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Disciple Dispatch
October 10, 2025
| | | October is Respect LIFE Month. IHM 8th graders take this opportunity to both pray and witness our faith on the corner of Plymouth and Burton Streets. Each cross= 1 million lives taken from the womb. Each a soul, fearfully and wonderfully made. See our social media pages for more photos of this beautiful tradition. | | |
An Excerpt from Bishop Walkowiak's Letter on Respect LIFE Month
"Christian hope is never meant just for us; it is a light we must share with others. I encourage you to volunteer at a St. Gianna’s boutique or in your local parish, bring a meal or offer support to someone facing health challenges, or join me at the State March for Life on November 6 in Lansing. Through these acts, we proclaim the goodness, value, and dignity of every person, especially those whose lives society too often disregards. During this Respect Life Month, let us reflect more deeply on the sacredness of every human life. I invite you to visit the diocesan website grdiocese.org for Respect Life Month resources to support your efforts. May our hearts be transformed to protect and cherish all whose lives are most vulnerable. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!"
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Virtue of the Week
Every two weeks , our IHM student body learns about a particular virtue: what they look like in action and what they would sound like. The current focus is on Humility.
Humility is the awareness that all one's gifts come from God and an appreciation for the gifts of others. Humility looks like: allowing someone else to speak or tell a story without drawing attention to yourself Humility sounds like: Silence
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Altar Server Training Rescheduled!
Altar server training for NEW servers has been rescheduled for Monday, October 27th at 2:00 pm. Make sure your child has a signed permission slip on file prior to the training. If you have any questions, please reach out to Christy or Paul Brown at christinabrown77@gmail.com or 616-828-3681
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Meet Mrs. Stefanie Iwan! She was born and raised in the Grand Rapids area and graduated from Caledonia High School and Aquinas College with a BA in Theology. She has worked in parish ministry for 20 years and was the Pastoral Associate at IHM for the past 4 years. She enjoys reading, sewing and camping with her husband and two boys. We are so excited that she made the leap across the driveway to join our staff as the school secretary!
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Conferences Are Coming Up!
Conferences will be held on October 29th and November 6th and 7th. These will be 15-minute (or 10-minutes in middle school) meetings with the teachers. If you have any questions or concerns about your child, please don't wait until conferences. This will help us to stay on schedule!
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Saints & Sweets
On Halloween this year, we will be celebrating "Saints & Sweets" on Friday, October 31st. Grades K-5 have the option to dress up as a saint or the costume of their choice. Grades 6-8 can dress up as Saints, wear a holiday shirt with uniform bottoms, or wear their uniform. There will be a school-wide saint costume competition! Students can bring their costumes to school to change into before the Halloween parade. Following the parade will be a trunk or treat in the school parking lot brought to you by Home & School Association.
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Joel Arends: Mission Effectivness
Joel and his wife Elena joined IHM Parish in 2017 and are raising their three children—Adeline, Hendrik, and Lucia - in the faith community. Together they’ve been active in ministries such as Date Night, Pre-Cana, Men’s Ministry, and The Rescue Project. Since joining the School Board in 2023, Joel has served on the Mission Effectiveness Committee. He is passionate about ensuring IHM students receive a Christ-centered education and carrying forward the strong foundation built at IHM. If you are interested in serving on our school board please click the button below to apply!
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Date Change for Christmas Program
Due to a conflict with the Catholic Central Choir Concert, the date of the Christmas program has changed to Thursday, December 11th. Mark your calendars!
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It's that time again! The first IHM Athletic Association Fundraiser of the 2025-26 school year is here. We are a few weeks away from the MSU vs UM football 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.
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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
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New Fundraising Partnership with MINTED!
Believe it or not, it's that time of year again to start thinking about Christmas cards. We have a new partnership with Minted. Use the code FUNDRAISEIHMSGR and you will save 20% off your order and Minted will donate 10% back to IHM. It's a win-win!
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Catholic Central Cougar Gear Store
Listed below are upcoming dates that the Cougar Gear store will be open. They will also be open for playoff games for football & soccer.
- October 15th 7th&8th grade 6-8:30pm
- October 23rd JV Football 5:30-7:30pm
- October 24th Varsity Football 6-8pm
In store are 3 full racks of Lululemon, North Face fleece jackets, new styles of beanies and many other new items for sale.
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Looking Ahead...
- 10/13-17: 5th grade Farm Week
- 10/15: Home & School Meeting - 8:00 am
- 10/15 - EDGE Middle School Yourth Group 7-8:30 pm
- 10/23 - Laptime & Open Gym 10:00-11:00 am
- 10/23 - American Heritage Girls 6-7:30 pm
- 10/24 - First Quarter Ends - $1 Jeans Day & Fall Pep Rally at 2:15 pm
- 10/28 - Kindergarten Field Trip to Heidi's Farmstand
- 10/28 - Second grade visit from Grand Rapids Fire Department
- 10/29 - Prayer Partner T-shirt day
- 10/29 - EDGE Middle School Youth Group 7-8:30 pm
- 10/29 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-7 pm
- 10/30 - IHM Fall Gathering at Cascade Country Club 6-9 pm
- 10/31 - 8th Grade Social - Campus Cleanup and Lunch
- 10/31 - "Saints & Sweets" trunk or treat in the school parking lot 2 pm
- 11/2 - Dalight Savings
- 10/3 - Winter Dress Code Begins
- 11/4-5 - Hearing & Vision Rescreening
- 11/5 - 8th Grade Confirmation at Cathedral
- 11/6 - Laptime & Open Gym 10:00 - 11:00 am
- 11/6 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 4-7 pm
- 11/7 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-3 pm - Half Day of School
- 10/8 - Home & School Pickleball Social 6:15 pm in the gym
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From the Principal's Desk
Hello IHM Families!
We had a great week leading up to the feast of Our Lady of Champion on Thursday, who is the patroness of the staff prayer partners. Our Lady of Champion appeared to Adele Brise almost 170 years ago three times in the Wisconsin woods. On the third occasion, she gave Adele this mission:
Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation . . . their catechism, how to sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments.
This is why she is such an appropriate patroness for the staff! This is what we strive to do each day as we live our mission to build disciples. We read this information to the students on Thursday as well.
As a reminder, the only place to drop off students in the morning is in the car line where there are adults. You can also park and walk your children to the sidewalk. Do not drop them on the corner of the gym building to double back to Burton- you can drop off in car line and swing around the other side to go back to Burton. There are way too many children each morning walking across the parking lot unattended, and it is still pretty dark then. After school the parking lot is a very busy place, so keep your children close to you! Here is the fantastic video if you need a refresher! Car Line Video.
With only two weeks left of the first quarter, we are rolling right along! Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Mrs. Holly Lake
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| | Guided by Mother Mary, our patroness, Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School learns, leads, and serves as disciples of Christ. | | | | | |
