Disciple Dispatch

We hope everyone is staying warm and safe and enjoyed a ONE DAY school week! We have a lot coming up next week as we celebrate Catholic Schools Week 2026. Please see full agenda and date specific important information, as well as volunteer opportunities below.

IHM School Coloring Contest!

Your kids might be going a little stir crazy after four days home this week and it being too cold to play outside. We thought it would be fun to have a coloring contest for students! Download one of the coloring pages of our snow-covered school (there is one for preschoolers and one for the big schoolers) below and have your child color it and turn it in for Catholic Schools Week next week. We will display them around school, and a winner will be chosen for each grade for a candy prize!

Catholic School's Week 2026

A reminder that Home & School Association is still looking for volunteers for classroom coverage during the Staff Appreciation Luncheon and to help stock the lounge. Please see the links below and sign up if you can help!

Staff Luncheon Class Coverage

Help Stock the Teacher's Lounge

Below is the agenda for Catholic Schools Week. As a reminder, even though several days next week are non-uniform days, Uggs, slippers, Crocs, cropped shirts and pajamas pants ARE NOT ALLOWED. Please be mindful when sending your kids to school.

"Make A Change" Battle

Every year during Catholic Schools Week, IHM students serve our community. This year we're adding a twist and building in a little healthy competition! Starting Monday, each student may bring in coins or dollar bills to help their grade win the challenge to raise the most money for Grand Rapids Right to Life. Our 8th grade leadership team will total each grade's money jar on Friday and the winner will be announced at the pep rally. The winning grade will receive a movie day that includes popcorn, drinks and sweet treats! So, start checking between those couch cushions and under car seats for that loose change! More info below.

Popcorn Sales for the Pep Rally!

IHM 8th graders are selling popcorn for the students to enjoy during the Pep Rally on Friday, January 30th to wrap up Catholic Schools Week. The proceeds go

towards the 8th grade graduation party. The cost is $2.00 per bag. Order forms will be coming home Monday and must be returned with money NO LATER than Thursday, January 29th.

Rite of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament & Benediction

We invite you to stay for the Rite of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction immediately following the 9:00 am All-School Mass next Wednesday. It's a beautiful rite of Eucharistic prayer where our focus will be one of gratitude and thanksgiving for our Catholic Schools. If you must leave right after Mass, please be aware of the silence we ask you to maintain.

Kids Heart Challenge Kicks Off Wednesday!

By participating in Kids Heart Challenge, our students will learn how to keep their hearts, bodies and brains healthy while helping kids with special hearts live longer, healthier lives.  

It's a fun and meaningful way for our students to learn lifelong habits of health and helping others, while supporting and earning rewards for our school. 

Join us in spreading kindness, building healthy habits, and making a lasting difference. Together, we can create a healthier future, one heart at a time.

This year is extra special as we have someone very close to us experiencing some heart troubles. Let's do what we can to help those we love!

We have some fun incentives planned:

• When students reach $150 in lifesaving donations, they will get to 
  Silly String a Teacher!
• Exclusive Vistor Heart Hero = first 10 students who complete 
  Finn’s Mission!
• Top Students in grade sections  K-2 / 3-5 / 6-8 will earn a special 
  Avocado Warmie!

If you have any questions regarding the Kids Heart Challenge, please reach out to Coach Taylor HERE.

Thank you, a MILLION TIMES, OVER!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Home & School and the VERY generous donors who helped fulfil the need for new office computers. It was getting hard to get much done when it would take over an hour just to log into our computers. We are so excited to be able to serve our students and school in a much more efficient way! Your generosity means more than you know!

Souper Bowl 2026!

The Knights of Columbus are back with their Souper Bowl 2026! This is a fun competition between grades to see who can bring in the most non-perishable food items by WEIGHT in ONE DAY! Save the date - Friday, February 6th. The grade that brings in the most donations by weight will receive a pizza party from the Knights of Columbus!

Enrollment For 2025-26

Current IHM families - mark your calendars! Enrollment for the coming 2026-2027 school year will begin in early February. Current IHM families will have two weeks to re-enroll their children, saving their spot(s) for the coming school year. Two weeks later open enrollment begins for the general public.

Current IHM families with an incoming PreK student should be sure to enroll their child before we open enrollment to new families Do this by clicking "Add a Student" in your FinalSite account.

Details regarding all tuition costs, Disciple Den before and afterschool care, Enrichment programs and the enrollment process coming soon!

Attention Altar Servers: 

You are now able to sign up to assist Fr. Troy with the Stations of the Cross during Lent through the Ministry Scheduler. Look for the Dates of Feb. 20 & 27 and March 6 & 20. If you have trouble signing up, please call or email Janet at the parish office at 616-241-4477 or secretary@ihmparishgr.org  and she will be happy

to add you to the dates preferred. 

Thank you for your stewardship! 

News From IHM Athletics!



Hello Viking Community

It's Super Bowl time! That means it is time for the Fundraiser that started it all!! We are a couple weeks away from the big game and we are once again offering squares and a chance to win $$$ and support IHM Athletics. All transactions will be conducted through the IHM Clover site and payouts will be provided from these funds.  These opportunities help fund IHM Athletics to keep our kids playing sports for free and provide the necessary equipment, uniforms, and facility standards that make IHM a great place to compete and grow our community.

Your donation gives you a chance to win while also providing $5,000 to the IHM Athletic Association. Same rules as prior events apply with the squares being assigned at random as they are purchased. When all the squares are filled, we will blind draw the numbers 0-9 for each side. (Your squares will be sent to you prior to the game) Then you just match the last digit of the score after each quarter to win! We are adding a rotating squares feature this year to give you fresh numbers each quarter!!! This will offer more chances to win, not being stuck with "bad" #'s, and less of the same score in consecutive quarters.

See More details HERE and a sample sheet HERE

Thanks to you, these fundraisers help pay the increasing cost for fall/winter/spring sports. We also use our sponsorships, gate, and concessions to cover the rest of the necessary costs to provide your children the best place to play and best experience. We appreciate all your generosity and support for IHM and the Athletic Association. Please consider participating and feel free to share with friends and family!

We are also looking for more volunteers to become part of the long-standing IHM Athletic Association. Reply back for more info. If you would like to be removed from this distribution list, please let me know!

God Bless and Go Vikings!

-IHM Athletic Association

Munch and Mingle Needs Your Help!

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers led by Kim and Steve Willison who make this community event possible. A lot of work goes into making these donuts available and we are so lucky to have such dedicated volunteers who make it happen! We could always use more help. If you are able, please click the link below and sign up for a spot!

Catholic Central "Downtown Den" Cougar Gear Store Is Open!

The Catholic Central Cougar gear store has moved downtown to be open throughout the winter basketball games. The new store is called “The downtown Den”. It is located inside the gym building to the left. It is packed full of great new gear. Below are the dates it will be open!

Aquinas Women’s Hockey hopes you had an amazing holiday season! We are so excited to invite you to our Kids Night on Friday, February 7th at 2:30 PM at Southside Ice Arena in Byron Center, where we will take on the Davenport University Panthers in an action-packed, family-friendly hockey game!

This night holds special meaning as we will be hosting a special puck drop in honor of Baylor Marco and his family. Baylor was a big sports fan, and we encourage everyone to wear their favorite sports jersey or yellow in his honor. Our team will also be sporting yellow tape on our sticks to show our support throughout the game.

Kids Night Activities Include:

• Kid-appropriate music to dance and jam along to
• High-five tunnels before the game and between periods
• A special appearance by Nelson the Saint Bernard 
• Coloring zone for creative breaks
• A temporary tattoo station for added fun
• Picture zone to capture fun memories
• Post-game autograph session with players
• Limited team photos will be provided for autographs, and extra paper will be available so every child can leave with a keepsake
• School and organization shout-outs between the 1st and 2nd periods
• Please complete the RSVP Google Form if your group plans to attend
• Teacher and staff shout-outs between the 2nd and 3rd periods
• Use the Shout Out Google Form HERE to recognize a difference-maker or hard worker

This promises to be a fun, kid-friendly night full of excitement, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to honor Baylor while welcoming our community to support the Saints.

A GIANT thank you to our IHM Maintenance Staff who has tirelessly been shoveling, plowing, scraping, and salting our school sidewalks and parking lots though all this crazy snow! You guys are the best and we appreciate you!! Thank you Ken, Luke and Mitchel!

Looking Ahead...

• 1/24 - Killgoar Winter Social in IHM Gym 6:00 pm
• 1/26 - 1/30 - Catholic Schools Week
• 1/27 - Catholic Bee 1:30 pm in DeMazenod Room
• 1/28 - Prayer Partner T-Shirt Day
• 1/29 - Catholic Schools Week Teacher Luncheon
• 1/30 - Winter Pep Rally
• 2/6 - $1 Jeans Day
• 2/7 - Guys and Dolls Dance
• 2/11 - No All-School Mass (Fr. Troy on retreat)
• 2/11 - Parent Teacher Conferences
• 2/12 - Parent Teacher Conferences
• 2/12 - Laptime and open gym - 10:00 -11:00 am in the gym
• 2/16 - No School - Mid Winter Break
• 2/17 - No School - Mid Winter Break
• 2/17 - All-School Skating Party 1:00 -3:00 pm at GR Skate
• 2/18 - Ash Wednesday
• 2/18 - Home & School Association Meeting 8:00 am Hands Room
• 2/19 - Divine Mercy Kids Club Begins during school recess
• 2/25 - Prayer Partner T-Shirt Day

From the Principal's Desk

Hello IHM Families!

What an interesting week we had! I'm glad we were able to get to school on Wednesday and check in! I hope you are safe and warm with these freezing temperatures! I still remember when we were at home more than a week from the polar vortex several years ago. Hopefully we can get back to normal next week! 

I am excited for Catholic Schools Week next week and celebrating our special school! We kick it off this weekend with our kids representing during Mass and the Killgoar Winter Social. The Killgoar Foundation is such an essential piece of IHM school. We would not be able to exist without it. Their financial assistance to families for many is the difference between being able to attend IHM school and not being able to attend. I thank the hard-working Killgoar board and especially Mark and Maureen Norton who spend their time making sure the Foundation can continue all their good work. See you at the Winter Social!

Blessings,

Mrs. Holly Lake

Grand Rapids Catholic Central

West Catholic Future Falcon Webpage

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