients receive a Christmas Card with a number printed at the bottom. This number is put into a monthly drawing for 2017. Each month two numbers are drawn for certain prize amounts. The lucky winners' prize money is mailed directly to them. All number go back into the drawing for another chance to win the following month, no matter how many times they may have already won throughout the year. The card holder has a chance to win up to $1,350 next year! This is a great gift for those "hard to buy for" on your Christmas list! These Christmas Cards sell for $10 each and are a great way to give to St. Michael School AND to the people you care about this Holiday season. Each family will be given ten cards to sell. 100% of the sales will count toward your family financial obligation if you Family Sheet, payment, and any unsold cards are returned to the school office
by the end of the school day Friday, December 16th. Cards can be sold after that date but wont count toward you financial obligation. Please contact the school if you have any questions once you receive your packet.
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December Stocking Stuffer Winners
CONGRATULATIONS to our two December Christmas Card Stocking Stuffer winners who each won $500:
Denise Levesque - sold by Madeline Levesque
Denise Douin - sold by Kya Douin
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November Boxtop Winner
Congratulations to Mrs. Maguire's Pre-K class. They won the boxtop challenge for the month of November. Don't forget to continue to clip boxtops and send them to the school in an envelope or baggie with your child's homeroom teacher's name on it.
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